Nkrumie, who ran a National Junior Record 9.99 to win the Class 1 Boys 100m title at the ISSA Grace Kennedy Boys and Girls Championships in Kingston last week, was comfortably leading his heat in the Boys Under-20 100m before pulling up injured and falling to the track with about 30m to go.
Hodge, the Austin Sealy Award winner from last year’s CARIFTA Games in Kingston, was scheduled to go in the first heat of the Under-20 Girls 100m but was pulled from the race as a precaution after feeling some discomfort while warming up.
The 100m semi-finals and finals are scheduled for later on Saturday.
Nabbie, who emerged victorious in a keen 100m battle with St Lucia’s Naomi London on Saturday, found herself in another stern test against London in the 200m. The two were even going into the final 50m of the race before Nabbie dug deep to find that little bit more to win in 23.67, while holding off London (23.72) who won her second silver medal of the games.
Jamaica’s Natrece East ran a brave race to claim the bronze in 23.85.
Nabbie’s compatriot Cayden Smith ran 21.70 to win the U17 Boys 200m ahead of Grenada, who clocked 21.96 for the silver medal. Andrew Brown won Bahamas’ second medal in the race, taking bronze in 22.02.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Sanaa Frederick stormed to victory in the U20 Girls 200m clocking 23.60. Kenyatta Grate of the British Virgin Islands won the silver in 24.11 while finishing just ahead of Amari Pratt of the Bahamas (24.17).
The U20 Boys 200m saw a Jamaican 1-2 as Malique Smith-Band benefitted from his 400m strength to surge past the field and win in 20.67. Javourne Dunkley took the silver in 20.88 with Adam Musgrove of the Bahamas taking bronze in 20.96.
McLeod, who just missed a medal at last year’s World Athletic Championships in Budapest, cut the sand at a new season’s best 8.21m. He placed behind Greece’s World Champion Miltiadis Tentoglou and Italy’s Mattia Furlani, who both leapt to a mark of 8.22m.
Another Jamaican, Tajay Gayle was sixth at 7.89m, while LaQuan Nairn of the Bahamas was 15th at 7.59m.
McLeod's medal is Jamaica's second at the Championship, adding to Ackeem Blake's bronze won in the men's 60m final on Friday.
On the track, St Lucia’s in-form sprinter Julien Alfred, Bahamian Anthonique Strachan, Barbadian Tristan Evelyn, as well as Jamaicans Briana Williams and Shashalee Forbes, all progressed to the women’s 60m semi-finals, after contrasting performances in their respective heats.
Alfred, 22, comfortably won her heat in 7.02s and headlines the qualifiers, as Strachan (7.24s), Williams (7.22s) and Forbes (7.17s), all placed second in their heats, while Evelyn (7.17s) was third in heat four.
Beyonce Defreitas (7.44s) of British Virgin Islands, and Trinidad and Tobago’s Michelle-Lee Ahye, despite a season’s best 7.26s, failed to progress, as both placed fifth in their heats.
The women’s 60m semi-final and final is scheduled for Saturday’s evening session.
Elsewhere on the track, Jamaica’s Damion Thomas and Tyler Mason, both failed to progress in the men’s 60m hurdles, after both placed sixth in their respective heats in 7.73s and 7.86s.
Jamaica’s Natoya Goule-Toppin also missed out on a spot in the women’s 800m final, following a sixth-place finish in her semi-final race. Goule-Toppin stopped the clock in 2:01.41.
Meanwhile, Ken Mullings of the Bahamas, started the men’s Heptathlon on a positive note, as he placed third in his heat of the 60m dash in a personal best 6.83s.
Mullings also registered a new lifetime best of 7.69m when he placed fifth in the long jump, and that was followed by a heave of 14.49m in the shot pot. By virtue of those performances, the 26-year-old currently occupies third position on 2684 points, behind Switzerland’s Simon Ehammer (2800 points) and Estonia’s Johannes Erm (2739 points).
They still have the high jump, 60m hurdles, pole vault and 1,000m to come.
McPherson ran a season-best 50.15 to win the second heat as the cast of Caribbean women stamped their class on the opening round. Also through was Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo who won her heat in 51.10, after literally jogging the last 80m.
Also enjoying safe passage through to the next round were Olympic silver medallist Marileidy Paulino, who was also impressive while winning her heat in 50.76. Her compatriot, Fiordaliza Cofil, who was also impressive while winning her heat in 51.19.
Sada Williams of Barbados cruised to victory in her heat in 51.05. Aliyah Abrams of Guyana was also an automatic qualifier after finishing second in her heat in 51.98. Jamaican champion Candice McLeod eased up and finished second in her heat clocking 50.76 to automatically qualify for the next round.
A tired-looking Charokee Young, who finished fourth in her heat, qualified as one of the fastest losers while Puerto Rico’s Gabby Scott and Cuba’s Roxana Gomez are also through to the next round.
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.
