After a season battling injuries in 2019, Nathon Allen seems to be on the mend and relishing the feeling.
Allen, 24, ran a personal best 20.45 over 200m at the Back to the Track Meet in Clermont, Florida on Saturday, eclipsing his previous best of 20.46 set in Luzern in July 2018.
The seventh-place finish did little to dampen the spirits of the former St. Jago High sprinter, who finished in the wake of 200m World Champion Noah Lyles, who won in 19.94 and 400m World Champion Stephen Gardiner who was a close second in 19.96.
“Given the circumstances around and the limited training I’m pleased,” Allen told Sportsmax.TV Tuesday, confessing that it feels good to be running fast once again.
“It’s a joy to be able to be competing with the best guys in my country and around the world and is therefore why I’m just trying to give my best each day in practice and follow my coach instructions.”
Allen won a pair of silver medals at the 2019 World Championships in Doha as a member of Jamaica’s mixed relay and 4x400m relay teams but it could have easily been different. Having turned up at the national championships to attempt to win an individual spot on the team, Allen suffered an injury on the eve of competition and was unable to compete.
So, it was a bit of a surprise to many when he was chosen to fly with the team to Doha where he duly rewarded the faith of the selectors.
The pandemic presented a new set of challenges in 2020 because while the nationwide lockdown in the United States prevented athletes from competing, it gave Allen a chance to continue healing and strengthen his body.
“At one point we were unable to train when things got really bad, then we started doing basic training on our own just trying to keep as fit as possible as we could in that time,” he said. “And we got ran off tracks a few times but otherwise coach tried his best to find someplace where we could at least do some drills for that day.”
It seems to have paid off because after opening up his outdoor season with a 46.50 over 400m in Marietta, Georgia on July 11, he returned to the track on Saturday and left with a new 200m PB.