Yes he is back! Just in case you had written him off, Yohan Blake announced his intentions for the season by powering to a World Lead (WL) of 9.95s to win the men’s 100m at the MVP Track and Field meet in Jamaica.
Bugged by injuries which have seen him struggle to reignite his 2012 form when he ran 9.69s, joint third fastest time in history, this is the first time Blake is going under 10s since then.
At the meet on Saturday, Blake started brightly and was able to withstand the early pressure from Andrew Fisher, taking control of the race in the last 50m as other athletes trailed in his wake.
Rasheed Dwyer came in 2nd in 10.10s, same time as Zharnel Hughes who left it late as he nipped 3rd, usurping Fisher who initially looked assured of a podium placement until he faded.
Last year, Blake missed out on the Jamaican team to the 2015 World Championship in Beijing having finished 6th in the semifinals with a time of 10.36s, and failing to progress to the final.
At Jamaica’s 2014 National Championships, Blake clocked 10.02s and in 2015, his fastest time was 10.12s, which he did in Dublin. He would be delighted at going below 10s as the Rio 2016 Olympics beckons.
Being an Olympic Silver medallist, Blake would hope to hit his 2012 form and challenge his compatriot and World Record (WR) holder, Usain Bolt, not forgetting Justin Gatlin who ran a wind aided 9.90s at the Bahamas Invitational on the same day.
