On August 1, 2021, Britany Anderson lined up in lane seven of the final of the Tokyo Olympics 100m hurdles. Having run 12.40, a personal best and the second-fastest time going into the final, only Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, who set an Olympic record of 12.26 in her semi-final, was faster.
Expectations of a medal were high for the 20-year-old Jamaican but it was not to be. She hit the sixth hurdle, managed to clear the seventh but then stumbled, lost her momentum and with it any chance of a place on the podium and making history as the first woman from the Caribbean to win an Olympic medal in the event.
That honour went to her compatriot, Megan Tapper, who finished third behind world record holder Kendra Harrison of the United States, who won silver and Camacho-Quinn, who created history of her own becoming the first Puerto Rican woman to win an Olympic gold medal.
During a recent sit-down with Sportsmax.TV where she talks about her improvement this season, how her training group and her faith in God, have helped her successfully transition to senior competition, Anderson revealed that running her personal best in the semi-final impacted her in a way that she did not expect.
“My emotions were all over the place. I was crying. I was excited, I was overwhelmed,” she said about what caused her to lose her focus after running her lifetime best in the semi-final.
“In the final, I don’t know what…it was like, something went wrong, not just with the hurdles, but because I was so overwhelmed and it was my first senior games, everything was just all over the place.”
Nevertheless, she said she was not disappointed at the eventual outcome saying that she felt like she had won just to make the finals at the Olympic Games.
It is with that mindset that Anderson has approached the start of the new season wherein the span of three weeks she ran three-lifetime bests in the indoors 60m hurdles. Starting at the Millrose Games on January 29, Anderson, who turned 21 in January, ran a lifetime best of 7.91 to defeat a field that included Kendra Harrison.
Just about a week later, she lowered that time to 7.88 while finishing second to Danielle Williams, who ran a then-personal best 7.83 at the New Balance Grand Prix in New York.
Six days later, at the American Track League Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, Anderson would go even faster clocking 7.82, the fourth-fastest time in the world. Only Williams (7.75), Harrison (7.81) and Alia Armstrong of the USA (7.81) have been faster.
According to the former Vere and Camperdown athlete, her success this season comes down to the change in mindset bolstered by improving confidence.
“I feel like it was just the mindset that changed from last season to this season. Last season was just something to show me what I could do this season and I bring all of that to this season, worked on what I had to work on in practice and just bring it out there on the track,” she said.
It wasn’t that long ago that Anderson set the World U20 record in the 100m hurdles, 12.71, in July 2019 in Finland. She is the World U18 champion and the silver medallist at the World U20 Championships in Finland in 2018.
Since that time, her transition to the senior ranks has been relatively painless as evidenced by her qualifying for her first Olympic final eight months after she turned 20.
She credits her training partners at Tumbleweed, the training group she joined in 2019, for helping her make the transition to the senior ranks.
“Most parts of it was the people I had around me, like my training partners, they helped me throughout everything, off the track and on the track so the transition from a junior to a senior wasn’t really hard,” she said, adding that having fellow Jamaicans Christopher Taylor, Christania Williams and fellow hurdler Omar McLeod, played their part in helping her make a smooth transition.
Transitioning to the senior ranks comes with its own challenges because before she can conquer the world, she has to first overcome perhaps the deepest pool of talent currently at Jamaica's disposal with the likes of Danielle Williams, Tapper, Ackera Nugent, perhaps Janeek Brown and Yanique Thompson among others. Asked about where she sees herself among Jamaica's world-class hurdlers, Anderson confidently indicated that she knows what she is capable of.
"I know what I can do. I know what I am going to do. At the trials, I know what I am going there for, so I will just let all of that play out in God's way," she said.
As for this year, Anderson is focused on the World Championships in Oregon in July but as it relates to World Indoors next month and the Commonwealth Games, no decision has yet been made. Her agent Mario Bassani said those decisions will be made at a later date and will be as a result of discussions with her coach Rana Reider, whom she describes as a really great coach.
“The lesson I take from him is I can do whatever I can put my mind to,” she said.
So far, that advice seems to be working well for Britany Anderson.
As Bassani tells it, whichever championships she decides to compete at this year, she will be ready.
Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.
Usain Bolt's 100m world record stands firm as longest in history
Running Magazine reports that Usain Bolt, the legendary eight-time Olympic gold medalist, has achieved a remarkable milestone even in retirement—holding the world record for the 100m sprint for the longest period in the event's history.
