Reigning National 100m record holder Leo Myles-Mills fears his 13 year old record could be broken at the upcoming rLG Ghana Grand Prix in Kumasi.
The 38 year old set the national best of 9.98 during a meet in Boise Idaho in 1999.
This was after Mills had earlier set a new national record of 9.99 in winning a gold medal at the 1999 All African Games in South Africa. The men’s 100 meter event at the rLG Ghana Grand Prix is expected to be one of the main attractions of the nation’s first ever International Track and Field meet.
Jamaican sprinter Oshane Bailey and America’s Terrell Wilks are expected provide a strong challenge for the Ghanaian trio of Aziz Zakari, Emmanuel Appiah-Kubi and Allah Laryea-Akrong.
Myles-Mills, who is currently an athletics coach based at Brigham Young University (USA), fears his all time best performance could be erased from the record books.
“Yes I fear somebody might break my record especially looking at the field of competitors,” Mills said on E TV’S E Sports Live last Monday. “Records are meant to be broken but the longer it sits, the happier I am.
“At the same time I wish somebody could break it. This might be one of the greatest opportunities for these guys.”
Mills, who also won a silver medal at the 2003 All-Africa Games and a bronze medal at the 1998 African Championships, has high expectations of the Grand Prix which will offer a good platform for locally based athletes.
“I’m expecting a great competition and a good show,” he said. “The guys coming are already in shape, they have already run 10.00’s, 21.00’s anything is possible.”
Mills jokingly added that he is yet to retire from international athletics despite having failed to compete for the national since 2004.
“No, not officially; I wish I could still come back but it’s hard. My body is not functioning but I’m still in it. I have not stopped “I’m coaching and running. I demonstrate with the guys and they make me work.
Myles-Mills, a native of Dansoman, Accra, has represented Ghana in international competition since he qualified for the national team in 1998.
He took third that year in the 100-meters at the African Championships in Senegal, which qualified him to compete on the Africa team in the World Cup in athletics in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Myles-Mills competed in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens where he qualified for the semi-finals in the 100m.
He also competed in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, finishing ninth in the semi-finals of the 100-meter race.