Graham pessimistic on Montgomery chances

Tim Montgomery’s former coach Trevor Graham is convinced the world record holder will not qualify for the 100 metre final at the World Championships.

Montgomery, who broke Maurice Greene‘s record in 2002 in Paris with a time of 9.78 seconds, has been experiencing a difficult season with 10.04 his best time of 2003 so far.

He claimed a few days ago that his bad performances were mainly due to a peanut allergy but according to Graham that is a red herring.

“I don’t see how Tim could have managed to sort out his huge technical problems in just 10 days,” Graham said in L’Equipe.

“From what I have seen in his latest races his problems are far more serious than a peanut allergy.

“I don’t think he will even qualify for the final.”

Graham also believes Greene is a waning force in athletics.

“Greene is less strong than he used to and I don’t really know why,” Graham added.

“But we cannot exclude him because I know (Greene’s coach) John Smith enough to know that his athletes are always ready for major events.”