Personal best performances were the order of the day during the finals of the 400m on day three of the 2022 ISSA GraceKennedy Boys and Girls Championships at the National Stadium in Kingston on Thursday night.

It ended with St Jago’s Gregory Prince running a lifetime best of 45.99 to win the Class I Boys event in dominating fashion over Deandre Watkin of Jamaica College (46.50) and Shemar Palmer of Manchester High (46.79).

Marcinho Rose of Kingston College won the Class II race in  48.03 for what appeared to be a Pyrrhic victory as he went down injured after crossing the finishing line ahead of teammate Tahj-Marques White (48.39) and Enrique Webster of  St. Elizabeth Technical who clocked 48.90 for the bronze medal.

Troydian Flemmings of Manchester High ran his heart out to win the Class III race in a personal best of 50.25. He was well clear of Samuel Creary of Jamaica College, who ran 51.06 for the silver medal. Demarco Bennett of Excelsior High was third in 51.12.

The girls’ races were just as thrilling as Dejanea Oakley of Clarendon College followed up her victory last year in Class II with a brand new personal best of 51.81 to win the title in her first year in Class I. Oneika McAnnuff Hydel High, the silver medalist in Class II once again won silver in 52.38. Kaylia Kelly of Vere  Technical (53.59) won the bronze medal.

Abigail Campbell of Ferncourt High pulled off a late run down the stretch to win the Class II 400m in a personal best 53.75 ahead of Natasha Fox of  Edwin Allen High (54.26) and Alliah Baker of Hydel High (54.44).

It was an all-rural school sweep of the 400m for the girls as Sabrina Dockery of Lacovia High won gold in the Class III event in 54.76. She finished ahead of the Holmwood Technical pair of Rosalee Gallimore Holmwood Technical and Abriana Wright, who ran 55.47 and 55.79, for second and third, respectively.

In the field, Zachary Campbell of Jamaica College won the Class II Boys shot put with a massive throw of 19.13m. He was more than two metres better than Rajay Hemmings of St Catherine High who put 16.74m. Calabar’s Matthew Clarke won the bronze medal with 15.63m.

The stage has been set for the 400m finals to close out day three of the 2022 ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls Championships.

In the Class I Boys event, the main contenders will be Kingston College’s Shaemar Uter, St. Jago’s Gregory Prince and Edwin Allen’s Delano Kennedy.

Prince, who won the event at Central Champs last month, was the fastest qualifier to the final with 46.60. Kennedy, who ran 46.97 to win at last month’s Carifta Trials, ran a personal best 46.66 to finish second behind Prince in his semi-final. Uter, who represented Jamaica at the World Junior Championships in Nairobi, Kenya, last year, won his semi-final comfortably in 47.10.

Kingston College is expected to score big in the Class II 400m with Marcinho Rose looking like the favorite for gold. Rose ran an easy 49.05 in his semi-final to be the fastest qualifier.

His teammate Tahj-Marques White only ran 50.74 for third in his semi-final but is expected to feature prominently in the final as he entered the championships with the fastest time of any Class II boy this year with 48.35 which he ran at a Corporate Area Development meet last month. He also ran 48.36 to win the Under-17 Boys 400m at the Carifta Trials ahead of Rose.

Also expected to be in the mix is Central Champs champion Antonio Powell of Edwin Allen who qualified second fastest with 49.30.

Jamaica College’s Samuel Creary (50.85), Excelsior’s Demarco Bennett (50.83) and Manchester’s Troydian Flemmings (50.96) are expected to battle it out for the Class III title.

The Girls Class I event is expected to be a hot contest between Clarendon College’s Class II champion from 2021, Dejanea Oakley, who qualified fastest with 52.77, St. Jago’s Safhia Hinds (53.65) and Vere Technical’s Kaylia Kelly (53.86).

Ferncourt’s Abigail Campbell is a big favorite to add to her Class III title from 2021 in the Class II final after she ran 53.94 to qualify fastest for the final, the only girl to go below 54 seconds. Her main challengers are expected to be Hydel’s Alliah Baker (54.48) and Lacovia’s Rasheika Byfield (54.61).

Lacovia’s Carifta Trials Under-17 400m champion Sabrina Dockery (55.59) and the Holmwood Technical duo of Abriana Wright (56.10) and Rosalee Gallimore (55.84) are expected to battle it out in Class III.

Reigning Olympic 100m bronze medallist Shericka Jackson will make her return to the 400m at the Velocity Fest 10 at the National Stadium on Saturday.

