Jamaican Olympian Lacena Golding Clarke sensed that Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan would set a world record during the semi-finals of 100m hurdles on Sunday’s final day of the 2022 World Championships of Athletics in Eugene, Oregon.
Clarke, 47, recruited Amusan from Nigeria in 2016 bringing her to the University of Texas El Paso (UTEP) after the then 18-year-old won the 100m hurdles in a time of 14.26 at the Junior African Championships in March 2015.
Since then, she has been the coach and second mother to Amusan, who ran 12.12 in the semi-finals to break the world record of 12.20 that had been held by American Kendra Harrison in July 2016.
Showing it was no fluke, Amusan would go on to win the title in an even faster 12.06 (2.5m/s). The run in the semi-final, Golding-Clarke said, was incredible but looking back, not really unexpected.
“At first it was unbelievable,” said the Golding Clarke who will take up a coaching position at her alma mater Auburn University in the Fall.
“We knew she could come close to running the then world record, we’ve rehearsed it in training a couple of times last year and this year. So, I know what she could do.
“However, I was very happy, excited and pleased because of all the hard work that went into training this season.”
Golding Clarke, the 2002 Commonwealth Games champion, said the work that went into preparing Amusan, the 2018 Commonwealth Games champion, paid off massively.
“This season was the same as before with more speed and rhythm endurance work plus drilling techniques every training day,” she said.
“We focused more on staying healthy, we drilled technique that needed to be taken care of, and, of course, we paid extra attention to her rhythm/speed endurance.”
The proud coach also related that Amusan was driven by the disappointment of finishing fourth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
In Tokyo, Amusan crossed the line in 12.60 just behind Jamaica’s Megan Tapper 12.550, Harrison 12.520 and gold medallist Jasmine Camacho-Quinn 12.370. According to Clarke, she was motivated to redeem herself in Oregon.
“She wants to be the best she can be; specifically, she wanted to be on the podium, she did not want another fourth place at a global competition so she focused more on herself this time around and executing her race plan,” said Clarke.
The Jamaica coach describes the relationship between her and Amusan as being like family.
“The relationship is more like a mother/daughter type,” she said.
“Her mom sent her far away from home to get her education and to run track for the University of Texas at El Paso and so as a coach, I am her family away from home.
“Tobi is a dedicated and hard-working person, very persistent. She is sometimes goofy with persons she calls friends, very friendly and nice to speak with but mostly a loner.”
So sweet was the moment Amusan set the world record that not even the unfortunate comments from Michael Johnson, the multiple Olympic gold medallist and former 200m and 400m world-record holder, could ruin the occasion for Golding Clarke and her 24-year-old charge.
Johnson, who was a pundit during the championships, suggested that the timing system had malfunctioned during the semi-finals of the 100m hurdles. His comments drew the ire of Nigerians on social media. Golding scoffed at the comments.
“I really thought it very absurd,” she said.
“I did not really pay it any mind because that would take away from the joy of winning and breaking the world record.”
The recently concluded 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene saw the Caribbean region grab the opportunity to represent themselves well on a global stage with both hands.
The region took home 17 medals in total including five golds, nine silvers and three bronzes with Jamaica leading the Caribbean medal count with 10 ahead of Grenada and the Dominican Republic who got two each while the Bahamas, Barbados and Puerto Rico all took home one apiece.
There were a number of standout performances throughout the 10 days starting with Jamaicans Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson.
Fraser-Pryce produced a championship record 10.67 to defend her 100m title and win her fifth in total. Fraser-Pryce also won her second 200m medal in her World Championships career, a silver in a season’s best 22.81.
Jackson ran a personal best 10.73 for silver in the 100m behind Fraser-Pryce and followed that up with one of the performances of the championships in the 200m. She produced a time of 21.45 to win her first global title and become the fastest woman alive over the distance.
Double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah came third in the 100m in 10.81 to complete Jamaica's second consecutive 100m clean sweep at a major championship.
Fraser-Pryce, Jackson and Thompson-Herah then teamed up with Kemba Nelson to win silver in the 4x100m in 41.18 behind the USA (41.14).
