As a teenager, Anthonique Strachan showed the tremendous potential of becoming one of the world’s brightest stars in track and field.
A five-time Carifta gold medalist, 2011 Pan Am Junior 100m champion and World U20 100 and 200m champion in 2012, things were looking up for the young Bahamian.
However, the intervening years have not been as kind. Injuries and a subsequent loss of confidence derailed the promising start to Strachan’s career and raised doubts about whether she would ever fulfil her promise.
“It’s actually very tough because you start to ridicule and judge yourself and then you go on social media and you see people judging you,” said Strachan, who is now 28 and having her best season in a decade.
“I haven’t PB’ed in 10 years so I see people telling me that I need to hang it up, get a 9-5, all sorts of stuff but nobody knows what happens when the lights are off so I try not to take it to heart but it’s sort of difficult to judge yourself and also have people out there judging you.”
So far, 2022 has been good to her. She opened up with a personal best of 10.99 in the 100m at the John Wolmer Speed Fest on March 26 at the National Stadium in Kingston, where she trains with the MVP Track Club and then on Saturday, April 23, she ran 22.55 to win the 200m against a field that included multiple Olympic and World Champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.
Yes, the Pocket Rocket did slow noticeably over the last 50m but when you take into consideration the fact that Strachan ran a spectacular 23.24 into a -5.00 m/s wind at the Bermuda Games on April 9, you understand that the time she ran on Saturday night was no fluke.
So what exactly has brought about this pleasantly surprising return to form for the talented Bahamian sprinter?
She reveals that she accepted help and stopped putting pressure on herself to succeed.
“Because I had so many injuries it was difficult for me to trust coaching and other people or even trust myself and my coach told me to let somebody in to actually help me to help myself and that is what I have been trying to do this season,” she confessed.
“I stopped judging myself so hard and stopped piling on so many things and taking it one stride at a time.”
Strachan began to show a return to form in 2021 when she ran the 100m in 11.30, her best time since 2012 and 22.56 over 200m, her best time since 2014. She also made it to the semi-finals of the 200m at the Tokyo Olympics.
However, she had no idea that 2022 would have begun on a positive note.
“I bragged and boasted about opening up with a 10, but that was BS so now that it has actually happened I have sort of put it out there in the atmosphere and it sort of came through,” she said admitting that she is now a lot more confident than she has been during the past decade.
“It gives me plenty of confidence. I am trying to run all the times I can run right now to put myself in a better standpoint before the big girls come out to play.”
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.
Ricketts opens season with 14.50m to win triple jump at Jamaica Athletics Invitational
Jamaica’s Shanieka Ricketts provided her home fans with a solid performance to win the women’s triple jump at the inaugural Jamaica Athletics Invitational at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday.
The two-time World Championships silver medallist produced a best jump of 14.50m on her first attempt that proved to be enough to win in the end.
American Jasmine Moore had a best jump of 14.28m for second while Dominican World Indoor Champion Thea Lafond jumped 14.22m in the sixth and final round to clinch third.
“I feel exceptional. I usually get started with my season much earlier but this year we decided to get a few things corrected before coming into competition,” Ricketts said following the competition.
“Competing with world class athletes who have been doing well indoors as well really pushed me and gave me a good implication of where I’m at this season,” she added.
The 2022 Commonwealth Champion also spoke on competing in Jamaica.
“It’s always a pleasure to compete in Kingston. Usually, I try to do a meet here before going overseas to compete in the Diamond League. The crowd has warmed up to the jumps because of how well I’ve been doing overseas over the years. I’m always grateful for the support,” she said.
Great Britain’s Hughes, Asher-Smith get 200m victories at Jamaica Athletics Invitational
Great Britain’s Zharnel Hughes and Dina Asher-Smith took victories in the men’s and women’s 200m events at the inaugural Jamaica Athletics Invitational at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday.
Hughes, a bronze medallist in the 100m at last year’s World Championships in Budapest, produced a season’s best 19.96 to win ahead of American Fred Kerley (20.17) and France’s Pablo Mateo (20.20).
“I feel really good. I think this is my second 200m race of the season. When I opened up I wasn’t ready so tonight I was just testing out the waters. We’re starting to sharpen up but not as much because it’s a long season,” Hughes said after the race.
“To run 19.96 now, I’m very happy. I just need to stay healthy and continue to execute my races accordingly and everything will be okay,” he added.
2019 World Champion Asher-Smith narrowly won the women’s event in 22.51 ahead of the Ivory Coast’s Jessika Gbai (22.53) with Jamaica’s Lanae-Tava Thomas running 22.84 for third.
Asher-Smith says she was hoping for a quicker time and has some things to work on.
“I’m in really good shape so I was hoping to get a quicker time today. Clearly, I’ve got some stuff that I’ve got to work on so I’m going to go back to Austin and work on them but I’m happy to have won here in Jamaica,” she said.
USA’s Holmes, Great Britain’s Hudson-Smith win 400m races at Jamaica Athletics Invitational
American Alexis Holmes and great Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith emerged as the winners of the women’s and men’s 400m races at the inaugural Jamaica Athletics Invitational at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday.
Holmes, a member of the USA’s gold medal-winning mixed relay team at the World Championships in Budapest last year and the World Relays this year in Nassau, ran 50.31 to lead an American 1-2-3 with Brittany Brown running 51.21 in second and Naasha Robinson running 51.81 in third.
“I had a lot of fun. The energy was great,” Holmes said after the race.
“I was expecting a smooth race and just trying to get the win. I just try to stay relaxed and poised because I know I have a strong finish,” she added.
The men’s race saw World Championship silver medallist Matthew Hudson-Smith produce 44.69 to take the win ahead of American Matthew Boling (44.98) and Jamaica’s Zandrion Barnes (45.41).
“I’m a lot more healthier this year. I’ve got the best team in the world. My coach Gary Evans is a man with a plan and this year it’s all about being healthy when it matters,” he said after the race.
“It was a good executed race. We just wanted to come home strong and be composed. I’ve got Oslo, Europeans, Monaco and London so I’ve got a lot more races and training,” he added.
The Brit also gave props to World Champion Antonio Watson who ran 45.61 for fifth.
“Listen, he’s the reigning World Champion so I’ve got to give him respect. He came out here in front of his people and raced. He delivered when it mattered,” he said.
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