Bolt's record-setting time of 9.58 seconds, achieved at the 2009 World Athletics Championships final in Berlin on August 16, 2009, has now stood for an impressive 14 years, eight months, and 23 days. This accomplishment surpasses the previous longest-standing record held by American sprinter Jim Hines.
Jim Hines made history by clocking the first sub-10 second 100m in June 1968, becoming the first man to break the 10-second barrier in the event. Hines, known for his prowess both on the track and as a football player, held the world record from 1968 until 1982, marking an illustrious era in sprinting.
Despite being retired from professional track and field since 2017, Bolt remains confident about the durability of his records. In a December interview, Bolt expressed that he was "not worried" about his records in the 100m and 200m sprints being broken any time soon.
"It's a great title to have," Bolt shared in the same interview with World Athletics. "It's something that I enjoy hearing and I enjoy knowing."
Bolt's dominance in the 100m began in May 2008 when he first set the record, followed by breaking it twice more in August 2008 and exactly a year later in Berlin, where he achieved his historic time of 9.58 seconds.
Now at 37 years old, Usain Bolt continues to be celebrated as the fastest man ever, leaving an indelible mark on the history of athletics with his exceptional speed and enduring records. Despite the passage of time, Bolt's legacy remains a testament to his unparalleled talent and dedication to the sport.
Rushell Clayton sets new goals; aims for faster times and podium finish at Paris 2024
In an exclusive interview prior to her 400m hurdles debut at the Jamaica Athletics Invitational in Kingston on Saturday, World Championship 400m hurdles bronze medalist Rushell Clayton has revealed her ambitious new goals for the upcoming season, setting her sights on achieving faster times and securing her first Olympic medal at the Paris 2024 Games.
Clayton, who impressed with a personal best of 52.81 to claim bronze at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, kicked off her season with a lifetime best performance, clocking 51.81 in the 400m at Gainesville, Florida, in early April.
When Clayton won the bronze medal in Doha in 2019, Dalilah Mohammad won in a world-record time of 52.16. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won the silver medal in a time of 52.20. Since then, McLaughlin-Levrone has gone on to dominate the event while lowering the world record to a seemingly impossible time of 50.68 at the 2022 championships in Eugene, Oregon.
During that time, Clayton was busy rebounding from injury and has been on a pathway of improvement ever since. She was sixth in Eugene in 54.36.
Reflecting on her journey and setbacks, Clayton, who has never made an Olympic final, expressed determination to surpass her previous achievements and target even faster times. "Yes, I have a new goal. Getting into the finals and getting onto the podium, you will have to run fast," Clayton affirmed. "I am more focused on placements than time. I know it may take 51 to get on that podium (in Paris) and I will be ready to run that but I don’t want to focus so much on time because a lot of times when you focus on times you forget about every other thing."
Acknowledging her growth and progress, Clayton emphasized her physical and technical improvements over the past seasons. "I think over the last two seasons, I've got faster, got stronger," Clayton remarked confidently. "I used to be strong but I think I am way stronger now and I have been doing a lot of speed work. When you do speed work, it doesn’t come right away but I am starting to feel like I am getting faster because of my stride patterns now and how I am able to distribute around the track. My training is focused on all aspects needed to run fast."
Clayton's dedication to enhancing her performance includes strategic adjustments to her stride patterns and race tactics. "I have changed my stride pattern between the hurdles," she revealed. "A few people have asked me if I was running a particular stride pattern. The two fastest ladies in the world (McLaughlin-Levrone and Femke Bol), they’re doing 14 strides and I had to try it out and so far it has been doing good. I am learning stride patterns. I am learning more about the event and I am super-excited about my new race pace."
Looking ahead to the national championships in June, Clayton outlined her strategy of preparing through targeted race participation. "I am feeling good. I don’t normally open my season this late but then I remember I ran all the way to September (last year) and I had a PB in my first run (this season)," Clayton shared optimistically.
"I think I am on the same schedule as I did last season. We ran a certain number of hurdle races before trials and that was maybe four so I leaning towards that. There are not a lot of four-hurdle races around the globe and when you line up it’s like a World Championship final so we pick the races; my team and I, we sit down and decide we’re going to run three or four races and we’re leaning towards about four hurdle races before trials and it kicks off at the Jamaica Athletic Invitational."
