Is ‘Harry AA’ Britain’s big Olympic Sprinting Medal Hope?

It goes without saying that the men’s 100metres is the most prestigious event at any Olympic Games.  It is already shaping up to be an intriguing battle.  Most people will look no further than Jamaican star Usain Bolt to finish first over the line.  However, Bolt will face stiff competition, particularly from American Tyson Gay and his Jamaican compatriot Yohan Blake.  Meanwhile, British fans will be desperate for a local challenge to the biggest prize in sprinting and while most will look towards Dwain Chambers to lead the charge, Harry Aikines-Aryeetey will also be desperate to make an impact on home soil.

At 23-years-old, Aikenes-Aryeetey, or ‘Harry AA’ as he prefers to be known, is a full ten years younger than Chambers.  While Chambers is a seasoned professional approaching the back end of his career, Aikenes-Aryeetey will be hoping to build on an extremely promising junior career.  He was a very talented youngster and became the first person to win both the 100m and 200m titles at the World Youth Championship in 2005.  Those performances led to him being awarded the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year and the IAAF’s Rising Star of the Year award in 2005. 

However, it all started way before then for ‘Harry AA’.  Having grown up in Sutton in south-west London, he developed an early interest in football, but apparently when he showed particular speed in escaping a chasing dog aged ten, he was prompted to join Sutton & District AC.  Since then, he has gone from strength to strength and is an extremely powerful sprinter.  In 2006, he posted another milestone in his development by winning gold at the 100m event at the World Junior Championships in Beijing. 

So, you might ask yourself, why isn’t ‘Harry AA’ already a household name?  Unfortunately, he has suffered more than his fair share of injuries since bursting onto the junior scene, which has slowed down his development at senior level.  In 2007, having just been crowned World Junior Champion, he found himself on the sidelines for eleven months due to a back problem.  Harry bounced back, recording a personal best at the 60metres indoor event in France in 2008, signalling a return to form.  He then went on to secure a place in Team GB at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.  Teaming up with Marlon Devonish, Simeon Williamson and Tyrone Edgar, he won a bronze medal in the men’s 4x100metres relay. 

Since then though, injuries have prevented Aikines-Aryeetey from stringing together much kind of form.  He was forced to pull out of the 2010 World Indoor Championship, then returned to fitness to qualify for the European Indoor Championships in 2011, but injury again ruled him out in the end.  Since then though, ‘Harry AA’ has achieved some sort of consistency and is threatening to fulfil his significant potential.  He has since run a personal best at the 200metres event and came a narrow second to Dwain Chambers in the 100metres at the UK Championships.  Chambers admitted after the event that his “age is kicking in now”, especially with the likes of Harry hot on his heels. 

Britain has a good tradition of world-class sprinters, but since the legendary Linford Christie picked up gold in Barcelona in 1992, no British man has come close to an Olympic sprint medal.  Although Team GB will have high hopes that the likes of Mo Farrah and Dai Greene can triumph over longer distances on the track, not too much has been made of British sprint hopes.

Aikines-Aryeetey will be hoping to give the home crowd something to cheer about.  Making it to the final would probably be considered an achievement, but if he can build up a head of steam throughout the competition, an enthusiastic home crowd could help him mount a real medal challenge.  Given that he is now finally able to steer clear of injuries, the Olympic Games will provide ‘Harry AA’ with a long-awaited opportunity to really prove himself at senior level.  What better place to do so than London?