Steve Mullings said that it is going to take a 9.7 performance to win the 100m at the Jamaica national trials and that he will be ready. Mulling, who is trained by Lance Brauman in Clermont, Florida, also said his next race will be at those trials and that it is not a guaranty he will make the team.
“People keep on saying that Asafa [Powell] may not make the team, but you have to remember that Asafa has been on Jamaica’s last three Olympic and World Championships teams,” Mullings noted. “He always finds a way to make the team. Some people doubt him but I know he will show up in Kingston. Asafa is the first one to show us Jamaican sprinters that we can run 9.7, so I wouldn’t count out Asafa.”
After three false starts at the Grand Prix in New York Saturday, Jamaica’s sprinter Steve Mullings settled his nerves, got an excellent start and accelerated to hold off a charging Tyson Gay to capture the men’s 100m in 10.26m. Both men were credited with the same time. However, Mulling had to receive medical attention for about 20 minutes after his race and prior to meeting the media.
By running the most sub-10secs 100m this season (9.80, 9.89, 9.97), the 28-year-old Mullings who doesn’t like the limelight is the hottest sprinter on the planet at this point. He trains with Tyson Gay and has a season best 9.80secs. At the post-race press conference, Mulling was in good spirits. “I am very pleased with my performance,” he said. “The false starts did not affect me at all, and despite the weather, I knew that I had to work hard. At the end of the race I could feel Tyson Gay coming.”
After the race, Tyson was seen limping and holding his groin. “Tyson is at about 70% and I am sure he is going to be ready for his national trials, but I am happy for the victory” said Mullings, who noted that he will be running the sprint double at the Jamaica trials.
On Testing Positive in 2004
As the hottest sprinter around, Mullings, who tested positive for a banned substance over seven years ago while running in college at Mississippi State University, was asked once again yesterday to answer questions about his positive test. He served a two-year banned from 2004 to 2005 and returned to competition in 2006.
“When I was in college, I ran at a meet and my coach received a letter in French, after he got it translated, it said that I was tested positive for a banned substance. I immediately took another test and then another, and they both had negative results,” Mullings said, further pointing out that he was in college and did not have the money to contest the positive test.
He is fully aware of the dark cloud of suspicion that hangs over his head and insists that he is clean. “I know that as long as I am competing, people will continue to ask me that question. I am willing to take a DNA test, but I don’t know what will be achieved by that since I know that I am clean,” he said. -Edited by Desmond Palmer