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Fraser-Pryce leaves the door open to defend 200m world title

Xinhua, July 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

Although reports came early this month that Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce would not compete in the 200m race at the Beijing World Championships next month, the reigning 100m and 200m champion said here on Wednesday she is yet to make the final decision.

"It's going to be loaded at the worlds. They're all hungry so it's great and it keeps me on my toes. I'm doing the 100m and 4x100m and my coach isn' t sure if I'm doing the 200m," said the 28-year-old at the news conference ahead of the Stockholm Bauhaus Athletics, an IAAF Diamond League meeting to be held on Thursday.

Fraser-Pryce is the defending world champion of women's 100m and 200m events and also part of the 4X100m relay team that claimed the title in Moscow worlds two years ago. She has showed a solid form in 100m sprint so far this season, winning the Diamond League Paris meet with a world leading time of 10.74 seconds.

After the victory in Paris, Fraser-Pryce said she would skip the 200m race in Beijing, a decision that was taken by her coach which would allow her to focus on the 100m event. In fact her best 200m mark of the season has merely been 22.37s which ranks 15th so far this year.

However, Fraser-Pryce explained Wednesday that her coach has changed the mind and the door is still open for her to defend the 200m title.

"I've earned the spot but my mind is more on the 100m," she said. "The 200m is definitely more strategic, I'm not an endurance runner so I prefer the 100m."

The 2015 IAAF World Championships will be staged at the National Stadium, better known as the "Birds Nest", which is a place that can bring good memory for Fraser-Pryce.

"I'm looking forward to going back to Beijing," she said, who earned her first Olympic gold medal as she outraced a strong field to win the 100m final in 2008. "It's so ironic when I went in 2008, I had no idea I would get a medal. And here I am, years later, going back as a champion." Endi