We now move to the 400m where the Caribbean women swept the medals. Bahamian Shaunae Miller-Uibo became the first female to complete the world event cycle (gold medals at the World Youth Championships, World Junior Championships, World Indoor Championships, World Championships and Olympics) by finally winning her maiden world title with a world-leading 49.11.
The Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino, the world leader coming into the Championships, followed up her silver medal in Tokyo last year with 49.60 to claim silver once more.
Barbados’ Sada Williams produced a brilliant personal best and national record 49.75 to take home bronze, becoming the first Barbadian woman to win a World Championship medal.
In the men’s equivalent, Grenadian superstar Kirani James ran 44.48 for silver behind American Michael Norman (44.30). This was James’ third World Championships medal and first since 2015 when he won bronze.
Paulino was also part of the brilliant quartet that took the Dominican Republic to gold in the Mixed Relay. Paulino combined with Fiordaliza Cofil, Lidio Andres Feliz and Alexander Ogando to run 3:09.82 for gold.
Staying on the track, Jamaica’s Britany Anderson followed up on the promise she’s shown all season to secure a silver medal in the 100m hurdles.
Anderson ran a new national record 12.31 in the semi-finals before running a wind-aided 12.23 to secure the silver medal behind Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan who clocked an astounding 12.06 for victory after running a legal world record 12.12 earlier in the semis.
Puerto Rican Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn ran the same time as Anderson to take home bronze.
Jamaica picked up silver medals in both the men's and women's 4x400m relays. The men comprising of Ackeem Bloomfield, Nathon Allen, Jevaughn Powell and Christopher Taylor registered 2:58.58 to finish behind the USA (2:56.17) while the women with Candice McLeod, Janieve Russell, Stephenie Ann McPherson and Charokee Young produced 3:20.74 to finish behind the Americans (3:17.79).
In the field, Grenada’s Anderson Peters became only the second man to defend his javelin world title.
The 2022 world leader produced a best throw of 90.54m to successfully defend his title from Doha three years ago, replicating a feat only matched by Czech world record holder Jan Zelezny who won consecutive world titles in 1993 and 1995 before returning to top spot in 2001.
Peters produced an amazing series, registering 90.21m, 90.46m, 87.21m, 88.11m, 85.83m and 90.54m in his six rounds.
Jamaica’s Shanieka Ricketts produced a season’s best 14.89m to take silver in the women’s triple jump behind Venezuelan world record holder and Olympic champion Yulimar Rojas (15.47m).
Ricketts produced jumps of 14.89m, 14.86m, 14.37m, 14.40m, 14.62m and 14.80m for one of her best series of her career.
The region will be hoping for an even better showing at the 2023 World Championships scheduled for August 19-27 in Budapest, Hungary.
Newly minted national record holder Britany Anderson won the silver medal in a fast 100m hurdles final on Sunday’s closing day of the 2022 World Championships of Athletics at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
Aided by a wind of 2.5m/s, Anderson, in her first world championships final, ran a fast 12.23 to finish in second place behind Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan, who clocked a ridiculously fast 12.06 to win the gold medal.
Amusan, who is coached by Jamaican Olympian Lacena Golding-Clarke, shattered the USA’s Kendra Harrison’s world record of 12.20 in the semi-final when she clocked a stunning 12.12s.
Harrison was second in the heat with a season-best 12.27 but the American was unable to handle the pace in the final and was subsequently disqualified after hitting a number of hurdles.
Anderson, meanwhile, broke Danielle Williams’ national record of 12.32 set in 2019, when she won her semi-final heat in 12.31 while holding off the Olympic champion, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, who clocked 12.32.
Both women shared the time of 12.23 in the finals but Anderson was 0.005 seconds faster and hence awarded the runner-up spot.
Alia Armstrong of the USA was fourth in 12.38 while Cindy Sember who ran a new British record of 12.50 in the semis, clocked 12.41 for fifth.
Danielle Williams ran 12.44 for sixth with Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas running 12.53 for seventh.