So far this season, Jackson has only competed in the 60m where she ran a personal best 7.04 to finish sixth at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade in March.

Jackson, who lowered her 100m personal best to 10.76 last season, was also a bronze medallist in the 400m at the 2015 Beijing World Championships, 2016 Rio Olympics and 2019 Doha World Championships. The former Vere Technical standout hasn’t run a 400m race since a sixth-place finish at the Gateshead Diamond League on May 23 last year.

However, she will be competing in Section B of the Women’s 400m and her main competition could come from Candice McLeod, a finalist at the Tokyo Olympics and Rushell Clayton, the 2019 World Championships bronze medallist in the 400m hurdles.

Tajay Gayle, the 2019 World long jump champion will open his season facing strong competition from Shawn-D Thompson and Emmanuel Archibald.

Elsewhere in the field events, Fedrick Dacres, the silver medallist from the 2019 World Championships will compete in the discus alongside Chad Wright and Traves Smikle.

The Men’s 100m is also expected to be an exciting affair.

There will be five semi-finals and then  A, B and C finals that will likely feature Yohan Blake, Zharnel Hughes, Oblique Seville, Tyquendo Tracey, Ackeem Blake, Jevaughn Minzie and Antonio Watson.

The meet is expected to run from 5:00 pm-8:00 pm Jamaica time.

Texas A&M Junior Charokee Young enters the South Eastern Conference (SEC) Indoor Championships at the Aggies Gilliam Indoor Stadium this weekend in perhaps the form of her life.

The former Hydel High School star, opened the season running 37.33 in the 300m at the Wooo Pig Classic, which ranks her 18^th in collegiate history and then in her first race over 400m, won in 52.00 at the Charlie Thomas Invitational.

She then clocked an impressive 51.24 in the 400m at the Don Kirby Open to win in what the fourth-best time all-time indoors at Texas A&M that established her as the Aggies leading quarter-miler, replacing the outstanding Athing Mu, who went pro before winning gold medals in the 800m at the US trials and the Tokyo Olympics.

Herself a former 800m runner, Young believes her progress this season comes down to building on her success last season when she finished the Texas Tech Invitational with two event titles, winning the 400m at a time of 52.64 and ran the second leg on the 4x400m that won at 3:31.09, the second-fastest 4x400m in the NCAA in 2021 as well as clocking a personal best 400m time of 51.93 at the Charlie Thomas Invitational, the fifth-best performer in Aggie history.

The season culminated with her booking a ticket to Japan for her first Olympics.

“I honestly feel like what drove my improvement this year is just adding to what I had already learned last year. So instead of starting from zero, I started from 50 per cent,” said Young, who is looking beyond the NCAA to don Jamaica's colours in the individual 400m at the World Championships in Oregon in July.

“I am still trying to learn more in trying to improve my races.

“I feel like my experience in Tokyo really motivated me for this year to work hard and just go out and give it my best shot. I am really working hard this year so I wouldn’t be like an alternate, hopefully, I will be able to cement my spot on the team. So I am working hard so I can run faster and hopefully get a better result.”

Wanting to succeed for both school and country can be challenging for collegiate athletes. Navigating indoor and outdoor seasons with each having both regional and national competitions can be physically and mentally taxing.

Young acknowledges that reality but believes she is now better able to find that balance that will allow excelling at both.

“I do agree that the NCAA takes a toll on your body but if you can complete an NCAA circuit, it shouldn’t be a problem to push a couple more months to go to the World Championships. Last year was my first time doing it, so this year I will have an idea what it feels like so I will be way more prepared this year than last year,” she said.

With that in mind, she said, her primary goal this season is to improve each time she steps on the track. It is clear in her mind that if she keeps doing that, then doing well for Texas A&M and Jamaica will be achievable.

“I really don’t have a set time I want to achieve this year, I just hope to keep getting better and better, so my main goal this year is to end with a season-best,” she said.

Jamaican 400m sprinter Stephenie Ann McPherson ran a personal best 51.39 to win at the Muller Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham on Saturday.

It was only her second race of the season indoors after opening her season on February 11 with a 52.82 clocking at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetville.

McPherson, 400m bronze medallist at the 2013 Moscow World Championships, finished ahead of Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands who ran 51.49 and Poland’s Justyna Swiety-Ersetic who ran 52.09.

Two other Jamaicans, Roniesha McGregor and Janieve Russell, finished fourth and sixth in 52.32 and 52.53, respectively.

