Caribbean Net News: Merlene Ottey sets masters world record

DONNAS, Italy: Former Jamaica and Caribbean sprint queen Merlene Ottey, who now competes for Slovenia, set a new masters record for ages 45-50 years at EAP Meeting in Donnas, Italy last Sunday.

Ottey, who celebrated her 46th birthday last month, clocked 23.97 seconds in finishing third in the women's 200-metres dash to set a new record for her age group. She removed the previous time of 25.46, set back in 1994.

The former sprint powerhouse, who dominated female short sprints from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, also accomplished a fast time in the 100m, but +2.4 m/s supporting wind robbed her the chance of easily breaking the masters' record over the distance. She finished third in the race 11.49 seconds.

She, however, still holds the world record in the event following her 11.94sec comeback performance to win at the Rivas International Athletics Meeting earlier this month, a time which broke the 12.25 set by Germany�s Karin von Riewal in 1996.

Ottey, who won 34 major international competitions medals, including 14 at the IAAF World Championships, moved to Slovenia prior to the Sydney Olympic Games in Australia and has been representing the small central European nation since 2002.

She been plagued by hamstring problems since the 2004 Athens Olympics, but she's now well and is eyeing a possible shot at competing at the European Championships in August.

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