Meanwhile, Jamaica’s men picked up their first medal of the championships when they finished second in the 4x400m relay. The USA won the gold medal in a world-leading 2:56.17 but the Jamaican quartet of Ackeem Bloomfield, Nathon Allen, Jevaughn Powell and Christopher Taylor – spared blushes for their male counterparts with a season-best 2:58.58.
Allen ran the fastest split on the second leg, 43.95 while Taylor completed the anchor leg in an impressive 43.98.
Belgium finished third in 2:58.72.
Jamaica’s women closed the championships with the third silver-medalist on the final day when they finished runner-up to gold medal favourites, the USA which ran a world-leading time of 3:17.79.
The Jamaican quartet of Candice McLeod, Janieve Russell, Stephenie-Ann McPherson and Charokee Young, clocked a season-best 3:20.74.
Great Britain was third in 3:22.64.
Jamaica won 10 medals at the championships - two gold, seven silver and a bronze medal.
Pre-race favourties Jamaica finished in second position behind the United States on the back of a few untidy baton exchanges in the Women’s 4x100m relays at the IAAF World Championships on Saturday.
The US quartet of Melissa Jefferson, Abby Steiner, Jenna Prandini, and Twanisha Terry blasted to the line in 41.14. With Terry just managing to hold off rapidly closing 200m champion Shericka Jackson.
The Jamaicans had gotten off to a poor start with a botched exchange between first leg runner Kemba Nelson and second leg runner Elaine Thompson-Herah putting the team immediately on the back foot. 100 World champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce reduced the deficit on the third leg but could not pull things back. The team finished with a time of 41.18.
The German quartet of Tatjana Pinto, Alexandra Burghardt, Gina Lückenkemper, and Rebekka Haase claimed third place in a time of 42.03.
In the men’s equivalent, the Jamaicans finished just outside the medal places. The top spot went to the Canadian team who upset pre-race favourites the United States. Great Britain finished with the bronze medal. The Jamaica team consisted of Ackeem Blake, Yohan Blake, Oblique Seville, and Jelani Walker.
Grenadian thrower Anderson Peters put together a series of sensational performances to dominate the Javelin Throw at the IAAF World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, on Saturday.
Straight out the gates, the Caribbean athlete served notice of his intention to defend the crown he won in Doha, at the 2019 edition. Peters went straight to the head of the pack with a massive throw of 90.21. The athlete went on to register another three 90m throws, including his winning distance of 90.54 in the final round.
The Grenadian was the only athlete on the day attaining the 90m standard. Second spot went to India’s Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra who registered a mark of 88.13 in the fourth round. The Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch claimed the bronze medal with his best of 88.09, which he achieved in the third round.
Peters heading into the event as the athlete in form, having registered a world-leading mark of 93.07 in Doha, Qatar in May.
Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, Brittany Anderson and Megan Tapper all looked comfortable as six Caribbean women safely advanced to the semi-finals of the 100m hurdles at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene on Saturday.
Anderson, who won her first Jamaican national title in June, was first up and comfortably advanced to the semi-finals with 12.60 to win heat one.
There was also a major casualty in the first heat as defending world champion Nia Ali of the USA failed to advance after clipping the ninth hurdle and falling to the track.
Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico was next up, running 12.52 to win heat two ahead of Bahamian world indoor silver medallist Devynne Charlton (12.69).
Jamaican 2015 world champion Danielle Williams finished second in heat three with 12.87 to advance. Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan cruised to a new national record 12.40 to win the heat.
Costa Rica’s Andrea Carolina Vargas ran 13.12 for third in heat four to advance.
Tapper, bronze medallist at the Olympics last year, ran 12.73 to finish second behind American Alia Armstrong (12.48) in heat five and progress.
World leader and world record holder Kendra Harrison of the USA ran 12.60 to win heat six and advance.
Five-time 100m World champion, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, admits the Jamaica team would benefit greatly from more relay practices but is confident they will have the ability to cause plenty of damage in the final on Saturday.