After a relatively disappointing season in 2021, Trinidad and Tobago’s Jereem Richards announced on Sunday that he is determined to make 2022 a better year.

Tokyo Olympic finalist Natoya Goule established a world-leading time in the 800m at the New Balance Grand Prix on Staten Island, New York on Sunday.

The diminutive Jamaican was among several Caribbean athletes, who delivered outstanding performances at the meet as Trinidad and Tobago’s Jereem Richards ran under 46 seconds indoors for the first time to win the 400m while Danielle Williams ran a lifetime best to win the 60m hurdles.

The 30-year-old Goule, who was second to Ajee Wilson at the Millrose Games on January 29, ran 1:59.62 to win the 800m ahead of Olivia Baker, whose 2:00.63 was a personal best. Isabelle Boffey also ran a personal-best 2:01.37 for third.

Goule said afterwards that she was very grateful for the performance because she went into the meet heavily loaded after a hard week of training.

Richards had an encouraging start to his indoor season when he sped to a personal indoor best of 45.84 to win the quarter-mile sprint.

The Trinidadian held his form down the home stretch to hold off Vernon Norwood of the USA, who was second in a personal-best 46.06. Khamari Montgomery was third in 46.24.

The women’s event was won by the USA’s Jessica Beard in a season-best 52.88. Kyra Constantine of Canada took the silver with her time of 52.96 while Jamaica’s Roneisha McGregor ran a personal best 53.01 for third.

Jamaica went 1-2 in the women’s 60m hurdles won by Williams, the 2015 world champion, in a season-best 7.83, just holding off her fast-finishing compatriot Britany Anderson, who ran a personal-best 7.88. The USA’s Gabrielle Cunningham clocked 7.92, a season-best, for third

The meet represented an opportunity for 19-year-old Briana Williams to rebound from her disappointing performance over 60m at the recent Millrose Games where she finished fourth in 7.22, beaten by Aleia Hobbs, Mikiah Brisco and 16-year-old high school student Shawnti Jackson, who ran a USA high-school record and personal best 7.18 for third, which was also Williams’ lifetime best.

On Sunday, Williams bounced back in style, uncorking a personal best 7.09 to win her preliminary heat and advance to the finals with the fastest time. It took a world-leading run of 7.07 from Brisco in the final to deny Williams, who ran a smart 7.11 for second place. The USA’s Destiny Smith Barrett clocked a personal best 7.14 for third.

Noah Lyles won the men’s equivalent in a personal best 6.56 ahead of Barbados’s Mario Burke, who crossed the finish line in a season-best 6.63. Travis Collins ran 6.64 for third.

In the men’s 200m, the USA’s Trayvon Bromell pulled out all the stops to hold off Jamaica’s Christopher Taylor and win in 20.64. Taylor stopped the clock in 20.81. The USA’s Elijah Hall was also in the mix, finishing third in 20.82.

Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Bronze medallist Deon Lendore died last night after reportedly succumbing to injuries he suffered in a car accident in Texas.

The 29-year-old from Arima, whose 400m personal best was 44.36, was part of the Trinidad and Tobago team that won bronze in the Men’s 4x400m at the 2012 London Olympics and silver at the 2015 World Championships in the same event.

Individually, Lendore won bronze medals in the 400m at the World Indoor Championships, in Oregon, in 2016, where he was also part of T&T's bronze medal-winning 4x400m team and Birmingham in 2018.

A three-time Pan Am Junior Championships silver medallist, Lendore also had a wonderful junior career, which resulted in him excelling at Texas A&M University, winning the Bowerman award in 2014.

President of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee, Brian Lewis, reacted to the unfortunate news.

“Words cannot adequately express our sadness at the devastating and untimely loss. Deon has flown the Trinidad and Tobago flag with pride, honour, patriotism, and an indomitable will throughout his career while helping and inspiring many. We express our deepest and heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, teammates, coaches, and all who he would have touched. May Deon Rest and Sleep in Eternal Peace,” he said.

Lendore represented T&T at three Olympic Games in 2012, 2016 and 2021 and three World Championships in 2013, 2015 and 2019.

Bahamian two-time Olympic 400m champion, Shaunae Miller-Uibo, has expressed pride that Bahamian athletes won gold medals in both the men’s and women’s 400 metres at the Olympics in Tokyo this past summer.

Two-time Olympic 400m gold medalist Shaunae Miller-Uibo has revealed that injuries significantly impacted her Olympic preparation throughout the 2021 season when she had planned to focus on the 200m.

