::Grenada Sports::

This is the second time of recent that Brown has finished behind Collins. Last month in Grenada, Collins won the men's 100m in 10.13 followed by Brown (10.17) and Marc Burns also of Trinidad in third spot in 10.29.

PARIS, France (Aug 24)- Alleyne Francique will race in the final of the men's 400m at the IAAF 9th World Athletics Championships in Paris on Tuesday.

Francique had the fifth best time overall as he finished fourth (44.81) in the first of three semis on Sunday afternoon. He made it into the final eight with one of the two fastest times from the losers.

It was the fastest qualifying heat which was won by American Jerome Young (44.70). In fact, five of the runners in that heat went under 45 seconds.

The former NCAA Indoor Champion has the conquering task of running out of lane seven against some of the experienced quarter milers.

"At breakfast this morning, Alleyne told me that he is comfortable with lane seven for the final," coach Rawle LaCrette told GrenadaSports.

Meantime, Hazel-Ann Regis goes into the next round of the women's 400m knowing that she has a lot to do to reach the final.

Regis finished her first round qualifying heat in fourth position in a time of 51.97 but gained a semifinal spot among the fastest losers. The Pan American Games silver medallist was lethargic to the finish and it could be signs of a season taping off.

World's number one Ana Guevara and Jamaican Lorraine Fenton, along with Mbacke Thiam of Senegal and Olabisi Afolabi of Nigeria are the strong contenders.

"I think if Hazel focuses first on improving her personal best time over her competition distance, she can get into the final. Granted, it will be very challenging. The level of competition here is very high as the world's best battle for supremacy," LaCrette said.

The second day of competition was overshadowed by the false-start controversy involving American Jon Drummond and Asafa Powell of Jamaica.

Both Drummond and Powell were disqualified from the second heat of the men's quarterfinals on Sunday.

"On the issue of Drummond's reaction to the false start situation, I think that it's OK to make protests, but there are correct procedures for doing so. I think that he has, to some extent, tarnished the great reputation of the sport, his country and himself, whether he's aware of it or not. He held up the proceedings by over half an hour and affected the prompt start of subsequent events.

Moreover, he's contravened the rules and principles of sportsmanship. This is certainly not what Jon wants to leave for younger sprinters to emulate. True, his claims may have been genuine, but Jon is mature enough to know what's involved in launching protests.

In fact, when the rules on false starts were established, the Constitutional Committee of the IAAF would have had consultation with its Council, of which the United States is a part. Rules are not arbitrarily established and enforced by the IAAF, but deliberations have to be made and consensus has to be arrived at by some democratic means. In Jon's case, his Federation has to serve as his voice.

In my discussions with some athletes here and reading some comments of others, this current rule on false starts is distasteful to many. Then again, the paying patrons must be considered. People must get value for their money."

PARIS, France (Aug 23)- Despite qualifying for the semifinal round of competition in the men’s 400m on Saturday, Alleyne Francique wasn’t all too happy.

Francique was the third fastest qualifier in the final heat of the preliminaries. However, he had the slowest reaction time of 0.305 in his heat.

The Pan American Games bronze medallist finished behind Bahamian Christopher Brown (45.35) and Fawzi Al-Shammar of Kuwait (45.41).

“You may realize that Alleyne had the slowest reaction time in his heat. We talked about it and he said he was concerned about false starting in this early round so he wanted to play it safe. However, he's happy about his performance as he eased up at the finish line to gain a relatively comfortable qualifying spot,” LaCrette told GrenadaSports.

“I indicated to him that that sounds logical but still a bit too slow. In my opinion that 0.305 sec. reaction time costed him at least 2/100 of a second.”

Francique competes in the first of three semifinal rounds on Sunday. He will be running out of lane seven in heat one scheduled for 11:10 A.M. (Grenada Time). Alongside Francique will be two Americans who had posted sub 45s this year - Calvin Harrison (44.62) and Jerome Young (44.71). Francique has a PR of 44.72 and a season best of 44.78.

Even before Francique competes in the second round, Hazel-Ann Regis will begin her campaign in the women’s 400m. The Pan American Games silver medallist competes at 5:32 A.M. (Grenada Time) and is running in lane four, heat number three.

PARIS, France (Aug 22)- Grenada’s two athletes at the IAAF 9^th World Athletics Championships here had light workouts on Friday ahead of competition beginning this weekend.

Hazel-Ann Regis completed a brief session on Friday morning and Alleyne Francique had his session a couple hours later. His competition begins on Saturday while Regis opens her campaign on Sunday evening.

Coach Rawle LaCrette said that their objectives are to get into their respective finals. “It’s important that they focus on one round at a time. It's also critical they remain healthy and have adequate rest,” he told GrenadaSports.

At Regis’ first session on Thursday, she had little difficulty in breathing properly as the humidity was low with cold, dry air. It's hasn't been hot for the past three days. “Note that her sessions have been done at the nearby Charlety Stadium not at the competition stadium which is in Saint Denis (Stade de France). I've encouraged Hazel to spend more time outdoors than in her room when she's not sleeping. This would allow for acclimatization at a faster rate.”

Meanwhile, LaCrette said that he will be accessing information on the forecasts for Saturday and Sunday, so that both Francique and Regis can have an idea as to what the temperature and humidity would be like.

The city's height above sea level is also very crucial to their performance. Francique is more acquainted with this kind of weather nevertheless, as he competes regularly on the European circuit and at Grand Prix Meets here.

The Grenada team on Friday had photographs done of its uniform. Nike has outfitted the Grenadian athletes with warm up and competition apparel.

PARIS, France (Aug 21)- Fresh from their history-making making performance at the XIV Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic earlier this month, Grenada's two most celebrated track athletes, Hazel-Ann Regis and Alleyne Francique are destined for repeat performances here at the IAAF IX World Championships in Athletics.

Regis, who copped gold at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Senior Championships in Grenada in July and took the silver at the Santo Domingo Games, is a first timer to this level of competition though she finished second to the world's number one over the 400m, Mexican Ana Guevara.

The CAC champion is aware that she will have to go below 51 seconds to medal at this championships and this would definitely be her biggest challenge in her athletic career.

However, Francique will be making his second appearance at the World Championships and has made major improvements over the past two years. He was third at the Pan Am Games but confident of making a big impact in Paris this year.

Francique is ranked as number six in the world going into this weekend's preliminary round of the 400m. Jamaica's Michael Blackwood has the top spot, followed by Tyree Washington of the USA, his compatriot Jerome Young, Ingo Schultz of Germany and Daniel Caines of Great Britain.

The Grenadian athletes have been having their share of problems in Paris following their arrival in the athletes' village.

Most of the competing athletes are here. The Village is being quickly transformed from a very quiet, slow-paced haven a couple days ago to a more business-like, hectic paced site. If athletes are not training, they are resting, on the internet, viewing movies (2 theatres in the Village), chatting and socializing, viewing Paris (free transportation), being entertained by small musical bands or simply munching on or drinking something.