BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - EVEN at the age of 37, Kim Collins continues to be considered one of the top sprinters in the world and is determined to compete in the 2014 Olympics slated for Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
In a recent interview with the UK Daily Mail, Collins wants to defend his 2011 World 100m bronze in Moscow in August and carry on to his sixth Olympic Games in Rio in 2016.
Now in his 18th year since making his international debut in the 4x100m relay at the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg, Collins said he is still 'bursting' to run quick times.
“You are looking at an unbelievable record: 10 consecutive World Championship appearances. I don't think another sprinter will be able to go to 10 World Championships and five Olympic Games and I'm planning to go to Rio, too.
“That will be my sixth Olympics, and I'm taking the fifth in London. I don't care, because I did qualify for it. I will make it to Rio and I will be a 40-year-old Olympian.
“The good thing about track and field is you have to run the qualifying time and they can't take that away from you. They have no choice but to pick me. That's what the IAAF rules say,” Collins was quoted as saying.
Collins still claims that he had no regret for what occurred almost 12 months ago at the London Olympics and insists that all eight men in the 100m final would have gone under 10 seconds if he had participated.
Collins was kicked out of London 2012 for visiting his wife. He was given permission to leave the Olympic village for a night but had his accreditation cancelled after it was claimed he had gone missing for days.
“Even men in prison get their wives to visit,” he said.
He also thinks the Federation might have been celebrating a medal in the sprint relay had those in charge acted more appropriately.
“It was politically motivated and I don't care for politics. There’s no way a mature, experienced athlete, who is responsible for being part of the team, can be treated like that.
“If I want to do something I do it because it's the right thing to do. I'm not going to mess with my name, the name I was given before I was born: Kim Collins. I love the sport and there's nothing anybody can say that can stop me from doing what I love.
“I was assured my wife could come along as my coach. Everybody knew my wife was coming...it was no big deal. It was politically motivated and the sad thing is, given the chance, they would do the same thing again. They are special, believe me.
“I do believe our relay team would have had a medal and I would have been in the final and all eight men would have gone under 10 seconds. I haven't even seen the race yet. I don't really care to.
“They are going to go and go until they kill the sport and they kill the athletes in the sport. I'm trying to fight the battle for the younger guys. But it has been like this forever. The guys are cowering but I am telling what needs to be said. I explain to the world.”
He just laughs - a deep, hearty chuckle - when asked whether the verbal grenades hurled off the track have any effect on it. Then Collins declares the current crop of sprinters have gone soft, the media house wrote.
“There's no trash talk now!” says Collins. “Back when Donovan Bailey and Dennis Mitchell were around, that was extreme trash talk. They would come up to your lane and move your blocks. They would change lanes to be next to you. It was totally different. It's more sensitive now,” the athlete said.
It is still left to be seen whether Collins will represent the Federation after he vowed in 2012 to never do so again.