Speaking on Sportsmax TV’s On Point, Millier-Uibo said an injury she sustained while running 49.08 to win the 400 metres at the USATF Grand Prix in Eugene on April 24^th prevented her from doing any speed training in preparation for Tokyo.

“We were supposed to start our speed training after Eugene at the end of April and that’s when I got hurt so we never really got a chance to jump into speed work. It’s unfortunate sometimes in track,” she said.

As it turns out, the injury was more serious than she initially thought.

“At the end, we found out that it was a tear in my gluteus medius. I actually stalled for a bit with trying to fix it because I didn’t quite know what it was at first. It just felt as though something was jammed so I figured maybe I could go to the chiropractor and get it sorted out. We tried that and it didn’t help,” she said.

The gluteus medius is a muscle located on the outer surface of the pelvis.

The three-time World Championship medalist says the pain started to ease going into the rest of the season until she went to compete at the Adidas Boost Boston Games in May.

“It started to get a little softer going into the rest of the season and then I went to Boston to compete and realized this is something really bad and the minute we get back home I’m going to check and see what it is. Took an MRI and found out there was a slight tear in my gluteus medius so we decided to rest it off and go slowly from there to try and build it up in time for Tokyo,” she said.

Injuries also affected her in Tokyo as was evident in the final of the Women’s 200 metres where Miller-Uibo finished eighth in a time of 24.00.

“I went into Tokyo nursing an injury and right before the heats, I felt really good. Everything was going really well and it was after the heats that I got a little banged up where I started to feel my right hip. I went and raced on it because it was still light at the time, raced into the semis and really hurt it then.”

In addition the trouble with her hip, Miller-Uibo also felt pain in her hamstring in her 200 metres semi-final.

“In the race itself I actually didn’t feel the hip. It was my hamstring that ended up grabbing on me and it was just a wrap from there.”

The Bahamian champion overcame her struggles and returned days later to storm to a new personal best 48.36 and win her second consecutive Olympic women’s 400 metres title.

The full interview with Shaunae Miller-Uibo can be seen on Sportsmax TV’s YouTube channel.

Bahamian superstar sprinter Shaunae Miller-Uibo has her sights set on establishing a new world record in the women’s 400 metres.

Olympic bronze medallist, Candice McLeod, says her success on the track this season was due mainly to getting more rest and a proper diet during the pre-season.

Stephen Francis, coach of Jamaica-based track club MVP, has backed quarter-miler Stefenie Ann Mcpherson to recover from the disappointment of the Olympic Games and is confident she still has plenty of time to claim an individual major Games medal.

The 32-year-old runner finished just outside of the medal places in Tokyo, after being caught and passed close to the finish line by USA legend Alisson Felix who captured the final podium spot.  The race was won in dominant fashion by the Bahamas’ Shaunae Miller-Uibo with second place going to the Dominica Republic’s Marileidy Paulino.

McPherson’s finishing time of 49.61 was much slower than her season-best of 49.34, which had been recorded in the event's semi-final.  The athlete collapsed violently sobbing after the event.  Francis admits that the athlete’s time in the final was a bit of a surprise but believes she is poised to recover and post exceptional performances in the upcoming season.

“It was disappointing because I thought she would have run 48 high in the 400m (Olympic final),” Francis told Sportsmax.Tv in a recent interview.

“She is, however, young enough and determined enough that she will be able to try again,” he added.

McPherson, the event’s reigning national champion, returned to training with the majority of the club’s athletes earlier this week.

Eighteen-year-old Christine Mboma topped a talented field of women over 200m at the Diamond League meeting in Brussels on Friday when Natoya Goule closed out the action on the track by winning the 800m.

The marquee event, however, was the 200m and it lived up to expectations.

The Namibian, the Olympic silver medalist and World U20 champion, running on from behind, surged past Shericka Jackson with 30m to go and won in 21.84. Jackson was again under 22 seconds, clocking 21.95 while Dina Asher-Smith finished third in a season-best 22.03.

The much-talked-about Sha’Carri Richardson was never a factor. She trailed off the curve and was passed down the stretch by Mboma and Asher-Smith to finish fourth in 22.45.

Mboma was elated at getting her first Diamond League win.

“I was really excited to run here in Brussels. It was my first Diamond League experience and to be able to win in such a strong field is great,” she said.

“It has been a very tough and busy season with the Olympics and the World junior championships, but I'm still in good shape. I ran almost a personal best today, so that pleases me. I still have one race to go in Zurich and after that, I will take some rest.”

