In post Bolt era, Jamaica fails to make Olympic 100m final for first time in two decades
After the high of winning three straight titles, Jamaica did not contest the final of the Olympic men’s 100m for the first time in two decades, as the event culminated on Sunday.
In the end, history was made as the title went to Italy’s Marcell Jacobs, which was the first time that country was winning the title. At the starter blocks, however, the famous black, green, and gold gear, which has become synonymous with speed, particularly over the last decade, was nowhere to be seen.
The country’s two representatives in the event Yohan Blake and Oblique Seville exited the competition at the semi-final stage. Seville failed to advance after finishing fourth in semi-final two, with a time of 10.09. Blake saw his bid come to an end after finishing a disappointing 6th in semi-final 1, with a time of 10.14. The country’s other entrant Tyquendo Tracey, Jamaica's national champion, pulled out of the competition before the heats after sustaining an injury.
It was a particularly disappointing end for Blake, likely to be in his final Olympics. For several years he was considered the heir apparent to compatriot Usain Bolt, who dominated the event for the last three editions, the first man in history to do so. Blake has the second-fastest time ever run over the event (9.69) and finished just behind the great sprinter at the 2012 edition of the Games in London.
Since sustaining devastating hamstring injuries in 2013 and 2014, however, Blake has not come close to rediscovering his best form. At the previous edition of the event in Rio 2016, he finished just outside the medals behind Canada's Andre De Grasse, the USA’s Justin Gatlin, and Bolt.
Related items
-
Keilando Goburn takes up role assistant coach at University of Maryland Eastern Shore
St. Jago High School is now searching for a new head coach for their girls track and field team as Keilando Goburn has left the institution.
Goburn, who coached the St. Jago girls team for 16 years, will take his knowledge overseas and take up the role of assistant coach for track and field and cross country at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
During Goburn’s 16 years at the helm of St. Jago’s girls team, they were consistently one of the best performing schools at “champs,” always finding themselves in the top five of the points standings when all was said and done.
Goburn also has had a hand in the development of some of the country’s most promising young athletes including the likes of NCAA Indoor 60m champion Brianna Lyston who started her high school career at St. Jago before making the switch to Hydel High.
-
Blake, Ogando, Camacho-Quinn secure wins at Gala dei Castelli in Switzerland
Jamaica’s Ackeem Blake and the Dominican Republic’s Alexander Ogando both secured wins at the Gala dei Castelli, a two-day World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meet in Bellinzola, Switzerland from September 8-9.
Blake, a bronze medallist at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow earlier this season, continued his fine form lately with 9.96 to win the men’s 100m ahead of South Africa’s Akani Simbine (10.04) and Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme (10.11).
Ogando, a 200m finalist at the Paris Olympics last month, won the event in Switzerland comfortably in 20.19 ahead of Canada’s Aaron Brown (20.49) and Switzerland’s William Reis (20.55).
Both Blake and Ogando will be in action at the Wanda Diamond League final from September 13-14 in Brussels.
On the women’s side, Puerto Rican Olympic medallist Jasmine Camacho-Quinn took top spot in the women’s 100m hurdles in 12.52, just ahead of American Grace Stark (12.54). Switzerland’s Ditaji Kambundji ran 12.82 in third.
Camacho-Quinn will also be in action in Brussels.
-
Boyz coach McClaren eyes redemption in tough Honduras clash
Jamaica’s senior Reggae Boyz head coach Steve McClaren acknowledges that getting his first win in their second League A Group B Concacaf Nations League encounter away to Honduras will by no means be easy, but he remains optimistic about a positive outcome in Tegucigalpa on Tuesday.
Game time is 9:00pm Jamaica time.
Coming off a frustrating goalless draw against Cuba at home, McClaren knows his team must find a way to bounce back if they want to remain in contention for a quarterfinal spot, as they sit fourth on a point. Honduras and Nicaragua head the standings with three points each.
Only the top two teams will secure quarterfinal spots, as well as spots in the next edition of the Concacaf Gold Cup.
While he has no doubt in his squad’s ability to rise to the occasion in the crucial encounter, McClaren did not shy away from the reality of the difficult task ahead, especially in hostile territory.
“Coming here for us is a big challenge, a huge challenge and one which I expect my players to accept and to deal with and we work to get a result,” McClaren said in a pre-match press conference.
“That's three points. It's a step towards qualification for the quarterfinals and that's still the target. We played one game and we played very well, even though we didn't get the result. We need to really play well tomorrow (Tuesday) and fight as a team to get a result to put us back in contention to qualify,” he added.
Despite dominating possession and creating several chances in their opening contest against Cuba, the Jamaicans failed to convert, leaving McClaren feeling they could have done more to secure the win.
It is for that reason why he believes that the key to success against Honduras will be to maintain their composure, execute their game plan, and, more importantly, take advantage of scoring opportunities when they arise.
The two teams last met at the National Stadium in 2023, when Jamaica won 1-0 courtesy of Demarai Gray’s strike. Prior to that in 2021, Jamaica bettered the Central Americans 2-0 in their own backyard, a feat they will be hoping to repeat against Reinaldo Rueda’s side on this occasion.
“It will be a very difficult game. I think Honduras has progressed from the years that Jamaica played them; they are a better team now than they were a year ago and results show that. But we take it one game at a time and we take tomorrow (Tuesday) night as the next one,” McClaren said.