Athletics

While wearing a stylish wig mirroring her country's national colours, Fraser-Pryce led a Jamaican sweep as Shericka Jackson claimed the silver medal in a personal best of 10.73, which sees her surpass compatriot Merlene Ottey as the third-fastest Jamaican woman. Only Fraser-Pryce (10.60) and Elaine Thompson-Herah (10.54) have run faster.

Thompson-Herah, the Tokyo Olympics 100m champion, was third this time around in a relatively pedestrian 10.81 as the Jamaican women swept the medal places in consecutive global championships.

However, the moment belonged to the 35-year-old Pocket Rocket, who had won the previous 100m titles in 2009, 2013, 2015 and an unprecedented fourth in 2019. She was fourth in Daegu in 2011 because of injury and missed out in 2017 because she was pregnant with her son Zyon.

“I can't even imagine the amount of times I've had setbacks and I've bounced back and I'm here again," said Fraser-Pryce, who became the first athlete to win five titles in the same running event since the World Championships began in 1983.

Only pole vaulter Sergey Bubka, hammer thrower Pawel Fajdek and discus great Lars Riedel have also won the same single disciple five or more times.

 "I continue to remind myself that sometimes it's not because you don't have the ability, but it's the right time. Today was the right time," she continued.

"I feel blessed to have this talent and to continue to do it at 35, (after) having a baby, still going, and hopefully inspiring women that they can make their own journey," added Fraser-Pryce.

"Whenever I'm healthy I'm going to compete. I'm hungry, I'm driven and I always believe I can run faster and I'm not going to stop until I stop believing that."

Fraser-Pryce has now been involved in three 100m medal sweeps for Jamaica. She was the winner in a Jamaican 1-2-2 finish with Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was second to Thompson-Herah in a Jamaican 1-2-3 at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Shericka Jackson won the bronze.

That’s the word from 2021 World U20 champion Ackera Nugent, who was responding to a question about who she thinks will emerge victorious in the 100m hurdles at Jamaica’s National Senior Championships that get underway at the National Stadium in Kingston on Thursday, June 23.

Nugent, who turned 20 in April, will miss the championships because of injury but is already on the mend as she targets a triumphant return to the track for her junior year at Baylor University. As the second fastest Jamaican woman in the world this year, Nugent will be missed but the field that will assemble is stacked.

Among the women contending for the top three spots will be Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Megan Tapper, 2015 World Championships gold medalist Danielle Williams, who is also the 2019 bronze medallist, 2022 Big 12 Conference Champion Demisha Roswell, Britany Anderson, Crystal Morrison, and Trishauna Hemmings among others.

However, Nugent perhaps one of the most talented hurdlers in her country’s history, was not willing to put her neck on the block given how keenly contested Sunday’s final is expected to be.

“Well, the hurdles is an event that you can’t really have expectations on it because anything can happen in those 12-13-seconds of the race,” she reasoned.

“So it’s a thing where you have to expect the unexpected.”

She does expect to be back better and stronger than ever for the coming 2022/2023 NCAA season.

Mere days after running a personal best 12.45 to finish second to Roswell at the Big 12 Championships, Nugent, citing injury, shut down her season in early June. It was a decision that meant that she would miss the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships in Oregon as well as Jamaica’s National Championships where she was expected to be among the athletes making the team to the World Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, where the NCAA Championships were also held.

She revealed the circumstances that led to her decision.

“I had been having ankle problems this season more than normal but I was able to compete but at regionals, running the 4x100m I tore my plantar fascia (the thick tendon that connects the heel and the toes) and it was really bad,” she recalled.

Despite the injury, she said, she soldiered on, which made things worse.

“Knowing me as somebody that’s like ‘I have a next race to go do, let’s knock it out the way. I took some pain killers and I wrapped my leg up and went out there to compete and when I realized in the race it was getting really bad I slowed up and was still able to make nationals and then I looked and saw how swollen my foot was and I was like ‘I don’t think I have enough time to recover and make it for nationals’ so I decided to close my season down.”

As it stands, she is now able to walk and can run a little but thinks it best to give herself time to heal ahead of next season. “I don’t think it’s a smart decision to run so now I will be focusing on recovering, rehabbing and getting stronger. I have enough time to get better, to get stronger so I will be ready for next year,” she said.

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.”

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.”

The Indoor World Champion silver medalist threw a distance of 18.37m, in group B action of the qualifying round, but it was only good enough for sixth in her group.

Despite not achieving the qualifying mark, however, the athlete is delighted she was able to compete at the 2020 Olympic Games any at all.