On Friday, a second-string team that featured a quartet of Briana Williams, Nataliah Whyte and Remona Burchell, and Kemba Nelson, made it to the finals with very little drama, after finishing behind Great Britain with a time of 42.37.
Even so, the Jamaican team’s changeovers were significantly slower than that of the British team who won the event with a time of 41.99. Great Britain's combined changeover splits were clocked at 6.26, with the second place Jamaicans coming in at 6.77, the second slowest in the field. The Jamaicans have also had their fair share of mishaps when it comes to getting the stick around in previous games. Most notably, the team failed to complete the baton changes at the 2008 Olympic Games where they were heavy favourites.
“If I’m being honest, we don’t do a lot of relay practice in Jamaica which I think can be a downfall for us. I think if we had time to have relay camps we would be better at the 4x100s,” Fraser-Pryce said on Friday.
With that being said, the Jamaicans have a solid record at the World Championships recently and have won the event at 4 of the last 6 editions. With 100m champion Fraser-Pryce, 200m champion Shericka Jackson and Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah to join the line-up, for the final, the team has plenty of firepower left in reserve.
“We just pray to God when the finals come we will have a blistering run and we will have Shericka (Jackson) with that 21.4, listen it’s over!” the athlete quipped.
The Jamaica men's team, who once dominated with quartets led by the legendary Usain Bolt, also advanced out of the heats but as one of the fastest losers. Competing in heat 2 the quartet of Ackeem Blake, Kemar Bailey-Cole, Conroy Jones and Jelani Walker finished fourth in 38.33.
Sydney McLaughlin broke her own world record by almost three-quarters of a second to win 400m hurdles gold at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon on Friday.
The American, who claimed double gold at Tokyo 2020 last year, including in this event, blew past her rivals to post a new world-best time of 50.68 seconds.
It marked a further reduction on the previous world record she set last month with a remarkable 51.41 seconds, and now means she possesses five of the six fastest times in the race's history.
The Netherlands' Femke Bol, who nabbed bronze last year in Japan, came home second for silver behind the 22-year-old, with 52.27, while United States team-mate Dalilah Muhammad.settled for bronze.
"The time is absolutely amazing and the sport is getting faster and faster," said McLaughlin. "I only get faster from here."
McLaughlin is now expected to consider a potential switch in her field, with a move to the 400m flat a likely option.
Bahamian quarter-mile star Shaunae Miller-Uibo added the 400m world title to her impressive collection after dominating the event at the IAAF World Championships on Friday.
The reigning Olympic champion had failed to capture the world title on two prior occasions, at the 2015 and 2019 editions, where she was made to settle for silver. In Eugene, Oregon, the athlete, who claimed she would retire from the event after this season, seized the moment.
Miller-Uibo took charge of the race early on, before pulling well clear of the field down the stretch to stop the clock at a world-leading 49.11. The event ended with a Caribbean sweep of the medal places as the Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino ran 49.60 for second and Barbados’ Sada Williams took a surprise third place in a new national record of 49.75. Jamaicans Stephenie-Ann McPherson and Candice Mcleod missed out on the podium spots after finishing 5th and 7th.
In the men’s equivalent, Grenadian Kirani James was forced to settle for second spot behind American Michael Norman who took the event in 44.29. James was second in 44.48 with Matthew Hudson-Smith third in 44.66.
Two other Caribbean athletes in the event Christopher Taylor of Jamaica and Barbados’ Jonathan Jones were 7th and 8th respectively.
Shanieka Ricketts could not contain her joy when the reality set in that she was a World Championships triple jump silver medalist once again.
“I was overjoyed when I realized that I won the silver medal. It felt like redemption from missing the podium in Tokyo by a mere three centimetres,” she recalled while speaking with Sportsmax.TV earlier this week.
“When I remember the journey to the podium, the days that we could not train when the distances were not forthcoming, and all the times when we wondered if we would be ready, it really felt like a dream come true, and it would not be possible without the help of God, my coach Kerrylee Ricketts and my agent Norman Peart.”
