Merlene Ottey at the

Olympic Games in Athens

Merlene Ottey clothing line: OTTEY by PAMP

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29 August 2004: Ottey out for rest of the season
It was a hamstring injury after just thirty metres of the race that not not only ended Merlene Ottey’s appearance at an unprecedented seventh consecutive Olympic Games, but it ended the 44-year-old sprinter’s season as well. “A six-hour examination at the Athlete’s village on Wednesday discovered a partial hamstring rupture in Merlene’s left thigh”, said Dr. Rasto Stok, a physician for Slovenia’s Olympic delegation, adding that the injury may require surgery. Her trainer Srdjan Djordjevic said the Jamaican-born Slovenian will now undergo 14 days of rehabilitation before a decision is reached on whether she will undergo surgery. After the race, Ottey said she had intended a 100 percent effort in the race to ensure entry into the final.

Report from IAAF: http://www.iaaf.org/OLY04/news/Kind=2/newsId=27152.html

27 August 2004: Ottey correctly predicted Jamaica as relay winner
Veronica Campbell and the Jamaican relay team accomplished what Merlene Ottey never succeeded in doing: Winning Olympic gold. "Merlene is one of my role models and has always been my idol", said Campbell after the relay when she sat beside her teammates, Tayna Lawrence, Sherone Simpson and Aleen Bailey and talked about Ottey's influence on her and her generation. "She was up at the village yesterday and told us that we could break the national record and win the gold medal. It was a very grand gesture from her, an inspiration, and we all felt we must win it here for her tonight". Campbell and her colleagues fulfilled Ottey's predictions by sweeping to victory in 41.73 sec. - a national record indeed.

Report from IAAF: http://www.iaaf.org/news/Kind=2/newsId=27294.html

24 August 2004: Merlene Ottey injured in her last Olympic race
Merlene Ottey never finalised her 52nd race at the Olympics. Shortly after the start of the women's first 200 metre semifinal she slowed down having experienced an injury. She ruptured a muscle in her gluteus region. The exact extent of the damage will be determined in the next few days.
http://www.athens2004.com/ reports she following comment from Merlene Ottey afterwards: "It is nothing serious, I just felt something in my left glute. It is the same area where I had surgery last year. I hope it heals fast and I can be back on the track soon. I was actually really hoping to make this final, so this is disappointing for me".

Semifinal 1 (wind: 0.5):   Semifinal 2 (wind: 1.1):
1. Allyson Felix (USA):22.36 sec.
2. Abiodun Oyepitan (GBR): 22.56 sec.
3. Ivet Lalova (BUL): 22.56 sec.
4. Muna Lee (USA): 22.69 sec.
5. Maryna Maydanova (UKR): 22.75 sec.
6. Beverly McDonald (JAM): 23.02 sec.
7. Christine Arron (FRA): 23.05 sec.
8. Merlene Ottey (SLO): DNF


Results

1. Veronica Campbell (JAM): 22.13 sec.
2. Aleen Bailey (JAM): 22.33 sec.
3. Kim Gevaert (BEL): 22.48 sec.
4. Debbie Ferguson (BAH): 22.49 sec.
5. Cydonie Mothersill (CAY): 22.76 sec.
6. LaShauntea Moore (USA): 22.93 sec.
7. Sylviane Félix (FRA): 22.99 sec.
8. Olga Kaidantzi (GRE): 23.30 sec.

The 200 metre semifinal marks the end of a fantastic Olympic career. Although you should never say never about Merlene Ottey - Beijing is only four years away and Merlene Ottey already indicated after the 100 metres that she will be back for the World Championships in 2005. At a press conference last week Merlene Ottey also said she intends to run at the European Championships in 2006. When asked if 2004 would be her final Olympics she laughed and said: "I have been asked that every time since Barcelona. I have said ‘yes’, sometimes, and ‘maybe’. This time I’m saying I just don’t know".

Here and now words are not enough to express the accomplishments of Merlene Ottey!
She has been an ideal for female athletes for more than 20 years and continues to be so for all women!

