Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham has seemingly gone the extra mile to make new signing Lionel Messi feel welcome.
Beckham’s wife Victoria posted a short video clip on social media of what appears to be her husband – the former Manchester United and England midfielder – on a cherry picker applying the finishing touches to a giant mural of Messi in the Wynwood neighbourhood of the city.
Alongside the clip on Instagram the former Spice Girl wrote: “Is there nothing @davidbeckham can’t do??
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“Only been in town a few days, he got straight to it!! Yes that is him whitening the teeth as we watch!!! X kisses from Miami!!! X @leomessi”.
Argentinian Maximiliano Bagnasco is the artist behind the mural of his compatriot and World Cup winner, who announced his move to Major League Soccer last month as his contract with Paris St Germain came to an end.
The 36-year-old had been strongly linked with Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal, a move which would have seen him playing in the same league as Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.
Kingston's National Stadium witnessed a stunning performance by the relatively unknown sprinter, 21-year-old Kishane Thompson, as he blazed through the preliminary round of the 100m event at Jamaica's national track and field championships last Thursday. The crowd was left astounded by Thompson's remarkable time of 9.91 seconds, which not only surprised onlookers but also raised speculation about his absence from the semi-finals the following day.
Addressing the confusion surrounding Thompson's absence, Stephen Francis, the celebrated coach of MVP Track Club, shed light on a carefully crafted plan that accounted for the sprinter's limited participation at the national championships. Francis, renowned for nurturing the careers of track sensations such as Asafa Powell, Nesta Carter, and Michael Frater, unveiled a strategy designed to gradually shape Thompson into a formidable force on the world stage.
"He is fine. He trained this morning (Saturday.) It was always the plan for him to focus this year on running one-round races," Francis revealed in an exclusive interview with Sportsmax.TV. "In his previous two years with us, he struggled with injuries, running only four 100m races in that time and never participating in the national championships. Therefore, we decided that he should run one round here, deliver an impressive time, and then focus on competing in 'one' races in Europe. If he is required for relays, he will be available."
What made Thompson's performance even more intriguing was that Francis believed he could have achieved an even faster time during the preliminary round if not for the mismanagement of the event by the organizers.
According to Francis, athletes in the outer lanes of the 100m straight were unable to hear the starting gun due to a malfunctioning speaker, which disadvantaged runners from lanes six to eight throughout the heats. Thompson ran in lane eight. Despite presenting evidence of the issue, the organizers failed to rectify the situation.
While Thompson's time of 9.91 seconds was impressive, Francis emphasized that it fell short of their expectations, attributing it to the organizers' incompetence. However, he expressed confidence in Thompson's ability to run significantly faster in optimal conditions.
"He would have run significantly faster, but the most important thing is that he feels healthy and can look forward to the rest of the summer," Francis explained. "Our plan is to ensure that next year, in the Olympic year, he will have the necessary racing experience and a different attitude to tackle the full program."
Thompson's sensational performance has thrust him into the spotlight, leaving fans eagerly anticipating his future endeavors. As part of Francis' meticulously devised plan, Thompson will continue to compete in carefully selected races across Europe this summer, honing his skills and building his experience. The coach's expertise and guidance will undoubtedly shape Thompson into a potent contender in the sprinting world.
A trip to the Breeders’ Cup will come under consideration for 1000 Guineas heroine Mawj, but only if she recovers sufficiently from the issue that ruled her out of Royal Ascot.
Saeed bin Suroor’s charge scooped big-race honours when edging out Tahiyra at Newmarket in May and with Dermot Weld’s filly subsequently claiming the Irish equivalent on her next start the duo were poised for a clash of the Classic winners in the Coronation Stakes at the Royal meeting.
However, an unsatisfactory scope meant Mawj was missing from the final line-up for that contest, with Bin Suroor later revealing she had a bad infection in her chest.
The three-year-old is currently undergoing a quiet time as she continues her recovery, but could make a return later in the campaign ahead of a possible trip to Santa Anita in early November – providing she is showing positive signs she has returned to full health.
Bin Suroor said: “She’s still in treatment for coughing. She was coughing just before Ascot when she was ready to run.
“She had mucus and we scrubbed her and she didn’t look great so now we are giving her a break because we have scrubbed her a few times. We will allow her to get better slowly and we have no plan for her.
“Maybe the plan if she is doing well and is happy will be to have one more race here and then take her to the Breeders’ Cup. Maybe she will have one more race here, but only if she is ready.”
