Following his world-leading 100-metre time set at the Tropical Elite Sprints Meet in Miami on Saturday, Antigua and Barbuda's CejHae Greene said he did not expect to go so fast so early.
He did say, however, that he intends to go a bit faster over the course of the season as the Olympic Games draw nearer.
Also at the meet held at the Tropical Park Stadium, Jamaica’s Akeem Bloomfield and Natalliah Whyte, Greene’s MVP International training partners, enjoyed impressive wins over 200m.
The 25-year-old Greene was second in his preliminary round heat in 10.27 behind the USA’s World Championship 400m medalist, Fred Kerley, who won in 10.15. However, he managed to turn the tables on his more celebrated American rival in the final, winning in 10.01.
Kerley was second in 10.11, the third-fastest time in the world this year, while Jeremy Bascomb was third in 10.51.
Greene said the time came as a bit of a shock.
“I was surprised to see 10.01 show up on the clock but coach been saying I am in good shape, I have been training well so once I executed a good race I should run fairly fast, but in my head, fairly fast meant 10.1/10.2, so it just shows that if you listen to your coach and do what you have been doing in practice you should be fine,” said Greene, who ran with a trailing wind of 1.2m/s.
He revealed that having Fred Kerley in the race also played its part in his fast season-opener that bumped China’s Bingtian Su’s 10.05 that was run earlier Saturday, from the top spot.
“Fred’s presence made me have to focus a little bit more because we all know Fred is fast so it kind of forced me to compete at a higher level,” Greene said.
“Fred’s presence really changed the game because I knew I had to execute a really good race because Fred is fast and he is strong, he is one of the best 400m athletes in the world so I know I had to execute the start very well to win the race.”
Realistically, it should not have been that much of a surprise for the 2016 Olympian given how well he says he has been training at MVP International’s base camp in Florida. He said the competitive nature of training has helped him bring out his best.
“My training group definitely helped me push a little harder this year. Being alongside Akeem Bloomfield, Nathon Allen and Teray Smith each day at practice, it gets really competitive and we push each other and we go at it. Every day is like a race so I think that really helped me to push myself to be in a lot better shape this early,” he said while revealing that he intends to dip below 10 seconds in time for the Olympic Games this summer.
“The goal is to go sub-10 and once we keep healthy and keep listening to the coach and keep executing races, getting race sharp, that should happen. So my goal is to keep improving each week in practice, stay healthy and go on to the Olympics and do great things.”
He said he is likely to race next in Clermont on April 4, where he could be running the 200m.
“I want to improve my 200 times. I know once I can improve over the 200m it should translate pretty good into the 100 so I’ll probably give it a shot down there.”
Bloomfield was also impressive at the meet seemingly exerting relatively little effort in winning the 200m in 20.75 over Teray Smith (20.90) and Zaza Wellington (21.05), respectively.
In the women’s event, Whyte, a sprint relay gold medalist at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, was the fastest Jamaican in the world with her winning time of 22.88.
In the time trial, Angela Tenorio was second-best in 23.06 while Ashley Kelly was third in 24.18.
Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.
Caribbean swimmers Grand'Pierre, Noel and Wuilliez fail to progress despite credible performances
There were no second round fortunes for Haiti’s Alexandre Grand'pierre, Antigua and Barbuda’s Jadon Wuilliez, or Guyana’s Raekwon Noel in the pool as both failed to progress from their respective heats on the opening day of the Paris Olympic Games at the Paris La Defence Arena on Saturday.
Wuilliez and Grand'pierre, finished second and fourth in their 100m breaststroke heats after clocking 1:02.70 and 1:02.85, respectively, but did not make the semi-finals as those times placed them 26th and 28th overall.
Noel also had a credible second-place finish in his 400m freestyle heat, but his time of 4:02.29 wasn't enough to progress. He finished 34th overall.
Wuilliez, 22, has had a wonderful track record thus far, earning a gold medal in the 50m breaststroke and a bronze in the 100m event at the Central American and Caribbean Swimming Championships (CCCAN) held in Mexico in June earlier this year.
Grand'Pierre, 21, is Haiti’s current record holder for the 50m and 200m breaststroke and the 200m individual medley (IM). He also won multiple New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) championships and is an NCAA Division III All-American. Earlier in June, he won the 100m breaststroke at the CCCAN in 1:02.39.
