Bobsledder Joel Fearon clocked the joint third-fastest 100 metres time ever recorded by a British athlete as he ran 9.96 seconds during the English Athletics Championships in Bedford.
The performance from the 27-year-old also saw him become the quickest Briton over the distance this year.
Fearon, who was a member of the British team which finished fifth in the four-man bobsleigh race at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games, will not compete at Rio 2016 as his country’s 100m representatives have already been selected.
Only two British sprinters have ever run quicker than Fearon’s time.
Linford Christie, Olympic gold medallist in the event at Barcelona 1992, stopped the clock at 9.87 on his way to victory at the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart, while James Dasaolu, a member of the British team at Rio 2016, has a personal best of 9.91.
Chijindu Ujah, who is due to represent his nation at the upcoming Olympics, ran the same time as Fearon in 2014.
The bobsleigh competitor also became only the seventh British man to run under the 10-second barrier.
Despite his impressive display, Fearon insists he is firmly focused on the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang but did not rule out pursuing a career on the track ahead of next year’s World Championships at the Olympic Stadium in London.
“It’s a year before our Olympics so it’s up to [British Bobsleigh],” Fearon, who was a member of Britain’s 4x100m relay team at the 2013 World Championships but did not get the chance to compete, told Athletics Weekly.
“I’m their athlete so if they give me the freedom to go out and run, and if I’m in a position where I could make it, they’ll allow me to go and do it.
“I’ll work with the bobsleigh guys and see what we can put together.
“My focus is really on the bobsleigh at the Winter Olympics.
“We missed out on a medal in Sochi so I’m very focused on going and redeeming that and hopefully getting that medal that we should have got.”
By Liam Morgan
Republished with permission from insidethegames.biz