Connaughton to run in two events at worlds

http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?sid=275486&sc=99

Connaughton to run in two events at worlds
P.E.I. runner gets the OK to compete in the 200 metres

The Guardian

Islander Jared Connaughton will be drawing double duty at the 2009 world track and field championships in Berlin later this month.

The New Haven native received the green from the Canadian team coaches on Wednesday to also run in the 200 metres at the championships, which will be held Aug. 15-23.

Connaughton was already on the men’s 4x100-metre relay team, along with Sam Effah, Bryan Barnett, Hank Palmer, Gavin Smellie and Oluseyi Smith.

The Canadian men posted a seasonal best time of 38.62 at the recent Aviva Grand Prix in London.

Connaughton, running the third leg, helped the Canadians finish sixth at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing last summer.

The 200-metre lanes are familiar ground for the 24-year-old Connaughton.

He won the national 200-metre title (20.34) in 2008 en route to a breakout season which culminated with a 200-metre semifinal appearance in Beijing.

But he ran only one 200-metre race before the Canadian nationals track and field championships last month in Toronto while focusing on improving his 100-metre times.

Connaughton finished second in the 200 metres (20.78) and third in the 100 metres (10.47) at the nationals.

In 2005, he won the 100-metre and 200-metre events at the Canada Games in Regina and became the first Islander to win double-gold in a single set of Games.

The gold medals also were P.E.I.’s first since 1969.

He’s currently training in Kamen, Germany