With less than a month to go, evergreen Kim Collins (37) is still fighting for his right to compete in this year’s World Championships (10. – 18. August) after his national association declared he would not represent St. Kitts and Nevis in Moscow following a fall-out at last summer’s Olympics.
The controversies began when Collins left the Olympic Village on agreement with his association to visit his wife but then had his accreditation cancelled as the St. Kitts and Nevis Amateur Athletics Association claimed the 2003 100m World Champion had gone missing for several days. London would have been his fifth Olympic appearance after his debut in 1996.
While other countries would pay a lot of money to have an athlete of Collins’ standard representing them – he ran 9.97s in the Lausanne Diamond League a couple of weeks ago and equalled the 35+ WR previously held by Linford Christie – SKNAAA insist he won’t be competing under the small Caribbean island’s flag at the World Championship.
With time running out fast, the support from other top athletes as well as fans across the globe has been immense, an ePetition has been set up and campaigning across social media platforms is in full swing.
However, with SKNAAA remaining stubborn, Collins has now resorted to exploring new options, the main one being to find a country he could compete for in the future. A spokesperson of the country’s governing body told SKNVibes: “They are rules that govern transfer of nationality or transfer of country. It will be sad to see a sprint icon like Mr. Collins pledge allegiance to another country. But if this is the path that he chooses we wish him the best. We cannot stop him from doing that if this is the path he chooses, and should he become successful with his transfer we wish him all the best.”
Another option for Collins could be to compete under no country’s flag, but as an Independent Athlete. We have seen it in Olympic Games before, that because of different circumstances, athletes competed as Independent Olympians under the IOC flag. However, with Moscow approaching fast, a solution has to be found soon.
Collins’ fall-out with his national governing body isn’t the only one we witnessed this year. Cuba’s former World Record Holder and Olympic Champion Dayron Robles will not compete for his country in Moscow following discrepancies with his national governing body.