Legendary icon Merlene Ottey at the 2004 Olympics

23 August 2004: Ottey advances to 200 metre semifinal
This evening Merlene Ottey surprisingly advanced into the semifinal of the 200 metres. It was a surprise since her season best going into the Olympics was only the 45th fastest time of the year, but already in the first round she showed great form by impoving her season best and running 22.72 sec. (Slovenian record). Merlene Ottey advanced to the semifinal as one of the fastest losers (23.07 sec.) as she was fourth in her heat, where only the first three qualified directly for the next round. "Physically, mentally, it 's tough, but it's great to be back here at the Olympics", said Merlene Ottey. "I didn't worry about the others, I just tried to qualify, and I'm very happy that I did. I'm happy because I didn't train for the 200 metres. I only did it because it takes nothing away from my 100 metres. This morning I surprised myself with a great time. Tonight was a little slower, but I will be ready for the next race". As for retiring she said: "I will be back tomorrow and next year".
[Reports from http://www.athens2004.com/ and others]

 

Quarterfinal 4 (wind: -0.1)
1. Cydonie Mothersill (CAY): 22.76 sec.
2. Ivet Lalova (BUL): 22.81 sec.
3. Beverly McDonald (JAM): 22.99 sec.
4. Merlene Ottey (SLO): 23.07 sec.
5. Joyce Maduaka (GBR): 23.30 sec. 
6. Anna Pacholak (POL): 23.35 sec.
7. Y. Kondratyeva (RUS): 23.37 sec.
8. Lauren Hewitt (AUS): 23.44 sec.

Results

Here is what IAAF writes on their webiste about the quarterfinal:
All eyes focused on Slovenia’s Merlene Ottey at the start of the fourth and final heat. Was this to be her last ever Olympic race? How often have we said that before? How often have we been wrong? Cydonie Mothersill of the Cayman Islands won the race, in 22.76, with the much-fancied Ivet Lalova of Bulgaria second. Ottey was edged into fourth by Jamaica’s Beverley McDonald, 22.99 to 23.07, but she’s through. We haven’t seen the last of her yet.

Based on her performance so far at these Olympics one can only say that Merlene Ottey is probably the most dedicated and focused athlete this world has ever known [Jakob Nielsen].

23 August 2004: New Slovenian record by Merlene Ottey over 200 metres
In the heats of the womens 200 metres Merlene Ottey celebrated her 50th appearance in an Olympic sprint race by improving her season best to 22.72 sec. and setting a new Slovenian record. She improved her season best from 22.90 sec. to finish third in the last heat behind favorites Ferguson and Arron. All six women in the heat ran new season's best and all qualified for the next round. Fellow Slovenian Alenka Bikar from whom Merlene Ottey took the Slovenian record (22.76 sec.) ran 23.09 sec. in heat 1 to qualify for the next round.
 

200 metre qualification - heat 7 (wind: 1.4):
1. Debbie Ferguson (BAH): 22.57 sec.
2. Christine Arron (FRA): 22.60 sec.
3. Merlene Ottey (SLO): 22.72 sec.
4. Lauren Hewitt (AUS): 22.87 sec.
5. Digna Murillo (COL): 22.98 sec.
6. Anna Pacholak (POL): 23.00 sec.

Results

 

21 August 2004: Nesterenko is Olympic Champion
With an Ottey-style finish over the last 30-40 metres Yuliya Nesterenko (Nesterenk-who?) of Belarus was the surprise winner of the womens 100 metre final at the Olympic Games. Nesterenko had a PB of 11.29 sec. going into the 2004 season, but ran convincingly througout the Olympics with four rounds of sub-11 sec. races. The 100 metre final was the youngsters race with Lauryn Williams and Veronica Campbell taking silver and bronze. Nesterenko stated the following on her victory: "I came as a big surprise for the outside world, but I was well prepared and I only prepared for the 100 metres. I had consistent results all year and here was the perfect moment to break the 11 second barrier". Ahead of the Olympics Merlene Ottey tipped Christine Arron, Veronica Campbell and LaTasha Colander for the three medals.
 

