Jul 27, 2010
Jamaican-Born Merlene Ottey About To Become The Oldest Athlete To Compete In The European Championships
Jamaican-born track & field legend, Merlene Ottey, who became a naturalised citizen of Slovenia in 2002, will make history on July 31 at the European championships, when she competes at the age of 50. Ottey, who has been selected in Slovenia’s 4x100m relay squad for the event (after finishing second in the Slovenian championships), will become the oldest athlete to ever compete at a European Championships. The current record is held by France’s Nicole Brakebusch-Leveque, who was 47 years old when she contested the marathon in the 1998 European Championships
Ottey, won nine Olympic medals while competing for Jamaica at seven Olympic Games. She was 48 years old when she missed out on qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Olympics after failing by 0.28 seconds to attain the qualifying mark in the 100M event. She won her first senior world medal, a bronze, at the Moscow Olympics in 1980 (30 years ago), and has won 29 medals at major competitions, including 14 at the World Championships (more than any other athlete).
Notably also, at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, she became the oldest-ever athletics medallist when she anchored the Jamaican women’s 4x100m relay team to second place.