Unhappy Ta Lou-Smith to seek answers from her coach after Stockholm defeat to African rival

Ivorian sprinter Marie Josee Ta Lou-Smith. Photo: Imago

Unhappy Ta Lou-Smith to seek answers from her coach after Stockholm defeat to African rival

Joel Omotto 15:00 - 03.06.2024

Ivorian sprinter Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith will be seeking answers from her coach after a less than impressive outing at the Stockholm Diamond League.

Africa’s fastest woman Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith will seek a change of strategy from her coach following her second-place finish in the 100m at the Stockholm Diamond League on Sunday.

Ta Lou-Smith headed to Stockholm after featuring in the Oslo Diamond League, where she run the 200m and also finished second, but her time on Sunday was slower than the one she recorded in the 100m in Eugene last month, when she finished sixth.

The former African champion clocked 11.16 to finish behind African Games 100m and 200m champion Gina Mariam Bass Bittaye from the Gambia, who won the race in 11.15, with Britain’s Brittany Brown, who beat her in Oslo, completing the podium in 11.18.

Ta Lou-Smith, who admitted last week that she has been dealing with a leg injury, was not delighted by her performance and will be looking at how to improve from her tactician.

“I am not very satisfied with my race, I need to discuss the result with my coach, but overall it was okay,” Ta Lou-Smith said after the race.

“The goal was to run a Season Best. Next up are the African Championships in Cameroon, the coach will decide in the next days if it´s in the 100m or 200m or in both. We didn´t race a lot this season because I had some niggles in the foot.

“The main focus was to stay in shape and remain healthy. I only felt the foot a little bit today [Sunday] so that´s a promising sign.”

Ta Lou-Smith clocked a season’s best 22.36 to finish second in 200m in Oslo after a time of 11.05 in the 100m at the Prefontaine Classic, the Eugene Diamond League.

That was slower that her time of 10.91 achieved over the distance at the Jamaican Invitational on May 11 which is attributed to the leg problem.

Besides the African Championships in Cameroon this month, Ta Lou-Smith will be flying her country’s flag at the Olympics yet again as she looks to clinch a first medal at the Games after two previous failed attempts.

She managed fourth place in both 100m and 200m at the Rio 2016 Olympics before fourth in 100m and fifth in 200m at the Tokyo Games and at 35, the Paris Olympics offers her the best possible chance to win a medal.

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