Bin Suroor was speaking after White Moonlight gave the Godolphin handler back-to-back victories in the Champagne Collet Queen Charlotte Fillies’ Stakes at Chelmsford.
The six-year-old was the beneficiary of a fine front-running ride from jockey Kieran Shoemark in the Listed seven-furlong event and will now step up to Group Three level at the Qatar Goodwood Festival, for the Whispering Angel Oak Tree Stakes on August 2.
“She’s done well and has been in good form,” said the trainer of the 9-2 winner.
“Seven furlongs suits her as we’ve tried before and I said to the jockey you have to be there in front, you have to lead. She was in front all the way and she won it well. Kieran is a good jockey and he did really well.
“In the morning when she works she’s very honest and always works well. She’s a tough filly and now we go to the Oak Tree at Goodwood early next month.”
Fozzy Stack’s Aspen Grove is set for a spell in the States after providing her trainer with a landmark success in the Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes.
The Justify filly was a Pattern-race winner at two, taking the Group Three Newtownanner Stud Stakes at the Curragh in August.
She returned to the same track for the second run of her three-year-old campaign when lining up in the Irish 1,000 Guineas in late May but came home last of the field of 10.
That performance was put down to the filly being in season, but a decision to head to New York for the Grade One Belmont Oaks proved inspired when she teamed up with Oisin Murphy on Saturday.
From a wide draw the bay was ridden patiently to challenge a furlong from home, where she came through to win by three-quarters of a length when relishing the extended 10-furlong trip.
“She was very good. She ran last time in the Guineas when she was in season and she’s hopeless when she’s in season,” Stack explained.
“She was hopeless in her work at home but you can’t run again in the Guineas next year so we thought we’d just roll the dice.
“She did it well last night and Oisin gave her a great ride.
“I was never worried about the trip, I always thought she’d get it. As a two-year-old I thought she was more a 10-furlong filly, she did it well.”
Aspen Grove will remain in America under the care of Mark Enright, who rode her to Newtownanner Stud Stakes victory and will help prepare her for her next outing.
“Either the Del Mar Oaks or the Saratoga Oaks (will be her next run),” said Stack.
“I’ll leave Mark Enright out with her, he’ll look after her. He’s won Group races on her a done a great job with her over the last few days.”
Of the significance of a Grade One win, Stack’s first at the level, he added: “You need everything to go right for these things to happen, all the parts needs to fall into place and they did.”
Claymore, who gave Jane Chapple-Hyam a notable Royal Ascot success in last season’s Hampton Court Stakes, will head to Haydock for the Rose of Lancaster Stakes in a fortnight’s time.
The lightly-raced four-year-old had been off the track since last July when reappearing in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown in May.
However, he was last of six, beaten some 49 lengths by Hukum, and reportedly bled.
But Chapple-Hyam is confident he is nearing a return to action and said: “Claymore had a little hiccup at Sandown, but he is back in full training now.
“We will look maybe at Haydock. We’ll see how he performs over the next fortnight, but he’s been doing OK.”
While the Newmarket handler has been held up by a bug which has affected her juveniles in particular, the well-touted El Bodon, who was beaten narrowly on debut at Yarmouth, got off the mark at Lingfield and will now face a step up in class at Newmarket.
“El Bodon had the mucky lungs, just like Born To Rock (fifth of seven to Kylian on his return in the Listed Dragon Stakes at Sandown on Friday), so we went for the penalty kick at Lingfield, because we had a fit horse.
“He will run in the July Stakes at Newmarket on the Thursday. It is a Group race and he is where we think he is.”
Meanwhile Quatre Bras, who was beaten half a length when third to Lightning Leo on his Yarmouth seven-furlong debut, will also face tougher company.
Chapple-Hyam said: “The other one I liked, Quatre Bras, is in the Superlative. He was second-favourite on the Saturday in the seven-furlong race at Royal Ascot (Chesham), but we had to scratch him too, because he had a mucky lung.
“He’s in the Superlative on Saturday, as we think he’s good enough to be there.
“I’d say this bug swept through Newmarket. It hasn’t touched my older horses – as you could see, I had a 40-1 shot when Streaky Bay won at Yarmouth (on Thursday) – but it has gone through my two-year-olds.
“I’ve got colts in one yard and fillies and mares in the other. It is just unfortunate that the young ones are getting it and the older ones have have a stronger immune system. That’s all it is.”
There was no joy for either big-race favourite Chaldean or any of the British and Irish raiders at Deauville as Good Guess ran out an ultra-impressive winner of the Haras d’Etreham Prix Jean Prat.
