by O'Neil A. Reid, posted on 8/3/2011
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Just a few weeks shy of his 19th birthday, Kirani James will make his professional debut in the 400m at the London Diamond League this weekend. James, who has just completed his third semester at the University of Alabama, has a personal best 44.86secs in the 400m and 20.41 in the 200m.
The 2010 Grenadian Sportsman of the Year has been successful at all regional and global level of track competition. He won individual gold medal at the World Junior and World Youth Championship and currently holds the Carifta Under-20m men's 400m record. He is credited with the distinction of being the only athlete to win 200m/400m double at a global competition (World Youth). In his second indoor season, he ran a personal best 44.80 in the 400m, the sixth fastest time in NCAA and has earned several All-American honors.
The retirement of Harvey Glance, his coach at the University of Alabama, and a new coaching staff on the horizon may have provided the impetus for this dynamic and talented athlete to go pro. James is set to match strides with Caribbean rivals who are not to be taken lightly. Among them are his fellow Grenadian Rondell Bartholomew, who has the world leading 400m time of 44.65; Jamaica’s Jermaine Gonzales, who is in splendid form after running a season best 44.69 last Friday in Monaco; and the Bahamas’s Christopher “Fireman” Brown, Tabarie Henry (USVI), and Kevin Borlee (Belgium), who have all gone under 45secs in the event this season. USA’s Angelo Taylor is also set to face the starter.
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