For the 28-year-old a major goal had already been ticked off just by making it to the Games to showcase her talent, and she hopes it will pave the way for other young aspiring Jamaican athletes.

“I came to the 2020 Olympic Games to showcase my talent and also show the younger Jamaicans that they can do it too, they can do whatever they believe in. Unfortunately, I was unable to advance to the finals of the women's shot put. I have so much to be thankful for,” Thomas-Dodd shared via social media.

The second time Olympian reflected that she was close to stepping away from the circle for good a few years ago, but because of the strong support of her husband, now coach, she decided to stay with the sport. She revealed that the season was particularly challenging but that she has taken away a lot from it and it would only make her stronger.

"At this time a few years ago, I was so ready to hang up my throwing shoes but with the nudge and support of my husband now coach I continued and to this day he is my biggest support and motivation.

It has definitely been an up and down and unpredictable season which I have learned so much from. I am no doubt disappointed, however, I am also very grateful for this experience a second time around and If you know me you know that this will only make me stronger.”

The Commonwealth Champion ended by saying that her performance at the Games is not the best of what she can do and that she is not done yet.

China’s Lijiao Gong won the finals of the Women’s Shot Put with a distance of 20.58m, a new personal best. She was the only athlete that went over the 19m mark, Raven Saunders of the United States of America and Valerie Adams of New Zealand were second and third respectively.

Thompson-Herah clocked a new personal best of 10.54 in the women’s 100m, just outside of the longstanding world record set by Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988.  Similar to the finish at the Olympics a few weeks ago, her compatriots Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (10.73) and Shericka Jackson (10.76) we second and third.

Heading into the race, however, the focus had been on the return to the sprints of American Sha’Carri Richardson.  Richardson had run 10.72 in April and won the US trials to set up the prospect of an intriguing match-up at the Olympics.  The 21-year-old was, however, suspended ahead of Tokyo after returning a positive test for marijuana.

Ahead of the Wanda Diamond League, many framed the race as an Olympic do-over for the American, who certainly headed into the event sky-high on confidence with plenty of pre-race chatter to boot.  It did not go to plan.  Richardson finished last in 11.14, and at the end of the race, the Olympic do-over had the same three medallists as the original.  On Richardson’s placing and pre-race chatter, the decorated sprint queens had no comment.

“I wasn’t watching Sha’Carri to be honest,” Fraser-Pryce, who went viral for a cheeky post-race smirk as she passed by the American being interviewed, said.

“No, you shouldn’t have,” Fraser-Pryce replied when anyone should have really been surprised by another Jamaican sweep.

Fraser-Pryce may well have a point, perhaps expecting Richardson, who is yet to win a major medal, to match up to the in-form Jamaican 100m medallist, who in total have 8 Olympic medals between them and three of the four fastest times in history, might have been a stretch.

“I didn’t hear much of that,” Thompson-Herah said when quizzed on the American's pre-race comments.

 “No comment on that,” the athlete added when asked for her assessment of Richardson’s performance.

Decorated Trinidadian Olympic medalist, Ato Boldon, has admitted his generation was intensely aware of the rivalry between themselves and track and field powerhouse the United States, one of the fiercest in global athletics.

When it comes to the sprint events at the Olympics, there can be little doubt that the Americans have ruled the roost.  In 28 contests so far, beginning in 1896, the United States has claimed an impressive 16 gold medals.

Whenever there has been a fly in that proverbial ointment, so to speak, however, it has more often than not, one way or the other, turned out to be athletes of Caribbean descent.

In total, athletes of Caribbean descent have claimed 6 medals, a list led by Jamaican Usain Bolt’s three straight between 2008-2016.  The first was Trinidad and Tobago’s Hasely Crawford in 1976, followed by wins for Lindford Christie (Great Britain) and Donovan Bailey (Canada), both of whom are of Jamaican descent.

 In total athletes from the Caribbean have found themselves on the podium in 16 of the quadrennial, with the dominant USA failing to make the podium on only three occasions.

The occasions were in 1928 Amsterdam, 1980 Moscow and 1996 Atlanta.

On one of those rare occasions, it was Boldon himself who featured alongside Bailey and

Namibia’s Frankie Fredricks to leave the USA outside of the medal spots, in their home country, no less.

Left in fourth and fifth place the was US pair of Dennis Mitchell and Mike Marsh.  In that regard, Boldon wouldn’t have had it any other way.

“At the time, Dennis Mitchell and I weren’t particularly good friends because Dennis was actually with John Smith (coach) when I got there in 1995,” Boldon said on SportsMax.TV special Olympic series Great Ones.

