ljubljana , slovenia (cmc)
Legendary Jamaican-born sprinter Merlene Ottey, who now competes for Slovenia, has fallen short in her bid to qualify for a record eighth appearance at an Olympic Games.
Ottey, who turned 48 years old in May, was attempting - at two meets over the past week - to make qualifying marks for the 100 metres at the Beijing Olympics but did not measure up.
Competing at a meeting in the Slovenian city of Maribor, Ottey placed second in the women's 100 metres and missed out on the mark in less-than-ideal conditions.
Head wind
She raced against a head wind and missed out by 0.28 seconds.
Qualifying standards for the women's 100 metres in Beijing are 11.32 (A) and 11.42 (B) seconds.
Ottey, who has competed at every Olympic Games since her first as a 20-year-old in Moscow 1980, collected a total of eight Olympic medals for Jamaica between 1980 and 2000, but switched allegiance to Slovenia and ran for her adopted country at the Athens Olympics in 2004.
She became a Slovenian citizen in 2002.
Ottey is the third-fastest woman all-time over 200 metres at 21.64 seconds and number four all-time in the 100 metres at 10.74 seconds.
In addition to her eight Olympic medals, she has won 14 World Championship medals, including 200-metre gold in 1993 and 1995.
Do
you have a problem? Is something bothering
you? Write to