After winning silver in Doha in 2019 behind the virtually invincible Venezuelan, Yulimar Rojas, Ricketts, as she pointed out, was unable to replicate the performance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where her best effort of 14.84m was only good enough for fourth.
Fast forward to 2022 when armed with the lessons learnt from Tokyo, Ricketts encountered an unexpected new challenge early in the season.
“I started experiencing some tension in my knee in January. We had to take a break from doing technical sessions and it also restricted me from doing explosive lifts and sprints for some time,” she recounted.
Those early struggles manifested in the form of a few relatively off-colour performances -13.94m at the John Wolmer Speed Fest at the National Stadium in Kingston in March; 14.27m at the Velocity Fest 10 also in Kingston on April 2 and 14.15m seven days later at the USATF Bermuda Games.
She capped off the string of underwhelming performances with a 13.95m performance at Velocity Fest 11 at the National Stadium on April 23.
Notwithstanding, the underwhelming outings, Ricketts ended up a winner in each competition but she knew she had to be much better if she was to contend for a medal in Oregon.
In fact, she admits that her confidence began to wane as the marks were nowhere close to what she needed to be able to take on the world’s best come July.
“It did to some extent, especially when things were not going as planned,” she conceded, “but, I know that every season is different and sometimes challenges occur that you have to overcome in order to reach the goals that you have. So I did my best to focus on the things that I could control, trust my coach, trust the program and trust the process and hoped for the best.”
Sure enough, things began to change.
“Things began to improve in May and there were times when I wondered if I would be able to perform at my best at the world championships because I knew that in order to be on the podium I have to jump at least 14.70 and I have not seen that result all year,” she explained.
On May 13, she produced a season-best 14.82 for yet another victory in Doha and then reeled off marks of 14.35 and 14.52 before winning at Jamaica’s National Championships with a less than stellar 14.27m.
She isn’t clear on when things finally came together but what is certain is that they did and at just the right time.
“I know that a lot of persons were ahead of me on the performance list for this season, so I had to bring my ‘A’ game in order to medal,” said Ricketts who qualified for the finals in Oregon with 14.45m but with the intention of jumping much farther once the final began on Monday night.
“The goal for the final was to produce a big jump in the first round to take the pressure off me and put the pressure on the field. Then do my best to keep improving as the rounds progressed.”
She did exactly that. 14.89m on her first jump, a mark only surpassed by Rojas, who would subsequently win her third world title in as many championships.
For Ricketts, it all came down to what happened in Tokyo last year. That was where the rebound started and ended nicely for the four-time national champion.
“Not winning a medal in Tokyo really motivated me to work harder, and to never underestimate any of my opponents. The experience also helped me become fearless because I know how to navigate both winning and losing,” she said.
“Winning feels much better and yields the best outcomes so I always strive to win but I am not afraid to lose.”
At the conclusion of the world championships, Ricketts returns home for a few days before flying off to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England where she hopes of a golden conclusion to a season that did not begin with much promise.
Newly crowned women’s 200m world champion, Shericka Jackson, insists she was determined to put on a show for the much-anticipated event at the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Oregon on Friday.
By any measure, the young Jamaican certainly succeeded in doing so. En route to the gold medal, Jackson clocked the fastest time recorded for the event in 34 years. As it stands, only American Florence Griffth-Joyner, whose record still stands at 21.34, has gone faster.
The Jamaican’s time of 21.45 was a new national record and eclipsed the previous mark of 21.53 recorded by her compatriot Elaine Thompson-Herah at the Beijing Olympics last year.
“I wanted to come out here and put on a show and I did just that. The fastest woman alive, a national record, and a personal best, I can’t complain,” Jackson said.
The 28-year-old has enjoyed a meteoric rise to her lofty position in world sprinting having begun her professional career at the 400m distance in 2015. The win was the first gold medal for the athlete at any major championship.
Griffith-Joyner’s world record, however, continues to be elusive but Jackson insists that isn’t a cause for concern at the moment.
“I wasn’t thinking about any time, the world record wasn’t on my mind. I was just going out there to execute each round as best as possible and when the time comes it comes.”