100 metre final (wind: -0.1):
1. Yuliya Nesterenko (BLR): 10.93 sec.
2. Lauryn Williams (USA): 10.96 sec.
3. Veronica Campbell (JAM): 10.97 sec.
4. Ivet Lalova (BUL): 11.00 sec.
5. Aleen Bailey (JAM): 11.05 sec.
6. Sherone Simpson (JAM): 11.07 sec.
7. Debbie Ferguson (BAH): 11.16 sec.
8. Latasha Colander (USA): 11.18 sec.

Results

21 August 2004: Ottey misses 100 metre final by 0.03 seconds (10th overall)
In the 49th Olympic race of her career Merlene Ottey missed the 100 metre final by just 0.03 sec. It was American Latasha Colander who passed Ottey in the last 20 metres of the semifinal to book her own place in the final. By clocking 11.21 sec. Ottey finished 10th overall at the Olympics - just as she did last year at the World Championships. Merlene Ottey was phlegmatic about her narrow miss which she has endured many a time over her seven Olympics career: "I am disappointed because I was nearly there but it is how these things work out and I will be back next year at the world championships. There's no stress because since Atlanta where I lost the gold medal (in a photo finish with Devers) I said I was going to enjoy myself".

It is worth noting that of the 16 semifinalist from the 2000 Olympics only four (Ottey, Ferguson, Arron and Block) made it to the semifinal again in 2004 and back in 2000 who would have though that Merlene Ottey would be among them? This fact once again confirms Merlene's status as the greatest female track and field athlete ever. She has now been 25 years among the very best in the world and survived several generations of sprinters.

Veronica Campbell made the following comment about Merlene Ottey after the final: "She is my role model, a positive image on the Caribbean". On the fact that Merlene Ottey now runs for Slovenia she said: "She can decide whatever she wants to do".

http://www.athens2004.com/ reports the following comments from Merlene Ottey herself:
"What happened? The girls were better".
"I had a great start and I was confident I could make the final".
"I've have been accused of having slow starts. Now I had it right, but it wasn't enough".

Asked directly after the 100 metre semifinal Merlene Ottey confirmed: "Yes, I will be running the 200 metres".

Semifinal 1 (wind: 0.1):   Semifinal 2 (wind: -0.1):
1. Yuliya Nesterenko (BLR): 10.92 sec.
2. Veronica Campbell (JAM): 10.93 sec.
3. Ivet Lalova (BUL): 11.04 sec.
4. Debbie Ferguson (BAH): 11.04 sec.
5. Abi Oyepitan (GBR): 11.18 sec.
6. Christine Arron (FRA): 11.21 sec.
7. Gail Devers (USA): 11.22 sec.
8. Yuliya Tabakova (RUS): 11.25 sec.


Results

1. Lauryn Williams (USA): 11.01 sec.
2. Sherone Simpson (JAM): 11.03 sec.
3. Aleen Bailey (JAM): 11.13 sec.
4. Latasha Colander (USA): 11.18 sec.
5. Merlene Ottey (SLO): 11.21 sec.
6. Zhanna Block (UKR): 11.23  sec.
7. Kim Gevaert (BEL): 11.40 sec.
8. Luybov Perepelova (UZB): 11.40 sec.

 

20 August 2004: Merlene Ottey qualifies for the semifinals on Saturday
Merlene Ottey amazed the athletics world again by cruising into the semifinals of the women's 100 metres with a time of 11.24 sec. In the third of the quarterfinals she had a reaction of 0.176 sec. and was down on Sherone Simpson and Mercy Nku in the start of the race, but got into her stride at the end to finish third behind her two former Jamaican compatriots Sherone Simpson and Aleen Bailey. After the race Ottey said: "It is different. I've never gone to the Olympics where I had to fight in each round just to get through. So this is the first. Usually I'm fighting for a medal, now I'm fighting go through each round. I enjoy the fight and that's all I'm going to do", she said.

