The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The Fraser family has been a household name on the local track and field scene for a number of years. They now have an Olympic qualifier in Warren Fraser.

Fraser, the 21-year-old student at Clemson University, is expected to represent the Bahamas along with 2009 IAAF World Championships’ silver medallist Derrick Atkins in the men’s 100 metres at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England, July 27 to August 12.

After spending the past few days at home training with his long-time coach Fritz Grant, Fraser is all packed and ready to leave today for South London where he will be attending a training camp put on by the Bahamas Olympic Committee before he heads into the Olympic Village next week.

“I’m just ready to go, ready to get over there. I need a new scenery to get me fired up again, get that fire in me and once that’s there, I’m going to keep going with that killer mentality,” he said.

Although he is what you consider a young prospect in the sport, Fraser feels that he could have easily been heading to his second Olympics, but he’s grateful that God has given him the ability to make his debut this year.

“I had a lot of injuries that had sidetracked me, but I worked through it and everything worked out in my favour,” he said. “So I’m just happy and excited to be on the team. I’m ready to go. Some people have been waiting all their lives, but I am finally getting to live out my dream of competing at the Olympics.”

Grant, who has coached Fraser since his days as a high school standout at Temple Christian School, said his protégé is looking extremely well and should be ready to run very fast at the Games.

“He’s going to have to PR (run a personal best). He will have to run 10.0s in order to advance,” Grant said. “I think he’s mentally tough and ready to do that. He’s getting fine tuned to be ready to run his first two rounds and he’s confident and ready to go and compete and represent the country very well at his first Olympics.”

Once he can execute all phases of his race, Grant said there’s no reason why he can’t celebrate right here at home as he watches Fraser advance through the rounds in London.

“He’s ready to go and I think he will advance,” Grant said. “Being a freshman in his first Olympics, I think it’s going to be a great experience for him and even Trevorvano Mackey, who will also be competing for the first time. I think the male sprinters are finally catching up with the women and it speaks well for the future of the sport.”

In the meantime, Fraser said he’s looking forward to lowering his personal best of 10.18 seconds and making it as far as he can through the qualifying rounds.

“That’s my goal and I’m sticking with that,” he said. “We just had to take a little time off because I’ve been competing every weekend since NCAAs, so I had to take a little time off before the Games. I’ve just been resting trying to give my body some time to recover.”

There will be no rest for the weary once the Games start as Fraser could end up getting matched up with the highly acclaimed Jamaican duo of world record holder and defending Olympic champion Usain Bolt and current world champion Yohan Blake, who pulled off the sprint double at the recent Jamaican trials.

“There’s nothing for me to worry about because all of the attention will be on them,” he said. “I hope they put me with them because every round, I’m going to go out there to run as hard as I could because I really want to get through the rounds and see how far and how fast I can run.

“Every round will be an experience for me and all of the younger athletes. But I’m going to go out there and compete against all of the people that everybody’s talking about. So I hope to one day get my name up there too just like everybody has been doing.”

Fraser’s only regret for the Games is the fact that the men’s 4 x 100 relay team didn’t qualify.

“I know we would have had a greater chance of getting to the top, but things happen,” Fraser said. “We’re going to get it together very soon. Once everybody has the right mentality, we will rise to the top and show everybody that we can run just as fast as the rest of the world.”

One of the things the world will be paying attention to is the American men’s basketball team and Fraser said his eye is set on LeBron James of the Miami Heat - the NBA champions.

“I’m a Heat fan, so I’m glad that he’s going to be there,” Fraser said. “Hopefully I can meet him.”

After his performance in London, Fraser is also hoping that people will be asking for his autograph as well.