“At some point, he had a decision to make as to whether he was going to come with me on a trip somewhere or something.  Dennis actually said to him, because Dennis had been number one in the world the year prior, he said something like, ‘why are you wasting time with this young kid?’ I’m number one in the world. I always remembered that.”

The flamboyant Mitchell had finished in third position at the 1992 Olympics and heading into the Atlanta Games had hopes of finishing much higher.

“I remember thinking, I want to beat Dennis on his home soil because he was an American and to me, if we shut out the Americans on home soil, we have done our job,” Boldon said.

“So, even back then that was a real thought for me, not just because of Dennis but because I had a sense of my place in this battle we were to fight.”

Despite being fierce opponents for 100m, following the event, Boldon and Bailey took the opportunity to quickly reflect on the moment.

“He said, ‘never forget where you are from, and I said to him that’s right ‘you never forget where you are from.’ We were very aware that it was us versus them.  The Jamaican and the half-Jamaican, versus Dennis and versus Ezinwa, versus Mike Marsh,” Boldon said.

“I don’t know why we were aware of it, but we were aware of it.  So to me, Donovan saying that to me after was kind of a, ‘I know that you live here now and you attended American university and all that but remember you’re a Trini and it was my sort of echoing the sentiment back to him.”

Thanks to the exploits of Bolt, the US has failed to get a gold medal in the event for three straight Olympics, the longest drought they have faced in the history of the competition.

Jackson claimed a bronze medal in the 100m, competed in the first round of the 200m, and claimed gold in the 4x100m, before being part of a bronze medal-winning team in the grueling 4x400m relays.

A remarkable achievement, particularly considering that only a year ago a troublesome injury threatened to seriously curtail her participation in the Tokyo Games.  Jackson suffered from severe shin splints a condition that affects the tibia and produces sharp and razor-like pain along the bone.

With the heavy demand placed on the legs by track athletes, the condition can, at worst, be debilitating enough to require surgery or at the other end of the spectrum certainly prevent the runner from delivering their full potential on the track.

When the athlete showed up at the offices of physiotherapist and performance enhancement specialist Yael Jagbir, in September of last year, her condition was much closer to needing surgery.

“It was pretty severe because if I even touched the area it was painful and she was unable to continue her season because of the pain she was in.  She would have trouble warming up and things like that, so it was very severe initially,” Jagbir told SportsMax.TV.

“I’ve seen stress fractures that you definitely need surgery.  If hers wasn’t treated properly it could have led to her needing to do surgery on her shins.  It was right on the cusp of that point that she would have needed surgery,” she added.

After months of highly specialized treatment from Jagbir, however, the athlete slowly began to see improvement and the painstaking work really paid off in April, with the Olympic qualifiers just a few months away.

“Three months between September to November we were doing some very intense work, some pool therapy, land-based therapy.  I was also doing treatment modalities to promote healing for the stress fractures,” Jagbir explained.

“When November came, she went back to training, we continued working with some modifications.  In December, she did an x-ray and the x-ray showed that they were seeing signs of healing and that was the first time she was seeing healing in the shin from when it first started in 2019.”

“We just kept working, her work ethic is impeccable, so it was a good team effort.  In April, when she did another x-ray, by that time the pain in the shin had really started to subside, she was able to train and able to sprint.  When she went for the repeat x-ray, in April, it showed no signs of fractures.  That was amazing, that was a miracle, for those fractures to heal while she was actually training is really amazing.”

Typically, a 400m runner, Jackson dropped down to the sprints for Jamaica’s national championships, where she surprised many by placing second in both the 100m and 200m sprints.  The rest, as they say, is history.

Hughes has enjoyed a memorable last month, beating Linford Christie’s long-standing British record when he claimed victory in the 100m at the New York Grand Prix with a time of 9.83 seconds on June 24.

Two weeks later and Hughes was crowned British 100m champion for the first time in eight years when he won in torrential rain in Manchester.

Sunday will see Hughes back in action and John Regis’ British 200m record of 19.94sec – set at the World Championships in 1993 alongside Christie’s previous best 100m effort – is firmly in his sights, according to his biggest rival at the London Stadium this weekend.

When pressed on trying to beat the British 200m record, Hughes told a press conference: “Tomorrow it is about executing my race, it is not going out there to break the British record.

“If it comes, it comes. It is something that is on the (vision) board. If tomorrow it comes, then I am happy for it.”

But American Lyles interjected with a question to the assembled media about what the British 200m record was.

When told it was 19.94, Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Lyles responded: “Oh, we can get that. Why you being so modest man?