Quaterfinal 3 (wind: - 0.1):
1. Sherone Simpson (JAM): 11.09 sec.
2. Aleen Bailey (JAM): 11.12 sec.
3. Merlene Ottey (SLO): 11.24 sec.
4. Larisa Kruglova (RUS): 11.36 sec.
5. Mercy Nku (NGR): 11.39 sec.
6. Liliana Allen (MEX): 11.52 sec.
7. Fana Ashby (TRI): 11.54 sec.
8. Vida Anim (GHA): DNF

Statements from other athletes about Merlene Ottey after the quarterfinal:

Kim Gevaert (BEL):
 
"Her name is like a myth. Every girl of my age [interested in sprinting] looked up to her, kind of like a role model. And now we're out here all the years later trying to beat her. It's amazing".
Bettina Müller (AUT):

 
"I wish I can look like her at 44. I want to be able to move at all at 44. My whole body is already hurting. She's amazing. Years ago, when I started in athletics, she is the sprinter I liked the most. And I've always liked her as a woman. She's so mature. She's cooler than all the young sprinters."
Debbie Ferguson (BAH): "Hey - she's 44. I'm proud of her!"

20 August 2004: Merlene Ottey was second fastest in the heats!
Merlene Ottey kicked off her 7th Olympic campaign by running the second fastest time of all women in the heats this morning. Running in the 2nd heat Merlene Ottey got off to a slow start well behind 60 metre specialist Yuliya Nestorenko, but at the end of the race she once again showed her legendary and fantastic finish by closing in on Nestorenko, who won the race in 10.94 sec. (PB) 2 metres ahead of Ottey in 11.14 sec. The time is Merlene Ottey's second best time of the year and confirms the great form she has shown in her last races prior to the Olympic Games (at the end of July and beginning of August). Across all heats, Nestorenko's time was by far the quickest of all the women sprinters, but as can be seen from the table below the times of the 8 fastest women are very close - and Merlene Ottey was the second fastest!

Ottey said: "I feel fantastic. It was just the first round. It went well".

100 metre qualification - 8 fastest women:   100 metre qualification - heat 2 (wind: 0.9):
1. Yuliya Nesterenko (BLR): 10.94 sec. (1heat2 - wind: 0.9)
2. Merlene Ottey (SLO): 11.14 sec. (2heat2 - wind: 0.9)
2. Christine Arron (FRA): 11.14 sec. (1heat7 - wind: 0.0)
2. Vida Anim (GHA): 11.14 sec. (2heat7 - wind: 0.0)
5. Lauryn Williams (USA): 11.16 sec. (1heat3 - wind: -0.7)
5. Ivet Lalova (BUL): 11.16 sec. (1heat8 - wind: -0.3)
7. Veronica Campbell (JAM): 11.17 sec. (1heat6 - wind: -0.3)
8. Kim Gevaert (BEL): 11.18 sec. (3heat7 - wind: 0.0)

1. Yuliya Nesterenko (BLR): 10.94 sec. (NR)
2. Merlene Ottey (SLO): 11.14 sec.
3. Larisa Kruglova (RUS): 11.23 sec. (PB)
4. Guzel Khubbieva (UZB): 11.31 sec.
5. Rakia Al-Gassra (BRN): 11.49 sec. (NR)
6. Winneth Dube (ZIM): 11.56 sec.
7. Evangeleen Ikelap (FSM): 13.50 sec. (PB)
8. Danah Al Nasrallah (KUW): 13.92 sec. (NR)

By running in Athens Merlene Ottey becomes the first track and field athlete to compete in seven Olympic Games, taking outright ownership of an honour she previously shared with the British javelin thrower Tessa Sanderson and the Romanian discus thrower Lia Manoliu. After the opening race Ottey stated herself: "For me, it's amazing that I've qualified to still be running. I didn't think I'd still be here 24 years later".

