Double Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson has further underlined her status as the woman to beat at the forthcoming World Championships in London, after extending her World Lead (WL) to a scorching time of 10.71s in the 100m final on Day 2 of the Jamaica National Championships.
The 24-year old had earlier set a WL of 10.78s at the Shanghai Diamond League in May, thus claiming the Top 2 fastest times in the world this year.
She clocked a time of 10.99s to win the semis earlier in the day, before retaining her national title in the final. She was followed by Simone Facey (11.04s), Jura Levy (11.06s) and Natasha Morrison (11.09s). Shashalee Forbes (11.10s) and Christania Williams (11.13s) placed 5th and 6th respectively.
Thompson, who will not compete in the 200m in London, said after her race: “Stephen Francis is a great coach, he has decided what I’m going to run at the World Championships and I have to just work with the flow”.
Veteran sprinter Veronica Campbell-Brown did not compete in the 100m after pulling out of the heats earlier: “I was forced to withdraw from the JA National Senior Championships due to discomfort in my right knee”, she said via social network site, Twitter.
Meanwhile, Yohan Blake has fired warning shots to his rivals after successfully defending his title with the second fastest time in the world – 9.90s in the 100m. Julian Forte settled for 2nd place in 10.04s as Senoj-Jay Givans (10.05s) and Micheal Campbell (10.07s) placed 3rd and 4th respectively.
Former World Record (WR) holder Asafa Powell clocked the 4th overall fastest time of 10.15s in the semis, but opted out of the final.
20-year old Jaheel Hyde claimed the men’s 400m Hurdles title ahead of Kemar Mowatt even though both athletes clocked 48.53s. Ricardo Cunningham finished 3rd in 48.83s, and Andre Clarke 4th (49.19s).
Ronda Whyte emerged the surprise winner in the women’s 400m Hurdles after storming to GOLD in a Personal Best (PB) of 54.29s.
Rio 2016 finalist Ristananna Tracey followed in 54.49s, as Leah Nugent placed 3rd in 54.54s. In a surprising twist, Janieve Russell, who has clocked the fastest time by a Jamaican this year (54.14s), finished 4th (55.34s). Nikita Tracey (55.70s) and Kaliese Spencer (55.82s) were 5th and 6th.
Jessicca Noble won the women’s Long Jump with a leap of 6.46m, while Shanice Mcpherson and Tissanna Hickling followed with 6.43m and 6.37m respectively.
