Athletics Weekly – July 24, 2019

M

IGUEL FRANCIS believes

he made a statement

with his 19.97 200m at the

Müller Anniversary Games

as he continues his comeback

after injury struggles, writes

Jessica Whittington.

The Montserrat-born sprinter

transferred his allegiance to Britain

in 2017 and hopes to represent

the nation at the IAAF World

Championships in Doha later this

year in both the half-lap event and

relay.

His UK-leading time clocked

when finishing runner up behind

Xie Zhenye of China’s 19.88 Asian

record in London ranks him equal

third on the British all-time list

alongside Adam Gemili, behind only

John Regis and Nethaneel Mitchell-

Blake, though he has a faster PB

of 19.88 – just 0.01 off the British

record – which he ran in 2016.

“After what I have been through,

to come back and run 19 seconds,

that should be a statement,

definitely,” said Francis, who works

with Glen Mills, coach of sprints

great Usain Bolt, in Jamaica as

part of the Racers Track Club.

“My training over the past six

weeks, I’ve been feeling really

good, really strong.

“I knew the type of shape I was

in but I wasn’t 100% confident in

myself because I was coming off

a few injuries. To run sub-20, I’m

really pleased with that.”

Francis represented

Antigua & Barbuda at the 2014

Commonwealth Games and 2015

World Championships having

moved there with his family when

he was a few months old after a

volcanic eruption on his home

Caribbean island.

But the Wolverhampton & Bilston

athlete, who has family in the West

Midlands, was eligible for a transfer

to GB with his birthplace being a

British overseas territory and his

focus is now on next month’s

British Championships in

Birmingham and securing a place

on the team bound for Doha later

in the year.

“I’m feeling really good,” said

Francis, who has had surgeries on

his right ankle and knee in the past

couple of years. “My confidence

level was just not here because I’ve

hardly been competing. This is my

first race since May, my first 200m

since April.

“I’ve been seeing everybody

else running their fast times and

to come out here and run fast, it’s

a confidence boost and I’m just

looking forward to the rest of the

season.”

» Müller Anniversary Games

coverage, p12-

6 AW

Miguel makes his mark

SUB-20 OVER 200m FROM ENIGMATIC BRITISH SPRINTER AT MÜLLER ANNIVERSARY GAMES

DIGEST THE LATEST FROM THE WORLD OF ATHLETICS

Miguel Francis:

next target is

British Champs

MARK SHEARMAN

’

‘

I knew the type

of shape I was in

but I wasn’t 100%

confident in myself

because I was

coming off a few

injuries. To run sub-

20, I’m really pleased

with that