 

 

19 August 2004: Merlene's rankings
Merlene goes into tomorrow's Olympic track and field competitions with the following rankings:
100 metres - Season List: No. 15 (11.09 sec.)
100 metres - World Ranking: No. 26 (1210 points)
200 metres - Season List: No. 45 (22.90 sec.)
200 metres - World Ranking: No. 28 (1187 points)

Sprint / Relay - Olympic Previews: http://www.iaaf.org/OLY04/news/Kind=2/newsId=26820.html

17 August 2004: Interviews with Merlene Ottey in Athens
Go to the following sites to see the latest interviews with Merlene Ottey ahead of her 7th Olympic campaign:

IAAF article by Matthew Brown

Reuters article by Tony Lawrence

16 August 2004: www.otteybypamp.com  is online
Details of Merlene Ottey's new clothing line can now be seen at www.otteybypamp.com

 

14 August 2004: Olympic interview with Merlene Ottey
Jamaican sprinter Merlene Ottey is not going to Athens merely to extend her own record by running in a seventh Olympic Games, she has every intention of getting to a fifth 100 metres final. Speaking ahead of her departure to Athens to compete for the first time under the flag of her adopted home Slovenia , the 44-year-old said she was hoping to cause the world's top sprinters some problems.

"I'm not going there because it's the seventh," Ottey told Reuters in an interview on Thursday. "I think I'll be happy if I go there and do well. I try to remain focused on what I would like to achieve. "I'd like to get my times improved, and to see how far I can go. Hopefully, I can be pushing the favourites to their limits."

Since winning a bronze medal in the 200 on her Olympic debut in Moscow 24 years ago, Ottey has accumulated a haul of eight medals, three silvers and four further bronzes. The gold, though, still eludes her.

Ottey will be running in both sprint events in Athens and is optimistic of doing well after an injury-free year in which she has set best times of 11.09 seconds for the 100 and 23.06 seconds for the 200. "I know both races will be difficult, but I can't really complain," she said. "For me it's a great surprise that I am still able to do what I am doing. "I'm not thinking about medals yet. On paper at the moment I am in the semi-finals (of the 100 metres). The goal now is to beat eight other people to get to the finals. 

"I know I'm in good shape for the 200, but I need a bit of confidence because in the last few years I have done nothing," Ottey said. "In the 200 metres I'm only in the first run at the moment (on paper) but I'm very confident I can go beyond the first round."

Ottey became the oldest medallist in Olympic track and field history when she won a silver medal in the 4x100 relay for her native Jamaica four years ago. But the controversy surrounding her selection for the team for Sydney meant that was her last medal for Jamaica . "After Sydney I said I wasn't going to run another race for Jamaica ... because I felt like the Jamaicans were trying to push me out of the sport and I really needed to prove my point, that I might be 40 but I can still run," she said.

"I decided I would not run for Jamaica but for myself and if I could find a country to run for, then I would run for that country. "If Slovenia hadn't given me the citizenship I would still be racing. Not in major competitions, but I'd be still competing," she said.

She was awarded Slovenian citizenship in 2002 and now lives in Ljubljana , the capital of the small Alpine country of some two million Ottey said she was still adjusting to the "cultural shock" of moving to Slovenia . "Somehow I have to make it work for the future," she said.

Of the past, Ottey said her first Olympics were the most memorable. "They are always something special," she said. " Moscow was very good because I was very young and came in and it was my first attempt at winning a medal. "The games are more commercialised now ... back then you were going just for the sports, for the glory of the Olympics, it was a hugely different emotion."

Ottey is still not talking about retirement. "At the moment I am very enthusiastic," she said. "I like what I'm doing so I won't say I am going to retire tomorrow or after Athens ."

[Copy from Reuters / http://www.rediff.com/sports/2004/aug/13oly-ath.htm]

   

 

 

13 August 2004: Opening of the Olympics - Merlene Ottey arrives later
Today is start of the Olympic Games in Athens (Games of the XXVIII Olympiad). Merlene Ottey is not going to attend the opening ceremony this evening. She will arrive in Athens just right before her 100 metre races. Merlene will stay in the Olympic village and focus on her competitions. She is training with her coach Srdjan Djordjevic and her teammates long jumper Grega Cankar and triple jumper Bostjan Simunic who are both part of her Ljubliana training group. The schedule with the 100 and 200 metre competitions with only one day in between does not allow for any tourist activities. Therefore Merlene will focus on her races and probably not watch any other sports.
Read Merlene Ottey's biography on www.athens2004.com

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