Blake at a crossroads

DOHA, Qatar:

Yohan Blake is at a crossroads.

No longer delivering the super-fast times he had become accustomed to before the first of his two major injuries in 2013, Blake, who is nearing his 30th birthday, is forced to re-evaluate his approach after another disappointing run at a championship in last night’s World Championships 100m final.

The 2011 world 100m champion showed the bravado of a man who knows he has 9.69 and 19.26 seconds speed in the 100m and 200m, respectively, as he looked across to his right, while easing down close to the line in his semi-final three hours earlier, finishing second in 10.09 seconds.

However, it has been seven years since Blake hit the highs of 2011, when he took gold at the World Championships in Daegu and took his 100m PB to 9.69 and 2012, when he won Olympic silver medals in the 100m and 200m.

Last night’s fifth-place finish in the 100m final in a time of 9.97 seconds was a tough pill to swallow for the sprinter, who sat on the track in disbelief after again missing the podium.

“I am really disappointed knowing that I have been working assiduously on my first part and last part (of the race). I don’t know, it wasn’t meant to be tonight, but I have to shake it off and come back tomorrow for the 200m. The journey continues,” said Blake, who shared that he will be dropping the 200m event after these championships to focus on the 100m in 2020.

“I am in great shape. Sometimes, it’s just about putting it together. I am human. I am going to feel a way about this result. I know what I did in the semi-final, I just didn’t put it together in the final,” Blake assessed.

Blake tore his hamstring in 2013 and aggravated the injury a year later, and has struggled to keep up with the world’s fastest since then, after returning to the track in June 2015.

In fact, since his return in 2015, he has gone sub-10 seconds in the 100m 17 times in 62 races, with a best of 9.90 seconds. In the 200m, he has registered one sub-20 seconds time (19.97 seconds) in 19 starts.

In last night’s final, Blake actually got off to a pretty good start and was certainly among the medal positions near the halfway point of the race. He would, however, tighten up under pressure from the field, losing his fluidity and form at about the 60m mark before sliding down to fifth.

COLEMAN THE WINNER

The event, which was preceded by an impressive light show inside the Khalifa Stadium, was won by American Christian Coleman in 9.76, with Justin Gatlin taking silver in 9.89 ahead of Canadian Andre De Grasse, 9.90 in third.

It was a statement win for Coleman, though expected, after his troubles with anti-doping authorities following a whereabouts violation charge this summer, before he was eventually cleared.

“After the semis, I thought I could have done it, but it wasn’t my night. I just have to put that behind me, cry tonight (last night) and focus on the 200m,” said Blake.

The men’s 200m heats will begin today at 8:05 p.m. (12:05 p.m. Jamaica time) but Blake says going forward, he will be focusing on the shorter sprint event.

“I just have to work better in training and focus on the 100m only next year, and take it from there,” said Blake. “It’s a lot of work, there is a lot of training (for both events). It’s emotional knowing that I am the second-fastest man of all time (in the 200m) but sometimes you have to let go of one event and focus on the other.”

In fact, since his return in 2015, he has gone sub-10 seconds in the 100m 17 times in 62 races, with a best of 9.90 seconds. In the 200m, he has registered one sub-20 seconds time (19.97 seconds) in 19 starts.