Douglas not out of 2012 running just yet (From News Shopper)

Douglas not out of 2012 running just yet

10:07am Tuesday 26th June 2012 in Sport

By Jack Zorab

CATFORD sprinter Montell Douglas insists she hasn’t given up hope of starring in the capital this summer after falling to book herself an Olympic spot at the Aviva 2012 trials.

Despite heading to Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium without a London 2012 A standard in the 100m, Douglas was looking to propel herself into the Olympic reckoning.

And there wasn’t much more the 26-year-old could have done, putting in a season’s best run of 11.52s to finish with a bronze medal in the West Midlands.

However, with Ashleigh Nelson winning gold and Anyika Onuora silver, all three 100m spots for London 2012 remain vacant, with neither having run an A Standard this season.

The only Brits to have hit the required 11.29s time are Abi Oyepitan and Laura Turner but the latter was absent with injury and the former withdrew from the final as a precaution.

And it is this which gives Blackheath & Bromley Harriers runner Douglas hope the London 2012 door is yet to slam shut in her face, heading off to Helsinki for this week’s European Championships to stake her claim.

“It was bittersweet at the trials because there were two hundredths of a second between first and third and I thought I had it for most of the way,” she said.

“But I came off the track feeling I had given everything.

“I came into the final as the fastest loser in the semi-final, I was in lane one and I went home with bronze and that’s all I could have done.

“Lane one worked for me in the end because it meant I could just focus on my own run.

“My first season’s best was from lane eight in Oslo and in Birmingham I did from the other side.

“Racing on the outside allows me to do what I do best and that’s run fast. There’s a relay chance at the Olympics now which is nice.”

Meanwhile, Mottingham’s Jeffrey Lawal-Balogun failed to reach the 200m final, finishing fourth in his heat with a time of 21.45s.

James Alaka didn’t fare much better in his heat, crossing the line third, while B&B Harrier Serita Solomon clocked 13.50s to finish fifth in the women’s 100m hurdles final.

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