The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

A series of injuries have kept high hurdler Shamar Sands out of action for the past two years. Now, he's back and eager to make his presence felt at the XXX Olympiad in London, England, in July.

Sands, who turned 27 on April 30, made his return on May 9 at the Cayman Invitational where he clocked 13.56 seconds, which went under the B qualifying mark of 13.60.

The A standard is 13.52 which he hopes to achieve with a few more meets under his belt.

For now, Sands said he's just thrilled that his competitive juices are flowing again.

"It feels great. I'm just happy to be healthy again and to be able to compete at a level that I know I'm capable of," said Sands, who is in town for a week's relaxation with his family and friends.

It was on June 17, 2009, in Ostrava, Czech Republic when Sands ran a personal best of 13.38 for a new national record. The performance came a year after he reached the quarterfinals of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Sands, who made his international breakthrough with a semifinal appearance at the 2001 World Youth Championships in Athletics and won a bronze medal at the 2002 World Junior Championships, said the Cayman Islands gave him a good test of where he's at physically.

"I think my opener was extremely good," Sands reflected. "To run 13.56 in my first race in two years, an Olympic B standard, I think that's pretty decent. So I can only get better and I plan to get better from here."

In that meet in the Cayman Islands, Sands got sixth. His time placed him 41st on the IAAF performance list so far this year.

The good news, however, is the fact that there are 22 Americans, half of the list, ahead of him and only three will be allowed to compete at the Olympics. "That's just my first race and a lot of these guys already ran five, six times, even more," Sands said.

"I know when I get more races in this season, my time will continue to drop. But obviously the key is to stay healthy, which I always have a problem with, but I think I've gotten it down now. I just need to be able to practice, run and stay healthy. Once I can do that, everything will be fine.

"Being away from the sport for as long as I did was a challenge. But you learn from it and I think my time off has strengthened me mentally and even physically. I'm been looking at more tapes at the hurdles and I've been able to learn to respect my craft. So I've been trying to make sure that I come back with a bang."

To ensure that he did, Sands returned to Auburn in October where he reunited with coach Henry Rolle who groomed him from the time he left St Augustine's College with a promising career to excel at the collegiate and world level.

"It's been great. I had an initial groin injury which had me out for the whole year," he said. "Then in January, coming into the later months this year, I had a nagging hamstring injury.

"But I've gotten it under control. I was supposed to compete indoors but the hamstring closed the door on that. I got it under control and I'm healthy now and I got the outdoor season rolling."

Having gotten off to such a late start, Sands said he has found himself in a dilemma, getting into the major international meets leading up to the Olympics. "I was trying to get in the Brazilian meets but they were already filled," he said. "So in the next couple of days, I will know where I will compete next."

As for the remainder of the season, Sands said if he can stay healthy, he's confident that he can run in the low 13 seconds this year and possibly be a contender for a lane in the final in London.

"I've been in great shape this year, probably the best shape in my life," he stated. "So the low 13s is very much possible and an Olympic final is something that I could achieve."

Hopefully, if he can put it all together, this could be the year that Sands revitalizes his injury-plagued career.