World Indoor Track and Field Championships in Lisbon, Portugal.

Bermuda Track and Field Association were last night awaiting word from the world governing body, IAAF, in response to a request that triple jumper Brian Wellman be granted entry, despite not having met the qualifying standard.

Wellman, a former World Indoor champion, came closest to attaining the set standard of 17.15 metres when he leapt 16.82 in winning the triple jump competition during the Razorback Invitational in January.

He, along with the likes of Devon Bean (long jump), Terrence Armstrong (1500 metres) and Xavier James (60 metres), had been looked at as prime candidates to make up a Bermuda squad. However, last night that was looking increasingly doubtful.

"We likely won't have a team, because no one has met the qualifying standards,'' said BTFA president Judith Simmons. "But what we have done is propose someone who is close to the standard, and we have to wait for that (confirmation or rejection) to come back.'' Simmons further explained how, unlike the Olympics and other major competitions such as the Commonwealth and Pan American Games, the Worlds did not include much in terms of heats, preferring to merely run every event as a final.

Hence, if athletes didn't match or exceed the qualifying standard set for any event, there were very few avenues for achieving entry, particularly with there being no wild card or `back door' route.

"One thing about the indoors competition that is different from the other (major) competitions is that they only want to run finals,'' added Simmons.

"Therefore you don't have the opportunity to present a whole slate of athletes and then break them down into finals through heats.

"So, for the field events they would only have eight finalists. They would go by the standards set and if they do not have enough that have met those standards then they would choose people that have come close to meeting them.'' Wellman, despite being on the downside of a stellar career that has spanned more than 12 years on the international circuit and three Olympic Games, was largely viewed as Bermuda's best hope of medalling in Europe.

Wellman actually holds the meet record of 17.72 metres, which he set back in 1995 when Barcelona, Spain, hosted the championships.

Before that the Bermudian was fourth at the 1992 Olympic Games, also in Barcelona, while '95 also saw Wellman wind up second at Gothenburg during the World Outdoor Championships, when Britain's Jonathan Edwards set the world record.

As for Bean, James and Armstrong, none came close to earning spots, although, like many athletes, their primary focus remains on preparing for the outdoor season, with the World Outdoors set for Edmonton, Alberta and the CAC Games looming in El Salvador.

Brian Wellman: Bermuda's former World Indoor champion failed to qualify for this weekend's championships in Portugal.