In April of this year, Kim Collins will be 38, which above the average age of a sprinter at any international level. So was it a surprise that when the veteran sprinter was left out of the St Kitts Nevis team to the 2014 World Indoor Championship in Poland?
Apart from his age, what happen in 2012 when he was unceremoniously booted from the St Kitts and Nevis London Olympics team may have been the writing on the wall. However, it is hard to base his inability to make the team based solely on performance as Kim Collins was the world’s fourth fastest man over 60m for 2014.
Kim Collins made his debut at the sprint at the 1996 Olympics and has been St Kitts and Nevis most prominent athlete. His accomplishment includes St. Kitts’ first World Championship medal with a bronze in the 200m. In 2003, Kim Collins won the 100m at World Championship thus becoming the first world champion from Saint Kitts and Nevis.
With all these achievements, was it time for Kim to walk off in the sunset and relax on the warm beaches of St Kitts and Nevis? Some will agree that at his age he should give way to new talent. Now that Kim Collins is out of the 2014 World Indoor Championship this maybe the end of a distinguish career in tracks.
Kim Collins wins the third Men’s 100 metres semi-final
Who is Kim Collins?
Kim Collins (born 5 April 1976) is a former track and field sprinter from Saint Kitts and Nevis. In 2003, he became the World Champion in the 100 metres. He represented his country at the Summer Olympics on five occasions, from 1996 to 2016, and was the country’s first athlete to reach an Olympic final. He competed at ten editions of the World Championships in Athletics, from 1995 to 2015, winning five medals. He was twice runner-up in the 60 metres at the IAAF World Indoor Championships (2003, 2008). At regional level, he was a gold medallist at the Commonwealth Games and a silver medallist at the Pan American Games.
Collins holds a personal best of 9.93 seconds for the 100 m, which is a Saint Kitts and Nevis national record and a M40 world record for men over 40. This makes him the only man over forty years of age to break the 10-second barrier. His indoor personal best of 6.47 seconds for the 60 m is a national record and a M35 world record.
Collins was the bronze medallist over 200 m at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics and became the 100 m champion at the 2002 Commonwealth Games. He won a silver medal over 60 metres at the 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships, before going on to take his outdoor crown. He also won sprint medals at the 2005 World Championships, 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships and 2011 World Championships. A dispute with the Saint Kitts and Nevis administrators saw Collins dropped from the 2012 Olympic Games and he did not return to international duty until 2015.-Wikipedia
