Nothing to fear, says Evans

BIRMINGHAM, England:

Diminutive Jamaican sprinter Gayon Evans said she has nothing to fear when she goes up against her more seasoned competitors in the women's 60 metres at the IAAF World Indoor Championships, which starts here tomorrow.

Evans, who has a personal best of 7.11 seconds in the event, said she is very focused and aiming at challenging for a medal at the championships.

"There are a lot of persons running fast times, but at the end of the day, I am not focusing on persons or their times," said Evans.

"I think that I am well prepared and I am going to go out there and execute my race to the best of my ability," she said.

"The race is 60 metres- anything can happen on the day and so everyone will have to be at their best on the day," said Evans, who is coached by Maurice Wilson at the Sprintec track club.

Evans, 28, is the third fastest Jamaican in event this year with her time of 7.20.

Remona Burchell (7.13), Jonielle Smith (7.18) and Natalliah White (7.19), are the only Jamaicans who have gone faster this year. Burchell will also compete at the championships.

Evans, a former Edwin Allen High School standout,will be representing Jamaica for the first time in a senior individual championship event, said he was very excited and ready to represent the country to the best of his ability.

"Making the senior team to run in an individual race at a major championships means a lot to me because it will motivate me and it will give me this drive to let me know that the sky is the limit," said Evans.

"My preparation has been going good because I ran two races indoor and they went well," she said.

"I am going to take it round by round as my aim is to make it to the final and then just take it from there and see what happens."