Knott sustains drive for Tokyo slot

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KRISTINA Knott sustained her drive for an Olympic slot yesterday with strong runner-up finishes in the women’s 100 and 200-meter runs against an elite cast in the 11th International Castiglione athletic meet in Castiglione, Italy.

Given a six-day respite from her last meet, Knott was in competitive shape for both events, capping her day by clocking 23.19 seconds in the 200-meter dash behind Ivorian track star Marie-Josee’ Ta Lou, who ruled the race in 22.88 seconds. Italy’s Irene Siragusa was third in 23.55.

A Southeast Asian Games double gold medalist, Knott also had a fine run in the century sprint, clocking 11.30 seconds behind Talou, a 2019 world championship bronze medalist in the same event in Doha, Qatar, (10.96), while  Frenchwoman Cynthia Le Duc settled for third (11.39).

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Knott’s clocking in the 200 was just slightly off her national mark of 23.01 seconds set in the 30th SEA Games two years ago and a shade over the Olympic qualifying standard of 22.80 seconds.

Her time in the 100 was three-tenths of a second above her national standard of 11.27 booked at the Drake Blue Oval meet in Des Moines, Iowa in August 2019 and .15 of a second over the Olympic qualifying cut of 11.15 seconds.

American coach Rohsaan Griffin said he was pleased with how Knott performed in windy racing conditions and considering there was 45-minute interval between her races.

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