Ruky Abdulai will make her season’s debut this Wednesday evening at the Lafarge High Performance meet scheduled for the Swan Track at Rotary Stadium.
Abdulai, a member of the Valley royals and a world-class athlete in the heptathlon qualified for selection to the London Olympics last summer by scoring 6,212 pts. in placing 13th at the World Championships in Daegu, Korea.
But alas the stress of a rigorous training routine resulted in Abdulai suffering a foot injury. Surgery was done that was supposedly going to remedy the pain she was experiencing but she even after a recovery period she still experienced severe discomfort. Finally the doctors suggested she take six weeks away from training in hopes that with the aid of treatments the scar tissue resulting from the injury would dissolve.
With that rest period over and the Canadian Championships in Edmonton the last week of this month fast approaching, Abdulai decided she had to get going or give up her Olympic dreams. All athletes wishing to compete in London even if they have previously surpassed the performance standard must take part in Edmonton and finish no less then third in their event. Two other Canadian athletes, Jessica Zelinka and Brianne Thiessen have scored 6,3939 and 6,253 pts. respectively, so Abdulai needs to be well prepared for Edmonton.
On Wednesday evening Abdulai will take part in the 100-meter hurdles and javelin two of the seven-event heptathlon that are key to her success in both Edmonton and London.
Jarid Vaughan of the Coquitlam Cheetahs and a former NCAA competitor for a university in Texas will take part in the men’s 100-meters on Wednesday. Vaughan has for a number of years been one of Canada’s most dependable sprinters but like Abdulai he has also been hampered by injuries. With a best time in the 100-meters of 10.51 seconds, Vaughan is a favorite to win the short sprint on Wednesday.
The main part of the meet begins at 6:20 p.m. and continues until 8:20 p.m. There is no admittance charge so everyone is invited to come out and enjoy a couple of hours of track and field.
