OTTEY: Running for Athens.
VALLETTA, Malta, CMC:
FORMER JAMAICA sprint sensation Merlene Ottey is looking forward to representing her adopted home Slovenia at her seventh Olympics in Athens, Greece, later this year.
Ottey, double silver medallist at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, is presently training on the Mediterranean island of Malta and is looking to defy time to win a medal at the 26th Olympiad.
"Every time I've been to an Olympics I'm asked whether I'll be there the next time," Ottey said in an interview published on the IAAF web-site.
NEW COUNTRY
"I want to go to Athens because I'm running for a new country and this was what pushed me towards going to another Olympics -- I'm here for Slovenia and I want to achieve so much for them."
Two years ago, Ottey chose to start running for the European nation, a decision that was greatly influenced by the criticism she sustained about her continued selection ahead of younger Jamaican athletes.
"Jamaica has a lot of athletes and there was this big fuss because people said 'I'm too old' and I thought fine, if I'm too old I'll find another country where I'm appreciated," she said.
She added: "Slovenia doesn't mind if you're 25 or 43. If you're good enough there's no question about it. Why should I stop?"
Ottey revealed she had thought about stopping in the early '80s, but her desire for competition kept her going.
"The first time that I wanted to quit was after the 1984 Olympics," she said.
"At the time, people thought that if you were 25 you were too old. But then I ran my best right after. I thought that if I'm the No. 1 in the world then why should I stop?
"You cannot stop when you're number one. That's what always happened to me. Every year, I was always first, second or third and I couldn't stop.
CHALLENGE
"Now, I have it in me to run because it is for a different country, it is a different Merlene, and it is a bigger challenge for me. So, if I had one season where I felt that I had done everything possible and I've done everything I could do, then perhaps I will stop."
Ottey indicated that her training is now focussed on preparing her for the indoor season and her first competition for the year in Moscow next month.
"I will go step by step, but at the last Indoor World Championships in Birmingham last year, I was fourth in the 60 metres dash, so I think that if I get close to that then I will be very happy," she said.