“Forget the wind – you just ran in the rain, in a hurricane. We can get that.”

The supremely confident Lyles will be the man to beat at next month’s World Championships in Budapest and he made clear his intention to leave Hungary with gold medals in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay, but Hughes is full of belief after an impressive 2023 season.

Hughes said: “Obviously Noah’s in the field and many other guys are there as well. I give respect to who is there, but I am focusing on myself and looking forward to a good race.

“It was something (100m British record) that has always been on the board for me. For me this season it was something that I put on my vision board that I wanted to take down.

“I wasn’t going into the race thinking of breaking the British record, I just wanted to go out there and run fast. When the time came, obviously I was super elated but I was hoping that the wind was legal because there are many times when you run fast that you check the wind and it’s over the limit.

“When I saw the time and then I saw the wind was legal, I was ecstatic and happy because I set this on the board and it was something I accomplished.

“(Being world champion) is definitely within reach. I just have to remain focused and go out there and execute my races, try not to get too overcomplicated with people having expectation because sometimes you can get caught up with that, but my head is in the right place right now.

“For me it is going out there and executing it.”

Sunday’s Diamond League meet will see home favourite Dina Asher-Smith go head to head with Sha’Carri Richardson and Shericka Jackson in the women’s 100m while Olympic men’s high jump gold medalist Mutaz Essa Barshim and Katie Nageotte-Moon, Olympic and world champion in pole vault, will also grace the scene of the London Games in 2012.

Five para events will take place in the capital with Paralympic champion Hannah Cockroft, fresh from winning two gold medals at last week’s Para Athletics World Championships, set to compete in the 800m wheelchair event on Sunday.

Organisers have announced more than 50,000 tickets have been sold and Cockroft, who suffered two cardiac arrests after birth which resulted in her needing to use a wheelchair, is excited about the potential attendance in store.

She said: “80,000 at London 2012, that is still my biggest ever crowd.

“I think if all 50,000 turn out tomorrow, that will be my second biggest crowd ever, which is kind of terrifying actually!

“I got back from World Championships like three days ago so this was supposed to be a bit of fun, but now it is getting a bit serious.”

Smith, who has worked with some of the sport’s biggest names, acknowledged that the journey to unlocking Williams’ full potential would take patience and perseverance. “I’m not a magician, but give me some time, and I do do magic,” Smith said, emphasizing the long-term nature of their partnership.

Williams’ decision to join Smith’s group, which includes elite athletes such as Marie-Josée Ta Lou, was not taken lightly. Initially hesitant about the move from her Florida base to the West Coast, Williams ultimately decided to make the leap, citing Smith’s proven track record and the opportunity to learn from a new coaching philosophy. Smith himself believes that their collaboration has the potential to be transformative.

“She has the basis to become one of the most formidable Jamaican sprinters of all time,” Smith said, highlighting her natural speed, work ethic, and openness to new techniques. However, he stressed the importance of a holistic approach to her development. “It’s about sharpening the tools—mind, body, and soul. The tools need to be kept sharp and in harmony, and from there, it’s in God’s hands.”

The adjustment period has been challenging but productive, as the Olympic gold medalist works to embrace Smith’s philosophy of rhythm, patience, and fitness. Smith noted that adapting to a new system requires not just physical adjustments but also mental recalibration. “It’s not about unlearning what she’s done before but adding to it. You don’t throw the stew out; you add to the stew.”

One of the key areas Smith is addressing is Williams’ mindset in the latter stages of races. Williams has previously expressed concerns about feeling pressure from competitors in the final 30 metres, a hurdle Smith is confident they can overcome. “Fear stops you from buying into the final analysis,” Smith explained. “We’re working on manifesting a perfect finish, so she can run free to win, rather than running for a time.”

Smith has been encouraged by Williams’ progress and her eagerness to learn. He remains focused on the process rather than setting specific time goals, emphasizing that success will come as she continues to refine her technique and build confidence.

Looking ahead, Smith envisions Williams becoming a dominant force on the global stage, provided she stays committed to the journey. “Times will come, but first, she has to learn how to shift gears and feel her race. If we can piece everything together, she’ll be one of Jamaica’s best.”

As Williams adjusts to her new environment and coaching philosophy, she remains a promising talent poised to add to Jamaica’s storied sprinting legacy. With Smith’s guidance, she could become a cornerstone of the nation’s track and field success in the years to come.

“Jamaica is joining other countries which reward those who represent them at the Olympics with honorariums,” Minister Grange said while speaking at the official launch of the 2022 ISSA GraceKennedy Boys and Girls Championships at the National Stadium on Monday.

