Day One of the JAAA/Puma National Junior & Senior Championships came to an exciting end last night as Kishane Thompson stunned the crowd with a massive personal best in the men’s 100 metres preliminaries.
The MVP Track Club athlete easily had the performance of the night when he sprinted away from the runners in his heat to stop the clock in 9.82 seconds, three-hundredths of a second better than his previous best. The powerful athlete had to rein himself in at the end of the race as he was moving so far away from his rivals.
His time sees him tie the fastest by a Jamaican this year, equalling the time set by Oblique Seville earlier this month and second globally behind Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala’s 10.79.
Thompson was the night’s fastest semifinal qualifier ahead of Ackeem Blake, 9.95, and Seville, 9.98.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson laid fitness concerns to rest on their way to qualifying for the women’s 100m semifinals.
Fraser-Pryce had her trademark bullet start as she crossed the line in 10.98 in her heat while Jackson was also impressive with a time of 10.99.
In the girls’ under-20 100m, it was the Sabrina Dockery, Theianna-Lee Terrelonge and Shanoya Douglas show as the trio were a class above their rivals.
Dockery became the second-fastest Jamaican junior this year when stopped the clock in 11.21, while Terrelonge qualified in 11.27.
The versatile Douglas was a picture of calm in her heat, powering home in 11.40.
Deandre Daley and Gary Card were the pick of the lot in the boys’ under-20 100m as the duo clocked 10.16 and 10.38, respectively.
World champion out of contention
There was drama in the men’s 400m event semi-finals as reigning World champion Antonio Watson will not feature at the Olympics as he pulled up in heat two of the semi-finals.
Watson had only raced thrice this year over the distance, with his last appearance being in May at the Jamaica Athletics Invitational.
Sean Bailey took the event in 44.95 as the fastest qualifier, just ahead of JeVaughn Powell, 45.00.
Demish Gaye, 45.18, Zandrion Barnes, 45.34, and Rusheen McDonald, 45.60, also booked their spots in the final with Anthony Cox, 45.98, rounding out the qualifiers.
Malik James-King was in fine form in the men’s 400m hurdles as he was the only qualifier to dip below the 49-second barrier as he stopped the clock in 48.68.
He finished ahead of Titans track and field club teammate Assinie Wilson who also booked his place in the finals with a time of 49.88.
National record holder Roshawn Clarke also advanced. He won his heat in 49.06.
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