UK Athletics
14 August 2000 Mark Lewis-Francis, the 17-year-old who finished third in the 100m at the Norwich Union Olympic Trials and AAA Championships, today announced that he does not wish to be considered for the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team at the Olympic Games in Sydney next month.
The Birchfield Harriers discovery - whose clocking of 10.10 seconds at the Norwich Union British Grand Prix at Crystal Palace on 5 August made him the fastest sprinter of his age ever in the world - took the decision after long discussions with his coach, Steve Platt, whom he describes as "my second father", in consultation with his main advisors at UK Athletics.
Lewis-Francis ended a weekend of intense pressure and speculation when he made the announcement.
He said: "People are scaring me, saying, 'You might not be around in four years' time. You might get injured. You might not get another chance to go to an Olympics.' But there's a World Championships next year. There's the Europeans the year after. A year after that, there's another Worlds. It's not as if I shall have to wait a whole four years without Senior competition.
"I want to qualify for the Worlds next year. It will not clash with the European Under 23s. I shall be able to focus on both.
"But for the rest of this season, I want to focus entirely on the World Junior Championships. Steve and I always said Santiago was the aim. Now I want to get down to preparing for the Under 20 Trials in a fortnight's time because they are as important to me as this weekend has been. Even though I have done the qualifying time, I still have to be right because I'm far from the only one aiming to be in the 100m for Britain at the World Juniors."
Birchfield Harriers chairman Roy Tilling said: "We hope that, after this announcement, everyone will allow Mark to concentrate on his training. He really has been under constant pressure from the media in the past few days and, frankly, it's getting the boy down."
UK Athletics' Technical Director for Sprints and Hurdles Graham Knight said the scenario that developed at the Trials was envisaged in May when Lewis-Francis first caught the imagination by winning the 100m at the Aqua-Pura Loughborough International ahead of European Champion Darren Campbell (Belgrave Harriers) and European Indoors 200m Champion Christian Malcolm (Cardiff AAC).
Knight explained that he and Great Britain Junior Team Director Brian Hall had sat down with Lewis-Francis and Platt after his Loughborough victory and written on a board all of the dates of fixtures leading up to both Sydney and Santiago.
"We had detailed discussions about every scenario and agreed we would review the situation after the Olympic Trials," Knight added. "We then had extensive conversations yesterday and he asked me what my opinion was. I said I felt unequivocally that he should concentrate on Santiago rather than run the risk of falling between two stools; and he agreed with me.
"So far as Mark is concerned, his intention is the same now as it was in May - to go to Santiago and bring back two gold medals from the 100m and the 4x100m."
And the last word went to Lewis-Francis as he attempted to nail once and for all the theory that he'll disappear before the next Olympics: "I've got loads of dedication to this sport. I love it. I plan to do it for 15 years or more."
