Jana Rawlinson asks for British passport
Twenty eight years old, sprinter Jana Rawlinson is no alien to the world of athletics. Fascinating everyone with her amazing athletic abilities in the field of sprinting as early as 1998, this Australian athlete has potential that is truly unparalleled.
Her first prominent athletics tournament was the National U18 Championships, where she was awarded the first prize in the arena of four hundred meters hurdles. She returned as a sufficiently stronger athlete in 1999, where she was rewarded with the first prize again, but this time not only in the four hundred meters hurdles, but also the two hundred meters and the four hundred meters sprint.
She continued her fabulous form into the year 2000, where she gained well deserved recognition with the IAAF’s Rising Star award. Her personal records are truly worth appreciating, with a completion time of 23.60 seconds in the two hundred meters spectrum, and 50.43 seconds in the four hundred meters spectrum.
She was also ranked first at the 18th Commonwealth Games hosted by Melbourne in 2006. Although this athlete has remained out of action for quite some time now, owing to her personal commitments, it would definitely be amazing to see her return, bringing her unchallenged form, athletic spirit and physical strength and stamina to the field with her.
Some recent happenings concerning Jana Rawlinson however, have taken the arena of athletics by a tremendous amount of surprise. Married to now retired British hurdler Chris Rawlinson, she has made an informal request to the government of the United Kingdom for a British passport, and it is believed that the primary reason behind this advancement is her wish to rejuvenate her stagnant career.
While she has performed under the banner of Australia quite a large number of times, she is still legible to apply for such a position, since she fulfils the requirement of the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) that athletes must go through a period of three years of ineligibility before applying for running for another country.
Accordingly, Jana Rawlinson has not participated in a single tournament ever since her victory at Osaka in 2007. Technically, even if she is granted an approval by the government of the United Kingdom, she will not be able to compete for Britain until the World Championships in Daegu to be held next year, owing to a surgery attempted to relieve her of her Achilles tendon injury only a month ago.
Nicknamed by the Australian tabloids as “Drama Jana,” owing to Rawlinson’s credible act of first divorcing her husband, and then remarrying him four months later, one wonders whether this is an act in the same league to gain attention.
While Jana Rawlinson does have some tremendously beautiful performances to her name, and boasts of some extremely professional acts, in terms of athletic skills, mental aptness, physical stamina, and commitment to the game, one wonders whether she will be able to resume her athletic interests with the same vigour and energy.
Although a three year break could have done her good by allowing her to take a break and relax herself, it could also be seen in a negative connotation that the athlete has lost touch with her forte. Whether Jana Rawlinson is granted permission to play as a member of the British athletic squad is something that remains to be seen, but it can be hoped that if she is, her presence will prove to have a positive impact on the squad’s performance.
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