“Appreciation Grants will be for those representing Jamaica at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the Paralympics, and the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. The level of awards was determined based on individual placement, from gold medal winner to non-finalist, coaches, and other supporting staff. Ninety-three persons will be rewarded, valued at approximately $55M,” she added.

She then broke down how the money would be divided.

“The honorariums are $1.65 million for each gold medal won; $1.35 million for each silver medal won and $800,000.00 for each bronze medal won. The honorarium is $850,000 for the relay gold. Finalists are receiving $600,000.00; relay finalists, $500,000; and non-finalists, $350,000. Coaches and massage therapists are getting $350,000 while team managers and doctors are getting $200,000,” Grange explained.

‘Cubby’ as he called enjoyed an outstanding career while in high school at Calabar High. He won multiple titles at the ISSA Boys and Girls Championships, a World Youth 400m title in 2015 and a Pan Am Junior 200m title in 2017. He was a silver medalist in the 400m at the 2018 World U20 championships and he won 10 gold medals at the Carifta Games.

However, in 2019, injury blighted his final year in high school and saw him dethroned as the 400m king. In addition, the injury forced him to withdraw from the 200m as Calabar relinquished the Mortimer Geddes Trophy for the first time in eight years.

It later became known that the now 20-year-old Taylor was suffering from serious muscular injuries that required an extensive period of rest and recovery. It was during that period that he moved to Jacksonville, Florida, to heal and train under the guidance of world-renowned coach Rana Reider.

Taylor tells Sportsmax.TV that things have been going very well.

“Training overseas is a new experience for me that I greatly appreciate. It pushes me to train to the best of my ability and I have gained a level of confidence that I never thought I would have after leaving high school,” he said.

“It is an awesome feeling to know you are able to get motivation from your team members simply because they have my best interest at heart. Transitioning from training at Calabar to Tumbleweed track club went smoother than I had imagined. There is a more organized training structure, the coach takes the time to understand you as an athlete and the training camp feels more like a family home.”

Coach Reider has had tremendous success as a coach. The 49-year-old American, at one point or another, has guided the careers of two-time 200m World Champion Dafne Schippers, Olympic and World Champion triple jumper Christian Taylor, British Olympian Adam Gemili, as well as Olympic and World Championships medalist Andre De Grasse.

In addition to Taylor, he currently works with Jamaican athletes Olympic and World Champion Omar McLeod, Brittany Anderson, Tyquendo Tracey and Christania Williams.

Taylor believes Reider has demonstrated the characteristics and qualities that will help him develop and improve as an athlete and get him closer to realizing his full potential.

 “Training with Rana Reider is one of the best feelings knowing that I am being trained by a coach that has trained Olympics and World Championships medalist,” he said.

“His training so far has been very effective and it has been great! He is a no-nonsense coach but looks out for our best interest. His training methods are unbelievable, but they do give results.”

Taylor said it also helps that he is now healthy once again in an environment that encourages him to improve, what with his fellow Jamaicans around him daily.

 “I have fully recovered from my injuries and I am 100 per cent healthy at the moment. If I should compare my health now to that of the past, I would say I am very much healthier than before, keeping a strict routine and maintaining a positive mindset,” he said.

“Having other Jamaican athletes in the training camp makes it easier for me to adjust from the energy received. It makes you excited for training knowing that you will get the vibe, the push and motivation from your teammates during training sessions. “

The two-time Olympic 100m gold medallist was slated to begin her season at the Botswana Golden Grand Prix on April 29, but withdrew citing a ‘family emergency’, the details of which remain a mystery. However, with the emergency hopefully behind her, the 36-year-old track and field star, said she keen on seeing where she is at this season.

“I am just looking forward to just competing well. I have not run since September last year and it’s a different year so you kind of want to see where you’re at as opposed to last year when I ran a 200m in Kingston before I came here; this time I didn’t run anything so this is me just coming to see where I’m at and having a good time and execute and I am sure it will be fantastic,” said Fraser-Pryce who ran a world-leading 10.67 at the 2022 edition.

Fraser-Pryce, who at 35 won her fifth world 100m title in Eugene, Oregon last summer to become the oldest female ever to win a global sprint title, said she believes she in great shape heading into the meet on Saturday but was quick to temper expectations on what she will deliver on Saturday.

“I am feeling good, to be honest, I’m feeling 21, which is good,” she joked, “but no two years are ever the same so you continue to work and trust that whatever things that you correct in training or things that you are working on that you would come and execute those things and it will all come together.

