Burns makes fourth Olympic team chases history
Veteran sprinter Marc Burns qualified for his fourth Olympic Games when he crossed the line fourth men’s 100m finals at the last’s month Sagicor/NGC National Open Championships at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo. The 29-year-old first competed at the quadrennial Games in Sydney, Australia as a 17-year-old. The Belmont Boys/El Dorado Secondary graduate was a member of T&T men’s 4X100m team running in the heats and semifinals. The 1998 triple Carifta champion anchored the squad to third place in the heats in 39.12 on September 29 and a spot in the semifinals later that day. In the semifinals he ran the third leg passing the stick to four-time Olympic medallist, Ato Boldon, as the quartet sped to a then national record of 38.92. However, the time was not quick enough to get the outfit in the finals contested the next day. Burns’ Olympic baptism seemed to have blessed him well as later that year at the World Junior Championships in Santiago, Chile, Burns copped bronze in the men’s 100m finals in 10.40, just ahead of compatriot, Darryl Brown, who also clocked 10.40. The two were part of the men’s 4X100m team which missed out on a medal in taking fourth place in a national junior record of 40.03.
He continued his rise into the next year where he was again part of several national record breaking teams. At the World Championships in Edmonton Canada, the then 18-year-old combined with Boldon, Brown and Jacey Harper to take silver in the men’s 4X100m finals in 38.58, another national mark, improving the 38.60 he set in the heats. At the 2002 World Juniors in Jamaica, Burns improved to second in the men’s 100m finals in 10.18 and was part of the national team, again with Brown, which took bronze in another junior mark of 39.17 bettering the 39.50 clocked in the heats. At his first Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, he was a member of the sprint relay team which finished fifth in 38.97. More records followed in 2003 when he was part of the Pan American Games silver medal team which sped to 38.53, another national record. At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, the Auburn University student exited the men’s 100m prelims after false starting in his heat. However, he rebounded to help the 4X100m team to seventh place in the finals in 38.60 after equalling the national record of 36.53 in the heats. 2005 was a stellar year for the Trincity resident as he dipped under 10 second for the first time ever, taking the national title in 9.96 and the World Athletic finals in Monaco in 10.00.
The former Richmond Boys Primary School student then made the first of his three World Championships finals in Helsinki, Finland, finishing seventh before anchoring the men’s sprint relay finals to silver in 38.10, yet another national record, the third for the year after clocking 38.28, 38.38 and 38.47. At his second Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia in 2006, he bagged bronze in the men’s 100m in 10.17 and was also third in the World Cup of Athletics (Athens, Greece) in 10.14. In 2007, he was in another World Championships finals in Osaka, Japan 100m finals taking eighth place. His finest Olympic moment yet came in Beijing, China taking seventh spot in the men’s 100m finals in 10.07 as Jamaica’s, Usain Bolt, bolted to gold in a world record of 9.69. Burns then helped the men’s 4x100m relay team to silver in 38.06 after lowering the national record to 38.00 in London earlier in the season. His Olympic momentum continued to the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, Germany where he was seventh in a season’s best time of 10.00 with Bolt taking the gold in sensational world record of 9.58. Burns then collected his third World Championship relay medal when the national team finished second in a new national record time of 37.62, as T&T became the third fastest country ever in the event (behind Jamaica and the USA). Burns will be going for his seventh global 100m finals and his 12th final appearance overall (including relays), a feat unmatched by many of the world top sprinters.
Source: www.guardian.co.tt