Jackson, meantime, was disappointed at not winning enjoyed the competition.

“I´m happy with my race but I really wanted to win today,” she said.

“I had a good start so I´m happy with that but there´s still room for improvement. I was able to accelerate towards the end but couldn´t get the win. I loved to race here and the feeling was good.”

Similarly, Asher-Smith was happy with her season-best.

“I´m so happy with my race! I ran a season's best and had a good feeling. It felt so good to be here and to be able to run this fast,” said the Brit, who was unable to compete in the 200m because of a hamstring injury.

“I worked so hard after my injury to return and feel strong again. I really love to run here in Brussels. I still have a few races to go so I hope I can improve myself and feel good. The relaxed feeling is back so I´m very happy with that.”

Goule, a finalist at the Tokyo Olympics, ran a strategic race behind the pacemaker but then assumed the lead with 300m to go.

She would hold that lead until the end to win her first Diamond League race in 1:58.09, holding off Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson, who clocked 1:58.16 for second place. Jemma Reekie also of Great Britain was third in 1:58.77.

´I’m extremely happy with my win today! I´m just so excited and happy to win my first Diamond League race,” she said.

“I have to thank God and my coach for believing in me. To race here today, especially against these girls. They are all so strong. I have a lot of respect for Keely Hodgkinson. She´s so good and humble, a very good athlete and still so young. So I´m very happy I could still sprint and take the win. The big crowd today definitely helped with that. You just feel everyone´s excitement for today. I hope I can win in Zurich as well but it will be hard.”

Earlier, Megan Tapper was third in the 100m hurdles but there was misfortune for Danielle Williams, who appeared to suffer an injury and limped across the line in eighth. She was eventually disqualified.

Tapper, the Olympic bronze medalist, got off to a fast start but was eventually caught by Tobi Amusan and Nadine Visser, who crossed the line together and were credited with 12.69. Tapper clocked 12.77 for her second podium finish in the Diamond League this season.

There was no Karsten Warholm or Rai Benjamin in the 400m hurdles but it was no less dramatic as Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos and the British Virgin Islands’ Kyron McMaster engaged in a stirring battle that the latter looked like winning after seven hurdles.

However, the Brazilian eased into the lead over the final hurdle and held it to win in 48.24. McMaster finished second in 48.31.

Jaheel Hyde was in position to finish on the podium but seemed to run out of steam down the stretch and was unable to hold off a fast-finishing Yasmani Copello of Turkey, who took third in 48.45. Hyde had to settle for fourth in 48.91.

The men’s 400m was won by American Michael Cherry in a new personal best and meet record 44.03 leaving Kirani James (44.51) and Isaac Makwala (44.83) in his wake.

Guyana 400m sprinter, Aliyah Abrams, will approach competing at the Tokyo 2020 Games with fresh zeal after taking full advantage of the enforced break from the sport the coronavirus provided last season.

Like many others the Guyana national champion found herself upended with heavily disrupted training sessions, the majority of meets cancelled, and even eventual postponement of the Olympics.  Still, she endeavored to make the best use of the situation and found unexpected benefits.

“Despite the Games being cancelled and a whole lot of meets being cancelled it was the reset that I needed,” Abrams told SportsMax.TV.

“Sometimes you just need to step away from track and pursue and do other things that you enjoy.  When you come back to doing it, you can rekindle that flame that you had,” she added.

“A lot of things of things were shut down but I got a chance to spend some time with the people I love and recover my body and my mind.”

For the 24-year-old, Tokyo will represent her second appearance on track and field’s biggest stage, and in addition to being in a better frame of mind, she is also feeling in better physical shape.

“It’s been five years from 2016 to the 2021 Olympics, I was able to compete internationally and do well at Worlds and at Pan Ams, so I have more experience, I’m in better physical shape as well.  I’ve also run faster than I did heading into the first Olympics,” Abrams said.

The quarter-miler, who has a personal best of 51.13, has targeted cracking the 50-seconds barrier in Toyko, but in a highly competitive field that may not be enough to earn a place among the top eight women in the world.  Win or lose though, the plucky athlete certainly intends to give it her best shot.

“I haven’t been running the third 100 of my race the way that I want to this season, so I have been working on how to better execute that.  The problem has been the second part of my race.  Once I set that up, I’ll be in good standing,” Abrams went on.

On her Olympic debut in Rio, Abrams exited the competition in the first round, she has much higher targets this time around.

“My ultimate goal this time around is to make it to the final that would be a success for me."