Goule still hungry after World Indoor failure

FAILURE TO make the final of the women’s 800 metres at the World Athletics Championships in Glasgow yesterday has not diminished Natoya Goule-Toppin’s desire to obtain a global individual competition medal before she retires.

Jamaica’s leading lady over the distance for the past decade has won the Pan American Games title, twice featured in World Outdoor finals, claimed bronze at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018, and helped the country to 4x400m relay medals at both World and World Under-20 Championships.

Yet that solo silverware still escapes her after her attempts to progress from yesterday’s semi-final ended in an unexpected exit – finishing last in the first final eliminator, albeit still in a more than respectable 2 minutes, 01.41 seconds.

Goule-Toppin led for much of the first three laps but was swamped by a high-class field just after the bell.

Visibly disappointed, the Manchester-born athlete composed herself and explained:

“It was good until the last lap when I just felt my legs weren’t turning over.

“So all I could do was hold on and finish the race.

“I’ve had a problem with my left knee but that doesn’t affect my racing – I just sometimes feel it when I’m warming up.

“I don’t want to finish this sport knowing that I haven’t got one, so that’s still something I want.”

Looking ahead to this afternoon’s women’s 4x400-metre relay – the event that yielded Jamaica’s only gold from the championships in Belgrade two years ago – Goule, who could well compete, added:

“I’m definitely available to run for them and I know they can take away a medal for Jamaica again.

“Last time they doubted themselves and said that they weren’t fast enough … and they won!

“So this time anything can happen.

“I was not initially going to run indoors at all but eventually decided to do Millrose (in New York – one of the biggest indoor events on the calendar).

“Then I injured my left knee so I decided not to do it and to come to the World Indoors instead.

“I can’t say I’m that disappointed as it’s only my second race of the year. I will now focus on outdoors.”