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| Shawn Crawford © Gallo Images |
Shawn Crawford is one of the more colourful characters on the athletics circuit, but the man who glories in the nickname 'Cheetah Man' is hoping that he can upset the odds in Berlin and take the 200m title.
If that sounds an unlikely scenario given the current form of
Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay, his track record proves he is always up
for a challenge.
For the 31-year-old, 2004 Olympic 200m champion - a former
training partner of disgraced sprinter Justin Gatlin - has
previously raced a giraffe and a zebra in 2003.
The giraffe came off second best but the zebra overcame a slow
start to beat the extrovert American - however that did not deter
him from believing he could have had the zebra's stripes.
"Tell the zebra I coulda whooped him," he told ESPN the
Magazine.
Crawford, who has also stated he wants to run in war paint,
having already worn a Phantom of the Opera mask at a meeting in
Milan, has also shown that he is not all bluster and
self-promotion.
Having failed to defend his title successfully at last year's
Olympics, finishing a distant fourth behind Bolt he found himself
promoted ultimately to second as compatriot Wallace Spearmon and
Netherlands Antilles Churandy Martina were disqualified.
Crawford, though, was plainly embarrassed and, in a sport not
known for its humility, he handed the silver medal to Martina - who
would have been the first ever Olympic medallist from the island.
However, for Crawford it was important he did give Martina the
medal.
"I felt like it was a burden off my shoulders," said Crawford at
the US trials in late June.
"I can't do anything about that," he said. "He (Martina) knows
where my heart is."
Crawford showed he was in top form at the trials winning the 200 m in style even if he was deprived of facing Gay, who
automatically qualified for the world championships as defending
champion.
Crawford put the race down as one of the finest of his career as
he timed a wind assisted 19.73 seconds.
"That's the fastest my body has ever moved in its lifetime, so
I'm happy with that," said Crawford, whose personal best with a
legal wind is 19.79, recorded back in 2004, the year he won Olympic
200m gold.
Crawford put down the improvement in his performance to
celebrated coach Bobby Kersee.
"We've been practising just driving the first 120m and let
your body carry you the rest of the way," said Crawford, who
admitted he was a little sceptical.
"I've been doubtful about doing it in my previous races. But I
was like, in the final, what have I got to lose?"
Exactly the sentiments he will have when he lines up he hopes in
the world final alongside Gay and Bolt as nobody will be expecting
'Cheetah Man' to upset the formguide - apart from himself of
course.
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