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VIENNA –- Despite a shaky start to his season last weekend in Glasgow, three-time European 60 meter champion Jason Gardener said he’s on the right track in his lead-up to a title defense next month in Birmingham, England.
I’m pleased to have run better than I did in Glasgow,” Gardener said after his 6.62 victory at Tuesday’s Athleticbet.com Indoor Classic in Vienna. “I’m coming back from flu so Glasgow was a really big shock for me.”
At Glasgow’s Norwich Union International Match last Saturday, the 31-year-old Briton was a distant second to compatriot Craig Pickering in 6.70, well behind his training partner’s 6.55. In the first round in Vienna, he produced a relaxed 6.58, a performance he said that was much more indicative of his current form.
“My goal was 6.5 something, because I thought that was more reflective of my training indicators. I think that since I’m just coming back into competition, I’m trying too hard rather than letting the rhythm do what it can do. I’m fighting for a fast time.” Smiling, he added, “My training partner is running very well. I know that I can run faster.”
Pickering, still only 20, has been the sprint surprise thus far this season, after producing a string of personal bests include a 6.56 and Saturday’s 6.55 which currently ties him with American Shawn Crawford as the season’s fastest.
But is Pickering, the 2003 World Youth bronze medallist and 2005 European Junior champion in the 100 meters, the “real deal”?
“I think he has good potential,” Gardener said. “I think he has a lot of attributes of being a very good athlete.
“But ‘real deal,’ that’s really too easy a label to put on somebody who’s had a couple good performances whilst the pressure’s not really being put on them,” Gardener, also the 2004 World Indoor champion, added. “We’ll see how he gets on at the European championships, that’ll be a really good starting point for him. And we’ll see what he can do in the summer. But he’s very professional, he works hard, and he is a talent.
“But I’ve been around too many talented athletes in my time to know that they can come and go. The ‘real deals’ are the guys who can run 6.4s and break world records. But he’s got off to a good start.” Gardener’s career best is 6.46, tying him as the 10th fastest ever.
The pair will square off again on Saturday at the Sparkassen Cup in Stuttgart where they’ll face their toughest opposition this season. Compatriot Mark Lewis Francis, European record holder (6.45) Ronald Pognon of France, Nigerian African record holder in the 100m Olusoji Fasuba, and American Marcus Brunson, are all expected to compete.
Gardener said he didn’t feel much pressure about his upcoming continental title defense on home soil until his sub-par season’s debut last week. He initially intended for a low-key opener, but struck by a bout of the flu, he was forced to change his plan.
“So I had to go and open up in Glasgow. And with all the press there, and with Craig so fast already, I didn’t deal with it as good as I had liked. Now I’ll be a lot more confident after [Vienna], and I’ll be a lot more confident going into Stuttgart. And I know what it takes to run faster than that. I’ve done it many times before and I know from my training that I’ll continue to get a lot quicker.”
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