Andrew Balding’s 2000 Guineas hero Chaldean was attempting to get back to winning ways having finished second behind Paddington at Royal Ascot, and Oisin Murphy had the son of Frankel in a handy position tracking the pace of the forward-going Sauterne in the early stages.
Fellow British challengers Indestructible and Shouldvebeenaring were also in a prominent position and looked to have claims heading into the final two furlongs.
However, none were able to match the acceleration shown by the Fabrice Chappet-trained winner, who struck over the course and distance for the second time this term following his win in the Prix Djebel in April.
Although only sixth in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains at ParisLongchamp, Stephane Pasquier’s mount welcomed the return to seven furlongs when second to Breizh Sky last month and turned the tables on that rival here to lead home a one-two-three for the home team in tremendous style.
Karl Burke’s Indestructible finished best of the foreign challenge in fourth, with Chaldean bitterly disappointing as he faded out of contention quickly.
George Duffield has Paddington as the one to beat throughout his future races having shown he has both pace and a will to win in his brilliant victory in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown.
The 76-year-old famously partnered Giant’s Causeway to win Sandown’s greatest Flat prize for Paddington’s trainer Aidan O’Brien in 2000, and 23 years on comparisons have been drawn between the ‘Iron Horse’ and Ballydoyle’s latest champion.
Although starting his season in handicap company, Paddington has followed a well-trodden path since striking at Listed level on May 1. He subsequently added the Irish 2,000 Guineas, before following in the footsteps of Giant’s Causeway to claim the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot en route to Esher.
At Sandown the similarities kept on coming and the son of Siyouni’s battling success over an Emily Upjohn who refused to lie down brought back plenty of memories of Duffield’s own Eclipse triumph when Giant’s Causeway held off Sir Michael Stoute’s Kalanisi in a thrilling finish.
“I watched it with Ann (Duffield, wife) and I predicted Paddington would win,” said Duffield.
“I said come and watch this race and I said ‘he will win, whatever he has to find he will find’ and I was chuffed when he proved me right.
“I said ‘that was just like Giant’s Causeway’ with the way the race went. When I rode Giant’s Causeway I jumped and found myself in front because the pacemaker got left and then the race was near enough identical for me.
“Paddington won a bit further than Giant’s Causeway, but the race played out like completely the same scenario. It was great stuff.”
Paddington has undertaken a steep rise to become one of the best three-year-olds in training and it was his Irish Guineas success at the Curragh that first alerted Duffield to his potential.
He has since gone on to prove himself a high-class operator and the two-time Classic winning rider feels Paddington has earned the right to be compared to Giant’s Causeway having shown a similar desire for victory at the business end of the Eclipse.
Duffield said: “The first time I took any notice of him was when he won the Irish Guineas.
“He just looked a bit sloppy and when he went to win his race at the Curragh he half hung fire a bit, got a bit lost and wanted to lay on the other horse. Then all of a sudden the penny dropped and ‘boom’ – away he went. It went from ‘he might win this race’ to ‘he will definitely win this race’ and he went and won quite well.
“He clearly improved from that and went to Ascot and showed you the horse he probably really was.
“In the Eclipse, the John Gosden filly is really good and he had to work hard for it and he was always going to outbattle her. He has that mindset, I think, just like Giant’s Causeway.”
Giant’s Causeway would go on to run a further five times after winning the Eclipse, winning three times at the highest level and being narrowly denied in the other two, most notably in his final start against Tiznow in an unforgettable Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Connections will be hoping Paddington will follow suit to become a fitting wearer of the ‘New Iron Horse’ moniker, something he has a chance of achieving in Duffield’s opinion because of his impeccable mindset.
“Ryan (Moore) said we haven’t seen the best of him yet and the race didn’t go to suit and I could both agree and disagree with that,” continued Duffield.
“I thought you couldn’t ask any more of him when you are taking on a filly as good as Emily Upjohn – she is a very good filly.
“I was watching thinking she was travelling quite well, Paddington was probably there sooner than he wants to be and idled a bit in front and then had to find it. And he found it, he buckled down and he found it.
“If you have that winning mindset, and he appears to have it, then they are always hard to beat because they are proper sporting horses that love the competition. If you put them under pressure they will go and find a bit more for you. Giant’s Causeway was the same, he just loved saying ‘come on have a go then, let’s see how good you are’.