Meanwhile, this was Noel’s Olympic Games debut. The 18-year-old has established himself as one to look out for in the future, as he shattered five team records for the South Jersey Aquatic Club at the Middle Atlantic Senior Championships. He finished his short course season, winning five races and setting nine personal best times in addition to his records.
Noel won the competition and broke team records in the 500 free, 1000 free, and 200 fly. He boasts a track record in swimming, with five gold medals at the 2023 Carifta Swimming Championships. Breaking five nation records.
Young Reggae Boyz blanked 3-0 by Cuba to end Concacaf U-20 Champs pointless
Jamaica’s young Reggae Boyz ended their failed Concacaf Men's Under-20 Championship campaign without a goal or a point after a 0-3 loss to Cuba in their final Group A fixture at the Estadio Leon in Mexico on Friday.
With the victory, Cuba finished third in the group on four points and booked their spot in the quarterfinal round as one of the two best third-place teams. They join group winners United States, who finished with maximum nine points following their 1-0 win over runners-up Costa Rica (four points).
The Jamaicans were again undone by poor defending and a lack of offensive intent, which basically summed up their presence in the tournament, as they showed very little quality from the start.
In fact, they had a slim opportunity to bring their campaign to life but needed to beat Cuba to make it possible. Instead, it was the Spanish-speaking Caribbean team that marched on, as Michael Camejo dazzled Jamaica’s defence with nippy footwork before firing home in the 35th minute.
Cuba doubled their lead in the 42nd courtesy of David Perez, who capitalised on a defensive error.
Romain Blake got Jamaica’s lone attempt on target in the 47th, but was denied by Yurdy Hodelin.
Karel Pérez then wrapped up victory for Cuba when he converted from the penalty spot in the 86th.
Cuba will face the Group B winner, Honduras, in the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, United States, through an all-important strike from Nikolas Tsakiris, his second of the tournament, saw off 10-man Costa Rica.
After Aiden Harangi’s early effort was denied by the crossbar, Tsakiris then found the game’s solitary goal in the 37th to ensure three-time champions United States remained unbeaten heading into the knockout stage.
Costa Rica lost Alberth Barahona to a straight red card in the 50th minute.
United States, the reigning champions, will square off against the best third-place team from either Group B or C in the quarterfinal.
Elsewhere, Canada and Honduras also booked their spots in the quarterfinal after contrasting 2-1 and 5-2 victories over El Salvador and Dominican Republic in their final Group B encounters at the Sergio Leon Chavez Stadium.
Both Canada and Honduras ended on seven points each, but the latter secured top spot by virtue of a superior goal difference.
Canada await the runner-up of Group C.
“The favourite is Thompson”-Boldon highlights Jamaican champion as man to beat in 100m in Paris
Trinidadian four-time Olympic medallist Ato Boldon has named Jamaican sprinting sensation Kishane Thompson as his favourite to take 100m gold at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Thompson, 23, is currently the world leader in the event after running a personal best 9.77 to win the 100m title at the JAAA/Puma National Senior Championships at the National Stadium in Kingston in June.
The MVP Track Club-trained sprinter also produced times of 9.82 and 9.84 in the heats and semi-finals, respectively, at those national championships and, most recently, ran 9.91 shutting down to win at the Gyulai Istvan Memorial in Hungary on July 9.
“Thompson is the favourite,” Boldon said in an interview with LetsRundotcom on YouTube on Friday.
“I know Noah (Lyles) is the World champion. I think Noah made it a little bit more interesting by running that 9.81 into a headwind which kind of almost converts to a 9.77 but there’s no way you can look at the way in which Thompson ran that 9.77 and just go ‘Oh Noah will beat him.’ Noah has his hands full with that guy,” Boldon said.
Blazing speed acknowledged, one thing that Thompson lacks that his other competitors don’t is experience competing at the highest level of the sport with this being his first time representing Jamaica at any level.
If there is anything to prevent Thompson from delivering on the form that he’s shown so far this season, Boldon believes that would be this lack of experience on a stage like the Olympic Games compared to his peers.
“There are things which I see people completely ignoring. Kishane Thompson has not been under the microscope of Olympic favourite. Rounds are a great equalizer. Noah has the medals that he does because of how well he runs rounds. Is Noah suddenly a lock for the silver? No but he does have his hands full,” he said.
“There are others who are going to be in the 100m that are used to the pressure and pressure is a big thing. If he’s able to pull this off, you write books about stuff like that,” he added.
Thompson's quest for Olympic glory will begin in the heats of the men's 100m beginning on Saturday' August 3.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
