27 April 2011 

Carmelita Jeter, the second fastest woman in history, will compete at both the Aviva Birmingham Grand Prix and the Aviva London Grand Prix in a double-diamond swoop on the UK this summer

The 31-year-old has announced her plans to run the 200m at the Birmingham Alexander Stadium on 10 July and 100m at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre 5-6 August, which will take 100 days from now.

Jeter was ranked number one female sprinter in the world in 2010 and is currently the only woman to break 11 seconds in the 100m this year, having notched an impressive early season 10.99 secs at the Walnut Mt SAC Relays competition back in her home country, the USA.

And Jeter admits she is feeling on top of the world after her blistering start to the season believing the stage is set for her to add to the two bronze medal she has won at the 2007 and 2009 IAAF World Championships when she travels to Daegu this August.

She said: “I’m looking forward to running in both Birmingham and London, I love both cities and the Aviva Series meets are ones I always enjoying competing in.

“Training has obviously gone well, I was really pleased with my time last week, it’s great to lay down a strong marker so early in the season. I’ll be looking for victory by the time we get to the Aviva London Grand Prix as that will be one of the last meets before the World Championships so everyone is looking to set out their stall. But there’s a long time to go until then, and it’s about making sure I’m in the best shape possible throughout the summer. Who knows, the world record may come with that but it’s not my main focus.
 
“It was great being the top ranked female sprinter in the world last year but now the aim is to translate that into medals. I’m confident though that if I keep on working hard and listening to my coach that I’ll be ready to run fast and hard both in the UK and then in Daegu.”
Despite many trips to the UK, including three alone last season, July’s event will be the first time Jeter will compete outdoors in Birmingham, the city that is set to become the USA’s holding camp next year ahead of the 2012 London Olympics.

She last competed in the city at the Aviva Grand Prix at the NIA in February last year, where she narrowly beat LaVerne Jones-Ferrette over 60m with a time of 7.06 secs.

Having spent her time socialising with athletics starlets from Birchfield Harriers on her last trip to Birmingham, Jeter is keen to repeat the exercise and explore the local culture ahead of the vital pre-competition training camp in just over a year’s time.

She added: “Birmingham is a great city, I spent some time meeting youngsters there last year and have run a few times indoors and I vowed that if possible I might try and find a bit of time to do some more shopping at the Bullring! It was a good opportunity to see a bit more of what the city’s like, which is something every American athlete is keen to do as we look to make the Olympic team next year.”

And with excitement building around the impending Royal Wedding this Friday, Jeter admits she is disappointed not to be there in person to join in the celebrations, but says she will be eagerly watching the day unfold on television.
 
“It’s a shame we’re not running there this week as I could have checked out a different Palace, for the Royal Wedding,” said Jeter.” I’m a big fan of the British traditions and the States seem to be pretty excited about the wedding. Every athlete has to deal with nerves before a big race, which I guess Kate Middleton might have to as well.”