No medal but first for the CI

(CNS): Cydonie Mothersill, the first athlete from the Cayman Islands to reach the finals in an Olympic event, ran a good race in the finals of the Women’s 200-meter sprint in Beijing Thursday, finishing in 22.68 seconds, almost repeating her season’s best time of 22.61 in the semifinals, but there was little chance of a medal running against the powerful Jamaican and US teams.

"I just didn’t have it tonight," Mothersill told Cayman Islands Olympic Committee Journalist Shurna Robbins after the race. "I should be happy, because I have had a rough season, so I should be grateful, but I’m a competitor and I wanted to do better. But I’m thankful that I got in the finals. Only positive things can come out of this. We had a finalist from the Cayman Islands in the 200. I just wish I could have put on a better show."

Mothersill said she really gave it her best but thought that a sore hip that may have impacted her speed. "When you are at this stage – you just have to forget about whatever your body is telling you and try and get your mind strong and that is what I did," she said. "I would have liked to have got a medal and I would have liked to at least come out with a PB (personal best), but like I said – I had a rough season. No one thought I would be in this final – so I am happy."

“I think it was a fantastic performance. I know she had a rough season and she was hurt most of the time,” said Cayman Islands Coach Kenrick Williams. “To be in the finals in the Olympics and to be the first person from the Cayman Islands to make the finals is really a tremendous effort on her part. And I know all Caymanians will be supporting her.”

Noting that Mothersill is now ranked number eight in the world in the 200 metre, he said, "We were hoping for her to get a PR (personal record), but last night she said to me she was having a hip problem," says Coach Williams. "But she was going to put that out of her mind and just go into the race and compete and that is what she did."

This was Mothersill’s first time in the finals in her fourth Olympic bid, and she noted that having five competitors from the Caribbean in the finals was historic in itself.

At 30, Mothersill has not decided yet whether she will have enough left to give the Olympics another go. "Maybe in 2012 I will be there in my heels. I am not sure," she said.

Winning the gold medal was Veronica Campbell-Brown, who successfully defended her Olympic title in a time of 21.74 seconds. It was the fastest time of the year and the seventh fastest of all time, as well as a personal best. In a repeat of the first and second positions in the Athens Games, American Allyson Felix finished in 21.93 for her second consecutive silver medal.

Kerron Stewart captured the bronze with a time of 22.00 seconds. Americans Muna Lee (22.01) and Marshevet Hooker (22.34) took fourth and fifth place, followed by Jamaican Sherone Simpson (22.36). Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie of the Bahamas (left with Mothersill), the Bronze medallist at Athens finished in 22.61, slightly ahead of Mothersill.

It was the fourth career medal for Campbell-Brown, 26, who also won gold in Jamaica’s 4×100 relay in Athens and silver in the relay in Sydney.