Nicolas Macrozonaris is trying to qualify for the World Indoor Track and Field Championships.
(Photo: Martin Alarie)
Macrozonaris aims for World Indoor Track Championship
After a drought on the track and problems with Athletics Canada in the last few years, Laval sprinter Nicolas Macrozonaris would love to qualify for the World Indoor Track Championship to be held in Valencia, Spain in March.
Despite a minor injury, Macrozonaris feels ready. For the country’s faster runner, this would be a first step toward the Olympics in Beijing.
“I’m preparing for the important competition coming up at the end of February, where I have to reach my Canadian standard to qualify for the world meet. I should be able to make it. I will make it,” he confided to Courrier Laval.
To do it, he will have to run under 6.65 seconds, a result which would qualify him for the meet in Spain.
Lat week, Macrozonaris failed in his bid to qualify, coming in at 6.68 seconds for 60 meters in an indoor meet at McGill University, where he took on Hank Palmer, another of the country’s top sprinters. Palmer broke the tape a nose ahead of Macrozonaris in a photo-finish in which both runners covered the 60 m in 6.68 seconds. The Chomedey athlete had never lost to Palmer at this distance. Unfortunately, neither runner was able to beat the qualifying bar set at under 6.65 seconds.
Macrozonaris and his training partner had another crack at the mark this past Friday, in Saskatoon. The deadline for attaining the standard is February 18. “I believe I can make,” he insisted.
The training situation is ideal for Macrozonaris. “I’ve been back in Montreal for seven months, training with Hank Palmer. We push each other to get the best out of one another.”
The Laval resident took part in a New Hampshire meet in January, where he withdrew from the finals because of injury, following wins in the quarters and semis. “I felt pain in my left thigh. I stayed out of the final to prevent aggravating the injury.”
Third Olympics
Expectations from all sides have been very high since Macrozonaris beat American Tim Montgomery’s 100 m record in 2003, in Mexico. But since then the results have not satisfied. Injuries and a misunderstanding with Athletics Canada impeded his progress. After Sydney (2000) and Athens (2004), the four-time Canadian champion in the 100 m has set his sights on participating in his third Olympics in Beijing this summer. To do it he’ll have to reach a pace of at least 10.13 seconds in the 100 m.
“I’m capable of covering 100 m in 10.13. For the Olympics, I’m taking it in stages. Making the finals in Beijing is one of my goals. In the finals, you never know what happens. A medal is not out of the question,” he admitted.
Over the years, his impression of the importance of the relay race has changed a little. Macrozonaris has his fingers crossed for the relay and the 200 m in Beijing. “I want a place on the relay team. We have to classify ourselves ion the top 16 in the world. I like our chances. We’re training as a team. I don’t discount the possibility of qualifying for the 200 m either,” he concluded.
Photo:Macro
(Photo: Martin Alarie)
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