Alia mines second gold at Doha World Cup
WHEN international swimming star Alia Atkinson landed in Doha, Qatar, she was greeted by her image headlining the Doha FINA/MASTBANK Swimming World Cup 2014.
So great is the respect that the young Jamaican commands globally that she was deemed fitting to be designated a major drawing card for the meet.
She lived up to her top billing and the faith of the meet organisers and her sponsors Speedo, as she took her second gold medal of the meet in the 50- metre breaststroke on Thursday.
In the early morning preliminaries she stroked her way to the top seeding in the final with a time of 29.21 seconds, the only sub-30-second clocking in that round.
However, in the final she got off to her trademark supersonic start with a reaction time of 0.62 seconds, and as expected, by the time she turned at the first and only wall at the 25-metre mark, the battle was to be between her and the clock, as she romped home in a fast 29.12 seconds.
Three quarters of a body length and more than half a second behind was American swimmer Breeja Larson, who took silver in 29.87 seconds, with Iceland’s Hrafnhildur Luthersdottir (30.67secs) taking the bronze.
When Atkinson opened her short course season in Eindhoven, Netherlands, last year she had times of 29.42 seconds and 1:03.90 minutes, but she progressively got faster.
The 25-year-old now leaves Doha unbeaten from four starts and will next head to Dubai where she will compete from tomorrow through to Monday, with her personal and Jamaican best clocking of 1:02.91 minutes over the 100-metre breaststroke in sight.
Trinidad & Tobago’s George Bovell III also mined precious metal on Day Two. He clinched the last available place for the final when he clocked 21.81 seconds in the 50-metre freestyle.
He then outdid himself in the final as he swam his own race out in lane eight to grab the silver in a two-way tie with Poland’s sprint sensation Konrad Czerniak in a time of 21.43 seconds. American football player turned swimmer Josh Schneider took the gold in 21.07 seconds.
— Anthony Morrison-Vincent
