By Vijay, TrackAlerts.com writer
Javon Francis made it clear he will not have mercy on any sprinters who step into his zone.
Francis said “400m is my event and Blake is 100m and 200m, so coming 400m with me, I am not going to show you any mercy,” he said of Saturday’s clash at the Camperdown Classic with 2011 World 100m champion Yohan Blake.
The former Calabar sprinter, nicknamed ‘Donkey Man’ doesn’t expect to step into Blake’s zone (100 and 200m) and have things easy.
“Once it's 100 or 200, hopefully Blake don’t show me any mercy too,” said Francis, who himself ran both sprints on occasions.
Francis, who left it for the homestretch, won his heat and the overall section in 46.21. Blake, drawn in lane one, finished at the back of the field in heat 3 with a time 48.41, for 16th best time of the day.
Francis admitted, “It was a tough race with Blake and Steele (stopped on the backstretch). Steele a good quarter miler and Blake a world-class athlete, so I just kept my form.”
Javere Bell, who had to fight hard in the last 50 metres of heat 4, just got home in 46.75 ahead of Zharnel Hughes 46.95 and Warren Weir 47.30. Nathan Allen, the only other man to break 47secs, won his heat in 46.85.
