Odean Skeen intends to open his campaign towards this summer’s Olympic Games with a 60m dash in the second American Track League meeting in Fayetteville, Arkansas this weekend.
The talented 26-year-old sprinter, whose progress over the years has been stymied by injury, says he is fit and ready to go as he takes his first steps towards booking a spot on Jamaica’s team to Tokyo.
“Everything is fully fit. I am ready to go,” Skeen told Sportsmax.TV earlier today from his base in the United States where he trains under the watch of Michael Ford.
Skeen, who has a personal best of 9.98s, was a high school track star in Jamaica and was seen as the next great sprinter to emerge from the island famous for producing the likes of Usain Bolt, Donald Quarrie, Yohan Blake, Michael Frater and Nesta Carter.
However, hamstring injuries prevented him from fulfilling his potential. At Auburn University, it was an ankle problem that held him back and which eventually forced him to undergo surgery in 2018. The pandemic then disrupted his training and competition schedules but he now believes he is ready to take his first steps back into competition.
“Training is going great. I am getting stronger but I am going to be focusing on execution not so much on time,” said Skeen about his plans for this weekend.
He will be competing in his first race since he ran a windy 10.35s in Prairie View Texas on July 30 last year in the midst of the pandemic.
Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.
Pulisic hopes Pochettino can improve USA mentality and culture
Christian Pulisic hopes the arrival of new head coach Mauricio Pochettino will improve the United States' mentality and culture, following their 1-1 draw with New Zealand.
The Stars and Stripes were denied a first victory in four matches after Ben Waine's fortuitous equaliser in the 89th minute cancelled out Pulisic's opener in Cincinnati.
Pochettino was officially announced earlier in the day as the successor to Gregg Berhalter, who was dismissed following the United States' poor Copa America campaign.
The former Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea boss will pick up the baton from interim coach Mikey Varas, and Pulisic hopes the Argentine's arrival will spark the nation back into life.
"Hopefully, a culture that is willing to fight, that is willing to take risks, you know, win," the Stars and Stripes skipper said when asked what he wants Pochettino to bring to the role.
"There are a lot of things that need to change, just the mentality and the culture of the group. I think we have the quality, but hopefully that's the first thing he's going to want to change."
Pochettino will also be tasked with improving the United States' results, having now won just one of their last seven matches. And Pulisic issued a rallying cry to his team-mates.
"Obviously, [these are] difficult results for us, and it's not a great feeling," he added.
"But I think moving forward, it's time to turn a page, and we really have to pick up a level - I mean everyone that's a part of this. It feels pretty low right now, but I know there are better times ahead."
Jamaica fifth in Women’s 4x100m relay final in Paris; USA wins gold ahead of Great Britain, Germany
For the first time since the 2008 in Beijing, Jamaica has failed to medal in the Women’s 4x100m at an Olympic Games.
Jamaica’s quartet of Alana Reid, Kemba Nelson, Shashalee Forbes and Tia Clayton produced a season’s best 42.29 fifth in the final at the Paris Olympics at the Stade de France on Friday.
The American quartet of Melissa Jefferson, TeeTee Terry, Gabby Thomas and Sha’Carri Richardson combined to run 41.78 for gold ahead of Great Britain (Dina Asher-Smith, Imani Lansiquot, Amy Hunt) who ran 41.85.
Germany ran 41.97 in third while France were fourth in 42.23.
Hayes seeking to solve "easy fixes" following United States win
Emma Hayes insisted that she will seek to solve "easy fixes" from her United States players despite a resounding 3-0 victory over Zambia in their opening game at the Paris Olympics.
Trinity Rodman's 17th minute strike was followed up by a quickfire double from Mallory Swanson to ensure a winning start to Group B.
Swanson's brace came within 66 seconds of each other, netting the fastest two goals by a single player in a major tournament in the team's history.
Lindsey Horan notched two assists in Nice, becoming the fifth player in USWNT history with multiple assists in an Olympic match, joining Mia Hamm, Heather O’Reilly, Megan Rapinoe and Julie Ertz.
Plenty was made of the United States' form heading into the Games, having endured a goalless draw in their final pre-tournament fixture with Costa Rica.
However, their ruthless first-half showing saw Hayes become the first coach to win their first major tournament match in charge of the USA by a margin of three or more goals.
The former Chelsea head coach has also helped her side keep five clean sheets in her first five games in charge, a record only bettered by Greg Ryan (nine).
In spite of their strong showing, Hayes' side underperformed their expected goals (xG) by 1.96, with only eight of their 27 shots on target in the contest.
They missed a total of nine big chances, while also having 58 touches in the opposition's box compared to Zambia's 11.
But having seen other tournament favourites Spain and Germany kickstart their respective campaigns with victories, Hayes is confident her side can improve to claim a record-extending fifth gold medal.
“The first part of the first half was exceptional,” Hayes said. “To come out the way we did, the intention, the intensity, the decision-making, the execution, it should have been at least 5-0 at half-time.
"There was things within our structure I didn’t like. But that’s easy fixes.
“If we had asked me at the beginning of the game ‘would you be happy with a 3-0 winner?’ I probably would have said no.
"However, for the performance and the chances created and finding the back of the net, I don’t want to be too hard on the players.”
The United States continue their Group B campaign on Sunday where they will face Germany, before travelling to Marseille to face Australia next week.
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