“You don’t actually know what a horse is thinking, but that was the feeling Giant’s Causeway gave me in the Eclipse, ‘come on mate, you’re going to have to try harder than that because I’m not finished yet.”
“Paddington looks to have that mindset and looks a really good horse.”
Paddington appears likely to continue following the Giant’s Causeway route, mixing and matching the best options over a mile and 10 furlongs – something Duffield feels could prove the best option considering the pace he possesses.
“He might now go the Giant’s Causeway route and go for the Sussex Stakes and the Juddmonte and I think he will always be the one to beat wherever he goes,” continued Duffield.
“He’s got pace. Any race you put him in he has the pace to deal with it, whether that is a mile or a mile and a quarter.
“I wouldn’t be looking at a mile and a half right now, I would just concentrate on a mile and a mile and a quarter. If you want to bring him back to a mile then fine, he will have no problem with that. Which way you go doesn’t matter. He has that natural speed.
“Aidan is the man for that though, he’ll know exactly where he will want to be sending him and I reckon he will always be one you have to be frightened of.
“The man is an absolute genius of a trainer and if he thinks he’s a good horse, then he knows the score, he knows his horses inside out and back to front. Ryan is a very good judge of a horse also, and if he thinks there is more to come like he said after the race then this could be a really good horse.
“I think he’ll be hard to beat wherever he goes.”
Bucanero Fuerte is set to be campaigned at Group One level following his battling success in the Railway Stakes at the Curragh.
An impressive winner at the Kildare venue on debut, connections kept their powder dry with the precocious son of Wootton Bassett until Royal Ascot, where the Adrian Murray-trained youngster ran a fine race in the Coventry Stakes to finish a gallant third to Aidan O’Brien’s River Tiber.
Sent off 100-30 for the Group Two Railway, he built on that Ascot effort to quickly gain compensation, producing a brave performance off a positive ride from Rossa Ryan to hold off Ballydoyle’s Unquestionable and His Majesty.
The victory continued a golden spell for owners Amo Racing who enjoyed a double at Royal Ascot and also for Westmeath handler Murray who was picking up his second Group Two prize in the space of two weeks following Valiant Force’s Norfolk Stakes success at the big summer showpiece.
“Bucanero Fuerte has come out of the Curragh in great form and the team out in Ireland are really happy with him,” said Tom Pennington, racing and operations manager for Amo Racing.
“We were delighted with what he did there and he came forward from his Ascot run so we have to be chuffed with that.
“We’ve always held him in high regard and it’s nice it has come to fruition. We looked after him through the early part of the spring and he’s coming to the boil nicely now which is good to see.”
With Group Two honours secured, the natural next step is to seek top-table glory and both the Keeneland Phoenix Stakes (August 12) and Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes (September 10) back at the Curragh will come under consideration, as will Deauville’s Prix Morny on August 20.
“He’s got all the options. He’s in the Phoenix Stakes, he’s in the National and we’ll put him in the Morny,” added Pennington.
“We can’t wait to see him up at seven furlongs, but he showed at the Curragh he’s not slow. It will be a Group One on his next start, we just need to decide which one we go for.
“We would like to run in the Phoenix Stakes, that would be very much on our agenda and the National Stakes. They are the races we want to be competing in and he’s shown that he’s up to that level.”
In an exclusive interview with Sportsmax.TV, MVP Track Club's iconic coach, Stephen Francis, has firmly closed the door on the possibility of five-time Olympic gold medalist Elaine Thompson-Herah returning to the club.
Thompson-Herah's career has faced a downward spiral since her departure in October 2021, and despite public opinion suggesting a reunion could revive her floundering fortunes, Francis emphatically stated that she would not be welcomed back. To be clear, despite her current struggles, Thompson-Herah has never publicly expressed any interest in returning to MVP.
Thompson-Herah's extraordinary accomplishments at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where she secured the sprint double with record-breaking performances, solidified her status as one of the greatest sprinters in history. However, her decision to leave MVP Track Club shortly after her Olympic triumphs left many questioning her motives and the impact it would have on her career.
Explaining her departure back then, Thompson-Herah highlighted her desire for personal growth and the need to take charge of her own destiny. She expressed gratitude for the support she received in her earlier years but emphasized the importance of making choices that aligned with her best interests. "What I want for myself, to better myself, was not provided. So, I have to find ways to get it done," she said, reflecting on her decision to move on.