“But last year, it’s just to build on that, build on the experiences and the moments that I had last year into this year.”

Bolt, who retired in 2017, dominated global athletics for a decade winning the 100/200m sprint double in an unprecedented three consecutive Olympic Games (2008, 2012 and 2016). He also won the sprint double at the 2009, 2013, and 2015 World Championships to go along with the 200m title he won in Daegu in 2011. Bolt's world records of 9.58 and 19.19 set in 2009, have remained unchallenged for more than a decade. 

His dominance was something many expected when they first saw him and track & field pundit and four-time Olympic medallist Ato Boldon is no different.

“I always thought Bolt could be special if somebody bridged that gap between his junior success and getting into the pros and his coach Glen Mills did that,” Boldon said in an interview with Athletics Weekly.

Boldon recalled how remarkable Bolt was the first time he ever saw him compete.

“The first time I saw him was actually a long way before the rest of the world was paying attention. He was at the Caribbean Games in 2004 and he set the World U20 200m record, clocking 19.93. It lasted all the way until last year,” he said. The USA Erriyon Knighton broke Bolt's U18 and U20 world records in 2021.

“He had his chain tucked into his mouth and he took the last 100m off. He was looking at girls in the stand and could’ve waved to the crowd, he was so far in front. He ran 19.93! Imagine a junior doing that? I’d never seen anybody that tall move their legs that quickly. Of course, he went to the Athens Olympics later on that year and didn’t get through the first round. Then in 2005, he re-emerges and he’s on the pro circuit,” he added.

Bolt’s rise didn’t come without setbacks as in 2005, he got to the final of the Men’s 200m at the World Championships in Helsinki and was in position for a medal before he pulled up injured with about 60 metres to go, finishing eighth in 26.27.

“Two years later in 2007, he gets the World 200m silver medal (in Osaka, Japan) behind Tyson Gay and he arrives. Everyone knows what then happened in Beijing in 2008,” Boldon said.

"As they say, the rest is history."

Bolt set world records of 9.58 and 19.19 for the 100m and 200m, respectively, at the World Championships in Berlin in August 2009. Since then, Lyles has perhaps come closest to the 200m record when he ran a personal best 19.50 in Lausanne in July 2019.

Lyle’s personal best in the 100m is 9.86.

Meanwhile, Coleman, the 2019 100m World Champion ran the fastest time since Bolt’s retirement when he clocked 9.76 to win his world title in Doha.

Speaking with Marca Sports Weekend recently, Bolt said while there are many elite sprinters vying for his title of world’s fastest man, none is near his records that have been standing now for more than a decade.

"I think no one will get to my records (soon)," he said. "I don't think anyone is near my records.

"The level that took me to my records was a long way and took a lot of effort. My physical attributes, the fact that I'm tall, really helped. I think it's going to take a while until someone gets there."

At the 2016 Olympics, Bolt became the first sprinter in history to win three consecutive Olympic 100m and 200m titles (2008, 2012 and 2016). He also won 100m World titles in 2009, 2013, and 2015. He won the bronze medal in London in 2017. He also won 200m world titles in 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015. He is the first man to run faster than 9.7 seconds for the 100m and the only man to run faster than 10.6 seconds. He is also the only man to run faster than 19.20 seconds for the 200m.

Only the 12.39 from Tokyo Olympic champion, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, has been faster this year. Nugent’s time for second place, 12.45, is the third fastest time in the world in 2022.

The victory was a bit of a surprise for the 24-year-old Vere Technical and New Mexico Junior College alum, who went into the final having run 12.78 in her preliminary round heat. “No, I didn’t expect the time. I was more excited about the win, to be honest. I’m still in shock!”, she said.

From the gun, Roswell found herself matching strides with Nugent but was never intimidated and had no intention to yield as they raced towards the finish line.

“That’s the crazy part of the race because I told myself I want to win I have to win. I was like “Oh no,  you’re not getting away today,” she said laughing while admitting that she felt something special would happen.

“From the moment I wasn’t nervous I knew I was going to do something great. Ackera is an amazing competitor and the both of us know we got to show out and fight and that’s what I did because I wanted to win.”

Roswell credits her faith in her coaches and continuous hard work in improving her technique for getting her to this point where she is the fastest Jamaican sprint hurdler in the world this year, a significant achievement given her country’s stock in hurdling talent that includes Olympic medallist Megan Tapper, 2015 World Champion and national record holder Danielle Williams, World U20 record holder Brittany Anderson and, of course, Baylor's Nugent.