Shericka Jackson produced the second fastest 200m time in history to win gold in the women’s 200m final at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene on Thursday night.
Jackson, who won silver in the 100m with a 10.73 personal best on Sunday, ran a spectacular championship record 21.45 for victory ahead of teammate Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (21.81) and Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith (22.02). Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah finished seventh in 22.39.
Jackson’s time also makes her the fastest woman alive over the distance and is a new national record.
In the men’s equivalent, the USA completed their second sprint sweep of the championships with Noah Lyles defending his title from Doha with a phenomenal world-leading and lifetime best of 19.31 to become the third fastest man in history over the distance.
Kenny Bednarek ran 19.77 for the silver medal while 18-year-old Erriyon Knighton took the bronze in 19.80. The Dominican Republic's Alexander Ogando and Trinidad & Tobago's Jereem Richards were fifth and sixth in 19.93 and 20.08, respectively.
In the Women’s 800m, Jamaica’s 1500m semi-finalist Adelle Tracey ran a personal best of 1:59.20 to finish third in heat one and advance to the semi-finals.
Joining Tracey in the semis will be her Jamaican teammate and 2019 World Championships finalist Natoya Goule, who won the sixth and final heat in 2:00.06.
In the field, the world leader and defending world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada needed only one throw to advance to the final of the men’s javelin, registering a mark of 89.91m. Trinidadian 2012 Olympic gold medallist Keshorn Walcott failed to advance, finishing 16th overall in qualifying with a throw of 78.87m.
Cuba’s Lazaro Martinez jumped 17.06m to advance to the final of the men’s triple jump.
Five-time 100m World champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce considers her longevity in the sport of track and field to be a blessing having seen so many of her contemporaries bow out.
The colourful Jamaica star first burst onto the world stage in 2008, as a 21-year-old, after capturing gold at the Beijing Olympics. One year later, the athlete proved she would be a force to be reckoned with after repeating the feat at the 2009 Berlin World Championship.
In a sport that is marked as much for its brevity at the very top level, as much as it is for blazing speed, 13 years later Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was once again crowned world champion in Oregon this week after dashing to gold in a blistering 10.67, her fastest time at a major games, at a jaw-dropping 35-years old.
As a testament to her remarkable longevity, the sprinter has remained the one constant in a changing sea of 100m athletes during the period. In the previous four World Championships finals, Fraser-Pryce has competed against 23 different athletes, the majority of which have now retired from the sport.
“Each time I step out on to the track I’m always feeling blessed to be able to do it because I know there are so many people I’ve competed with who have retired or they are injured or whatever it is. I’m just feeling blessed and am grateful to be able to continue,” Fraser-Pryce said.
In addition to being the oldest sprinter to win the 100m title, she also embarked on the journey of motherhood after taking time away from the sport in 2017 to have her first child, only to return to dominate.
“Age is a part of life, everyone will get to that stage, and taking time out to have a child is just part of the journey.”
Defending 100m world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has expressed satisfaction with a seemingly effortless first-round trot to the line, at the Oregon World Championships, on Saturday.
The Jamaican looked in superb form as she stopped the clocked at 10.87, easily covering the field before shutting down comfortably ahead of Britain’s Daryll Neita and Germany’s
Gina Lückenkemper who also qualified.
In fact, overall, as expected, there was no drama in the opening round as Fraser-Pryce compatriots Shericka Jackson and Elaine Thompson-Herah also won their heats, while the fourth Jamaican Kemba Nelson also advanced to the semi-finals after being third in Heat 4.
“I was trying to qualify as easy as possible and I hope I was able to do that and just look forward to the next round,” Fraser-Pryce said after the race.
“I couldn’t see the start from where I was so I’m not sure how that was executed but I’m sure when I go around the coach will have it and I’ll be able to look at it and see if I was able to execute. First rounds are usually hit and miss because there are so many things happening.”
Fraser-Pryce, who will be looking for a 5th world title, has come into the event with the fastest time in the world this year, 10.67, recorded in Nairobi, Kenya.
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