Coach Stephen Francis, a renowned figure in the track and field world, responded to inquiries from Sportsmax.TV about Thompson-Herah's potential return to MVP Track Club. His answer left no room for ambiguity. "No. The way she left and the comments that she made and the fact that she has yet to accredit any member of the MVP staff who paid her a lot of attention and went through a lot of sacrifice to get her healthy enough to run and to do what she did in 2021," Francis stated, clearly outlining his reasons for refusing her return.
Francis continued, expressing his disappointment that Thompson-Herah failed to acknowledge the efforts of the MVP staff, instead attributing her success solely to her husband and other factors. "She didn't say anything about that from MVP. No, that never sits well with us. Even if she had said, ‘Thanks, to MVP. You know, I'm really grateful, we would have been fine. But right now I would take back any of my former athletes but not her, No," he emphasized.
The public had hoped that a reunion between Thompson-Herah and MVP Track Club would reignite the spark that had propelled her to Olympic glory. However, Francis's unwavering stance has shattered those hopes. With Thompson-Herah's career floundering in recent years, the absence of her former coach's guidance and support poses significant challenges for her future endeavors, especially in light of her recent signing with Puma.
Thompson-Herah now faces an uphill battle as she seeks to reclaim her position at the top of the sprinting world. Without the familiar structure of MVP Track Club and the guidance of Coach Francis, she will need to dig deep to find the motivation and resources necessary to revive her career.
The Minstrel Stakes is next on the agenda for Just Beautiful, as trainer Paddy Twomey plots a route to a possible tilt at Breeders’ Cup glory in the autumn.
A Group Three winner for Ivan Furtado in 2021, the five-year-old was subsequently bought for 625,000 guineas on behalf of Moyglare Stud Farm and moved to Ireland to join Twomey.
She only made it to the track twice last season, disappointing at Leopardstown before finishing third at the Curragh, and she was again well held on her first start of this term in the Athasi Stakes.
But having bounced back to winning ways in the Group Two Lanwades Stud Stakes at the end of May, Twomey is hopeful she can continue to show her true colours for the remainder of the year.
“She’s in good form and the plan is to run her in the Minstrel Stakes at the Curragh on (Irish) Oaks weekend,” said the trainer.
“She’ll have three options after that – the Prix Rothschild and the Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville or the City of York Stakes. It’ll be one of those three races hopefully after the Minstrel Stakes.
“The long-range plan would be the Breeders’ Cup Mile if we could, but we’ll take it one step at a time.
“We didn’t really get a clear run at her last year – we had plenty of hold-ups.
“It was great to get a clear run with her this year and she’s versatile, I think. Seven furlongs on fast ground is probably her optimum, she has a lot of ability and I do hope she wins a Group One before the year is over.”
Hayley Matthews produced a spell of magic with bat and ball on Saturday to lead the West Indies Women to an eight-wicket win over Ireland Women in the third T20 international to sweep the series 3-0 at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground.
Batting first, Ireland looked intent on posting their highest total of the series with beautiful stroke play from Amy Hunter and Orla Prendergast. The pair shared in a 66-run partnership for the second wicket when Hunter was runout for 44 off a deflection of Ashmini Munisar’s fingers.
Prendergast was caught in the deep by Shabika Gajnabi off the bowling of Afy Fletcher for 40.
Rain interrupted Ireland’s innings twice before they finished on 116-9 from their 20 overs.
Matthews saved her best bowling performance of the series for her final over when she took the wickets of Rebecca Stokell 0, Arlene Kelly 0 and Ava Canning 0 in consecutive deliveries to become only the third West Indies Women’s player to take a T20I hat-trick.
She finished with figures of 4-14 while Cherry-Ann Fraser took 2-19.
During the chase, Djenaba Joseph was caught behind for two in the second over, then Matthews and Aaliyah Alleyne took over the run-chase.
The pair smashed 12 boundaries between them as they raced to the 117-run target. Matthews was closing in on her second consecutive half-century when she was bowled by Georgina Dempsey for 48 off 34 deliveries.
Chinelle Henry joined Alleyne in the middle and the pair took the West Indies Women to victory in 18.1 overs. Allyene and Henry were unbeaten on 49 and 13, respectively, as West Indies Women finished on 120-2 for an emphatic victory that pleased the team’s captain.
“I am pretty pleased. Coming into the series, anytime I put on my West Indies shirt I try to go out there and do really well, whether that be batting, bowling or fielding,” said Matthews who was voted Player of the Match and Player of the Series after taking eight wickets and scoring 135 runs for the series.