“The main factors are time, patience and faith,” she said. “Every day I have to keep improving because my hurdling is not perfect but thanks to my coaches for always trying with me to improve my hurdling.

“I don’t have the best hurdles technique because I wasn’t cut out for hurdling. I was just a 200m and a 100m runner when suddenly my coach from back home, John Mair, told me, ‘ Roswell, I think you should do hurdles. I said to him ‘Huh, me? I can’t do hurdles coach. He then said, ‘Listen, to me you’re going to do it so I went for it.”

She said when she moved to the United States to attend New Mexico Junior College, her coaches Keith Blackwill and Tabarie Henry helped her improve her technique even though it still wasn’t perfect. Still, it was good enough to win her the NJCAA Indoor 60mh title and 100mh Outdoor title in 2019 and the 60mh title in 2020.

At Texas Tech, the work to perfect her technique continues.

“Coach (Zach) Glavash got me here and Coach (Calvin) Robinson started work on me. My technique has gotten better from last year until now. I thank God for these coaches every day for working with me even though there is still room for improvement,” she said.

With the sweet taste of victory still lingering, Roswell has an eye on even bigger scalps this summer. She reveals that she plans to earn a spot on Jamaica’s team to the World Championships in Oregon this summer.

 “Most definitely that’s the aim, trying my best to make this national team,” she said.

“(I am) just looking to stay healthy and be ready because hurdling is unpredictable, anything can happen but I won’t be travelling across the ocean and not make the team. So on that day, the time will tell. I put everything in God's hands.”

Since she won her first sprint double in 2016, the first woman to do so since Florence Griffith-Joyner at the Seoul Games in 1988, Thompson-Herah failed to win a medal at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships. However, at the Toyko 2020 Olympics this past summer, Thompson-Herah became the first woman in Olympic history to win back-to-back sprint doubles.

She set a new Olympic record of 10.51 in the 100m and set a lifetime best of 21.53 to win the 200m titles. She added a third gold medal as a member of Jamaica’s 4x100m relay team that set a new national record of 41.02, the third-fastest time in history.

Weeks later she won the 100m at the Prefontaine Classic in 10.54, the second-fastest time ever run and then followed up with 10.64 to finish second to Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in Lausanne and then 10.72 in Paris.

Speaking at a press conference this morning before she takes to the track on Thursday, the history-making Olympic champion said she has not yet had time to take it all in.

“It hasn’t sunk it as yet. I think because I knew I had a long season I don’t want to get too carried away, too excited and the focus is still continuing the season for next year and the years to come. After the season ends I can say hurrah, hooray and I watch back my videos and see what I have done and say yes, I did it,” she said.

“Being the fastest woman alive, I think I still haven’t known what I have done yet. Because I have put in all the work and I have achieved, it is not something I never expect myself to do but my expectations were not high but I think I surprised myself this entire season with everything that I have done so far.”

On Thursday, Thompson-Herah will line up against Dina Asher-Smith, Natasha Morrison, Javianne Oliver, Daryll Neita, Marie Jose Ta Lou and the Swiss pair of Ajla Del Ponte and Mujinga Kambundji in the 100m.

Davis, the Edwin Allen star sprinter, said she was confident she would have broken the 11-second barrier had she been able to go up against her similarly talented rival Ashanti Moore of Hydel High in the Class-One Girls (16-19) 100m finals.

Tongues began to wag from as early as March 2019 when Davis, the running in what has turned out to be her final year at Champs, won the Girls 14-16 years 100 metres in a personal best 11.16s.

Meanwhile, Moore also won impressively in the Girls 16-19 100m, in a personal best of 11.19.

Davis, who turned 18 late last year, would have matriculated to Moore’s class for the 2020 season setting up a potentially epic battle at Champs 2020.

Alas, it was not to be.

Speaking on Sportsnation Live on Nationwide Radio in Kingston on Saturday, May 2, a disappointed Davis said she believed the clash would have lived up to the hype.

“I think it would have been under 11 seconds. I think both of us would have gone under 11 seconds,” Davis said of the clash that was not to be.

“Both of us are great athletes. I was not doubting her and I don’t see why she would doubt me. The two of us, we train hard. I think that would have been a photo finish.

Davis said the disappointment of not having that race was compounded by the fact that this was perhaps the healthiest she had been since she suffered an injury in the 100m final at the 2017 World U18 Championships in Kenya.

Then 16, Davis won a bronze medal at the World U18 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya in 2017 but it came at a heavy price.

