A new athletics season has started but the same old problems with a patchy track still remain at the National Stadium.
And former national athlete-cum coach Gabriel Burnett is not only annoyed no repair work was done in the off-season but says the state of the track will affect the athletes’ performances witha number of meets scheduledin the coming months.
First out of the blocks will be the Athletics Association of Barbados’ (AAB) Development Meet, today. This will be followed by the Joseph Payne Classic on January 26, which is usually regarded as the first major event of the athletics calendar. The popular Relay Fair, which features a number of overseas clubs, is slated for February 9.
“Right now, down by the 100 (metres start) is in a very awful condition. We can’t do any starts down there. What I was doing when my athletes were training, I had to actually put them on the line that divides the lanes because the start of the 100s is completely dug out so no blocks can go in the centre of the lane,” Burnett said yesterday evening at a training session while his chargers went throughtheir paces. (EZS)
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