With a renewed focus on podium placements and faster times, Clayton seems poised to elevate her performance to new heights and make a compelling bid for Olympic success in Paris this summer.
Naggo Head top INSPORTS/Devon Biscuits Primary Schools Central Championships
Naggo Head Primary dethroned Spanish Town as champions of the INSPORTS/Devon Biscuits Primary Schools Central Championship, as they easily romped the event at GC Foster College, on Wednesday.
They amassed an impressive 313 points to pocket the $350,000 winning prize, while Spanish Town (236.5 points) had to settle for second position at the $250,000 runner-up prize, while third-placed Greater Portmore (229 points) received $200,000. The surprise package St John’s Primary (155 points) and Southborough (100 points) completed the top five.
The fourth to 10th-placed teams received $100,000 each for their efforts.
It was another day of record-breaking feats, with Nichkolet Brown of St John’s taking down the first of the day in the Girls’ Long Jump Open with a record leap of 4.57m. She won ahead of Shamielia Anderson (4.35m) of Friendship Primary.
Keneisha Robinson of Naggo Head captured the Girls’ 70m Hurdles in 12.16, with her teammate Shenell Coleman (12.92) finishing third. Afharia Anderson of Spanish Town was second in 23.23.
Donte Barrett and Kaydon Henry secured another 15 points for Naggo Head in the Boys’ 70m Hurdles. Barrett won in a new record 10.77, lowering his own mark of 11.36 set on Tuesday, while Greater Portmore's Dwayne Oakley (11.39) and Henry (11.57) were second and third respectively.
In arguably the race of the championship, Spanish Town’s Katalia Sterling outlasted favourite Waivany Walker of Naggo Head in the Girls’ Class one 400m, winning in a record 1:01.04, just ahead of Walker (1:01.11), who established the previous record on Tuesday.
The outstanding Robinson of Naggo Head returned to claim her second gold capturing the Class Two 300m in a record 43.55.
St John’s Primary controlled the Boys’ Class One 400m and Class Two 300m, which were won by Iandre Brown (58.93) and D’Andre Gobern (43.79).
The sprints turned up some impressive displays, but none more than Kashmer Gunther of Southborough Primary, who stopped the clock at 12.08 in the Boys’ Class One 100m. He erased Jevaney Findley’s 12.13 set last year. Renardo McCalla of Naggo Head took the Class Two event in 12.95, the same time as second-placed Jaden Reid of Southborough.
In the girls’ section, Shamara Chin of Greater Portmore took the Class One 100m with a record run of 12.93, while Allia Royal of Davis Primary captured the Class Two in Na13.91.
There were record runs in the Class Four 60m sprints as Azaria Williams of Naggo Head won in 9.15, ahead of Jada-Kaye Brown (9.45) of Greater Portmore. Vaughn Chambers of Crescent Primary won the boys’ equivalent in a record 8.76, just ahead of Jamair Dixon (8.77) of Kensington Primary.
Perez Pearson of St John’s leapt 5.15m to better his previous record of 4.91m in the Boys’ Long Jump Open. Jaydon Allen (4.97m) of Greater Portmore and Friendship’s Damarion Crooks (4.93) were second and third, respectively.
Pearson returned to anchor his team to Medley relay victory in a record 1:54.32. They won ahead of Kensington (2:00.45) and Naggo Head (2:02.77).
In the Girls Medley Open, Kensington won in 2:00.69, ahead of St John’s (2:06.31) and Naggo Head (2:06.35).
Naggo Head topped the Girls’ 4x200m relay in a record 1:49.12, erasing the old mark of 1:52.31 held by Greater Portmore. Spanish Town (1:52.66) and Greater Portmore (1:54.44) were the runners-up.
Southborough closed the day’s proceeding in style. They won the Boy’ 4x200m relay in 1:46.55, ahead of Naggo Head (1:48.18) and St John’s (1:50.92).
Naggo Head and Eastern Champions Lysson of St Thomas lead the top eight teams into the Grand finale set for May 20-22 to decide the all-island champion.
The Western Championship starts on Thursday.
Top 10 -Naggo Head (313), Greater Portmore (236.5), Spanish Town (229), St John’s Primary (155), Southborough (100), Davis Primary (95), St Catherine (76), Kensington (69), Ascot (56), Homestead (48.5)
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