Quarrie still fastest man in the Commonwealth

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33444, 28 January 1974, Page 8

Quarrie still fastest man in the Commonwealth

The 22-year-old Jamaican student, Don Quarrie. is still the fastest man in the Commonwealth. And he left no doubt about this in a resounding victory in the final of the 100 m at Queen Elizabeth II Park on Saturday.

Quarrie, who won both! sprint titles at the Edin-' burgh Games four yearsj ago, judged 1 he start' beautifully. Then, over the final 50 .metres, he pulled away from his rivals and won by a tenth of a second from John Mwebi (Kenya), in 10.4 sec Afterwards, he confirmed

(that he had his sights set on [taking the gold medal in the 1200 metres as well. But, in this own words, he "almost i didn't make it” to the 100 m final In the semi-finals earlier jin the afternoon, Quarrie 'was not among the first four at the half-way mark. Howlever, he surged through to I claim third place in a slow lO.bsec and safely qualified. "I just couldn’t' get going. 1 did not seem to have any traction and so 1 changed my shoes for the final.” he said. ”Oul of shape"’ 1 his had the desired effect.. ; although Quarrie would not! attribute his improvement entirely to his new footwear. , "My last race before the l Games was in October and I 'was still out of shape then,"

he said, explaining that he had used the preliminary races to sharpen up his form. '"lt took me a while before I got going.” In the final he admitted ithat his time was perhaps a little slow by his own standards. "1 could have run much : harder but I just wanted to 'win—nothing more.”

Surprise failure j Quarrie’s highly favoured' i fellow-countryman, Lennox! 'Miller, did not fare so well. [He ran 10.6 sec in his semi-! 'final—the same time as 'Quarrie—but this was only [good enough for sixth place [and he failed to qualify for [the final. This was a major surprise [considering that Miller took) ! the bronze medal over this j [ distance in the Munich Olym-! [pic Games only two years; ago. After the Christchurch Games, Quarrie intends to, [“keep running,” and has high! .hopes of representing Ja'maica in the Montreal 01ym-[ [pics in 1976 and gaining the: [medal which eluded him at [Munich. He is the joint) [holder of the world 200 m [ 'record at 19.8 sec

Behind Quarrie in the 100 m on Saturday, there was a blanket finish for the minor placing*. Mwebi, Ohene Karikari (Ghana) and George , Daniels (Ghana) all recorded [lo.ssec but it was the Kenjyan who took the silver [medal. Karikari was credited [with third.

Fastest woman

The gold medal in the [women’s 100 m went to Raelene Boyle (Australia) in the 'New Zealand open and [Games,record of 11.3 sec. This was a great climax [for the blond Australian girl, who was plagued by injury until only a short time before the Games. She was almost overcome by the occasion. She swept through the finish and kept running in a [wide circle, which took her !on to the grass infield where [she finally grasped the flag- : pole. The runner-up, also in 11.3 i sec, was Andrea Lynch (England), who previously held [the Games record at 11.4 sec. : Denise Robertson gave [greater substance to the ! announcement that this was ‘“Australia Day” by claiming [the bronze medal in 11.5 sec. Wendy Brown (New Zea-

land), who appeared to be in with a chance of a medal on earlier performances, found the pace too fast and finished fifth in 11.6 sec.