Late in the 100m final that she was heavily favoured to win, she suffered a hamstring injury that cost her the gold medal and more importantly, the integrity of a hamstring muscle. The injury, she said, was made worse by her decision to finish that race.

“It was probably about 15 or 20 metres from the (finish) line; it felt like when you burst an elastic band. I said to myself I am almost at the finish line so it doesn’t make any sense to stop now and I don’t get a medal,” she said.

“I was able to finish the race and when I went to the doctor he asked me why didn’t I stop? I asked him how could I stop when I was going so fast and I was almost at the finish line anyway. He said if you had stopped then the injury would have been less severe.”

The injury, she revealed, has been the bane of her existence since then but coming into the 2020 season, she benefitted from changes made to her programme and race schedule.

“We kind of changed the plan a bit from previous years so the same things don’t occur again. So, (Coach Michael Dyke) tried to limit the amount of races that I ran, I visited the doctor regularly for check-ups to see if everything is fine and I just did what I had to do to stay healthy.”

After originally being scheduled to compete in both the Women’s Monobob and the two-woman bobsled, the three-time Olympian could only compete in one after the team narrowly failed to qualify for the latter event.

As if that wasn’t enough for her to contend with, she was also dealing with death in her family as her sister passed away just before the Olympics.

“Right now, I don’t have the words to really express all that I have experienced in these last weeks,” she said in an Instagram post on Tuesday.

“What I can do is say this…Thank You from the absolute bottom of my heart. Competing in Beijing has been wild in more ways than one. I honestly didn’t believe I could be here and I made it and competed with every ounce in me to the best of my ability despite circumstances,” she added.

Fenlator-Victorian finished 19^th in the Women’s Monobob with a time of 4:28.56.

“For now, I’m filled with gratitude for every individual that has coached me, mentored me, treated me, cared for me, messaged, shared, contributed, provided, smiled, and more. My heart is exploding, and I want you all to know I truly appreciate it all over the last three Olympics. One love,” Fenlator-Victorian said.

The 2016 Olympic champion was running his fastest time since 2019 that equalled Allen Johnson’s meet record set back in 1999.

“It feels good to be winning again. I am having fun again,” said a pleased McLeod afterwards.

“It was a really good race. I put together a technically sound race. I did not hit a hurdle. The weather is a bit shaky but we have to put up with this.

“The time is close enough to 13 seconds and I will get under 13 seconds when the time is right. Now I had two solid races back to back and I am getting better with every race. It is good to get opportunities to race again.”

Great Britain’s Andrew Pozzi ran 13.25 for second place while Wilhem Belocian clocked 13.31, a season’s best for the Frenchman, who was third.

Shane Brathwaite of Barbados was fifth in 13.46.

Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn was equally impressive in winning the women’s sprint hurdles event in meet record 12.38, the second-fastest time in the world this year behind her own 12.32. She broke Russia’s Vera Komisova’s record of 12.39 that had stood since 1980.

“Actually, I did much better than I thought I would. I was really nervous at the start, so all I could think when I was in the blocks was to have a good start, push really hard, and be good to go,” said Camacho-Quinn, who has plans to go even faster as the Olympics draw nearer.

“Of course, I want to run faster, but I just take it as it comes - I've been very consistent with my races, so I'm really excited, and not rushing at all. I'm looking forward to the Olympics this year - it will be like redemption from my fall in 2016 - I'm really excited, training really hard, work really hard, but really looking forward to it.”

Meanwhile, Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas was the runner-up in 12.80. Elvira Herman of Belarus ran a season-best 12.85 for third while Jamaica’s Megan Tapper was fourth in 12.94.

Dina Asher-Smith, the reigning world and European champion destroyed a talented field to win the 200m in 22.06, the second-fastest time in the world this year.

It was also a meet record for the Briton, erasing Marion Jones’ 22.19 set in 1999, and who said afterwards that the victory was an essential one.

“It was really important to do a good race here today. Obviously, it's been really hard over the past year and a bit because of the pandemic - so I'm really proud to be able to put that kind of time, and I definitely have more in me,” she said.

Asher-Smith won handsomely over the Ivory Coast’s Marie Josee Ta Lou, who stumbled at the start but recovered to run a season-best 22.58 for second place.

“I am very satisfied with the time because I nearly fell at the start. Then I really had to get out of the curve quick and fast. I have not run as fast as 22.58 seconds since 2017. Now I know that all the work I put in pays off and is worth it. The shape is there. And it keeps getting better and better. Now I will go back home to my country and train. And in July I will come back to Europe for some meetings,” she said.

Switzerland’s Mujinga Kambundji ran a season-best 22.60 for third.