“I’m just happy I was able to contribute to the team win. It was great to see some of the younger players getting the opportunity this series and coming into their own. We’ve had debutant players perform really well. We’ve had Chinelle Henry get her maiden ODI half-century then back it up with a second one (in the series), then two not outs in the T20 series.”
Looking ahead, Matthews thanked the women she leads for their support.
“I just want to thank all the girls who have supported me since I’ve become captain. Thank you for backing me up out on the field, we have bigger challenges ahead and I look forward to their support.”
Joanna Mason, who suffered a leg fracture in a gallops accident last month, looks set to return to the saddle “in two or three weeks”.
Mason, 33, who was sidelined for 10 days when kicked in the knee by Jazz Samba following his win at Beverley on May 1, suffered more bad luck when three pigeons flew out of bushes adjacent to the gallops at her grandfather Mick and his son David Easterby’s yard, spooking a filly she was riding and unseating her.
The Malton rider raised her profile significantly on a wider stage earlier this year, producing a superb performance in February’s International Jockeys Challenge at the Saudi Cup to finish as leading woman rider and in third place overall.
On her rehabilitation, she said: “It’s going well, not doing too badly. I’m not a 100 per cent sure. I’ve increased stuff this week in the hydrotherapy pool, the physio and in the gym, and am doing a lot more weight-bearing. I’m hoping I’ll be back within the next two or three weeks.
“I definitely couldn’t get on a horse yet. I am just body-weight loading and doing that with heel raises, but I’m getting there.
“The knee is still a bit sore, because I was over-using it and hopping around while I was nursing my left one. There is not as much pressure, and it doesn’t hurt. I’m not doing too badly. I suppose your body will tell you when you are ready, but the process always takes longer than you think.
“The physios are really happy and I’m doing enough to push it without it hurting.”
Former Kingston College stalwart Wayne Pinnock successfully defended his national long jump title with a massive leap of 8.32 metres in what was a fierce contest at the National Senior Championships at the National Stadium on Saturday.
Pinnock, 22, who has been in superb form this season, was just off his seasons and personal best of 8.37m. The Arkansas University athlete achieved the winning jump on his second attempt in a negative 0.4 metres per second wind reading.
That lead made things interesting, as it followed the 8.27m registered by 2019 World Championships gold medallist, Tajay Gayle, who had to settle for second place. Carey McLeod rounded off the top three spots, cutting the sand at 8.20m.
Meanwhile, Traves Smikle was crowned the men’s discus champion, following his fifth-round effort of 66.12 metres.
The event which took shape in terms of its competitive at the backend, saw Roje Stona finished second with an effort of 65.92m, which at one point, placed him in pole position.
Five-time national champion and World Championships silver medallist, Fedrick Dacres, had to settle for third as his best effort was measured at 65.79 metres, well short of his personal best of 70.78m.
Currently enjoying what is possibly the best season of her career, Danniel Thomas-Dodd came into the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA)/Puma National Senior Championships with the sole intention of sharpening up on her form for medal contention at next month’s World Championships.
In doing that, Thomas-Dodd won her eighth national shot put title with a mark of 19.08 metres which she believes is a good indicator of how lethal she can be when focused, as throwing at the National Stadium often poses a challenge for her.
She won ahead of Lloydricia Cameron, whose best mark was 16.37m in the two-athlete competition on Saturday.
“I think it was definitely more of a training exercise for me and for me to come out here and finish with a 19.08m is good. I always expected we could because it is very difficult competing at the National Stadium for us as shot putters as the circle is a little bit uphill, so it makes it difficult perception wise to throw far here.
“So, for me to come out and throw 19, once again, is a very good indicator of where I am at. I wanted to throw a little bit further, but I am not disappointed with where I finished,” Thomas-Dodd said.
Still, the 30-year-old pointed out that she would have appreciated more competition on home soil, as she braces for the tough competition to come at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
Thomas-Dodd, who is no stranger to success, having won silver medals at the World Championships and Commonwealth Games levels, has thrown five of her top 10 marks ever this season, topped by a national record 19.77m in May in California, and also three 19.66m in Sweden in June.
“I think in a sense it (the lack of competition) does throw you off a bit, but I am a person who when I am in a competition, I focus on myself so the fact that there were only two of us out there, didn’t really affect me too much,” Thomas-Dodd shared.
“The only thing is that it was hard to get going because there were not many people competing with because you know when someone throws far it makes you want to throw far as well. So, I think that aspect of it was missing, but it was a good competition, I got through it healthy and that is all I can ask for,” she ended.
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