The 27-year-old Miller-Uibo has, over the past two years lamented the reluctance of the International Olympic Committee to adjust the schedule that would allow her to compete in both events. This is something they have done for Americans Michael Johnson and Allison Felix as well Marie-Jose Perec at previous Olympiads.
However, the current Olympic schedule shows that the preliminary round and semi-finals of the 200m will be run on Monday, August 2, with the first round of the 400m set to begin on Tuesday, August 3, the same day as the 200m finals.
Nonetheless, according to the Bahamas Olympic Committee, Miller-Uibo is down to do both events.
Her compatriot, Steven Gardiner, the 2019 400m World Champion, is also listed for the 200m and 400m.
The remainder of the team comprises Samuel Colebrooke, who will run the 100m while Jamal Wilson had been registered for the high jump. Veteran jumper Donald Thomas is a provisional entry for the event.
Meanwhile, Tynia Gaither has been entered for the 100m and 200m. Brianne Bethel and Anthonique Strachan have also been entered for the 200m.
Pedrya Seymour makes the team for the 100m hurdles.
Doneisha Anderson, Megan Moss and Lacathera Cooper will Miller-Uibo, Strachan and Bethel for the 4 x 400m relay.
Swimmer Joanna Evans has been 200m and 400m freestyle with Laura Morley being a provisional entry and Izaak Bastian has been entered for the 100m and 200m breaststroke.
In a year heavily impacted by the pandemic, Miller-Uibo did not race much in either of her two strongest events but whenever she did she left a mark of some quality. In the half-lap sprint, she was best in the world with a time of 21.98s at Clermont, Florida, on July 25. It was the same meet where she also ran a personal best 10.98 in the 100m.
The 26-year-old Olympic champion also ran a fast 22.61 at the Montverde Academy on July 4.
Lynna Irby of the USA was awarded the silver, based on her consistent performances in the event.
Running in the same race where Miller-Uibo ran 21.98, she had a season-best time of 22.47 in a third-place finish.
She also ran times of 22.52 and 23.06s during the season.
Irby got the nod over compatriot Sha’Carri Richardson by virtue of their head-to-head meeting in Montverde where Irby beat Richardson in their only meeting of the season on July 4. In that race, Richardson clocked 23.14.
The youngster would go on to run a personal best 22.00 at Montverde on August 10.
Irby turned tables on Miller-Uibo in the 400m where she ran the fastest time in the world for 2020, a 50.50 at the Diamond League meeting in Monaco on August 14.
That time was just 0.02s faster than Miller-Uibo’s season’s best 50.52 set in Montverde on July 4.
Wadeline Jonathas picked up T&FNews bronze. She was second to Irby in Monaco in 51.40. However, she was a model of consistency throughout the year with times of 51.23 in Chorzow on August 25 and 51.94 at the Diamond League meeting in Stockholm two days earlier.
The 26-year-old looked in imperious form as she hurried from the blocks and hardly seemed to let up, in the end, claiming the event by a comfortable margin. Miller-Uibo stopped the clock at 50.21, well clear of second-place Waldine Jonathas of the United States, who was second in 51.95, and Jessica Beard who finished third in 52.60.
In the less frequently contested men’s 300m, Jamaica’s Christopher Taylor also set a national record but was second behind Jereem Richard who clocked a speedy 32.17. The USA’s Kahmari Montgomery finished third in 32.96.
Jamaica’s Briana Williams clocked 7.22 to qualify for the women’s 60m final but did not face the starter for the final. The event was won by Kayla White in a personal best of 7.15, with Hannah Cunliffe second in 7.17 and Candace Hill third in 7.19.
In the women’s 60m hurdles, Jamaica’s Britany Anderson finished outside of the top three spots, with a time of 7.99. The event was taken by Keri Harrison in a world-leading 7.82, with Tiffany Porter second in 7.89 and Gabrielle Cunningham third in an identical time.
Miller-Uibo, who has tried in vain to have the 400 and 200 metres spread out at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, will likely be running just the half-lap event and not defending her title.
She went a long way on Friday to show she was getting faster, clocking 10.98 to smash her personal best twice after first easing to 11.03 in the heats.
The time puts Miller-Uibo in rarified air, the tall Bahamian now just one of four women to ever run sub-11 over 100 metres, sub-22 over 200, and sub-49 over 400.
Miller-Uibo got the better of 17-year-old United States athlete Tamari Davis, who clocked 11.15 seconds, and Jamaica’s Natalliah White, 11.19.
The Bahamian will head into the event as favourite, on the back of a strong indoor season where she added the Indoor title to her medal collection, in Belgrade. The Doha meeting will feature the first match-up between the trio since the Olympics, where Miller-Uibo took gold and Mcpherson and McLeod finished just outside the medals.
In the half-lap event, Olympic 100m bronze medallist Shericka Jackson will battle reigning 200m champion Diner Asher-Smith of Great Britain, who will be opening her season in the event. The field is also set to feature a rejuvenated Anthonique Strachan of the Bahamas and Olympic finalist Gabby Thomas of the US.
There will also be a strong Caribbean presence in the women’s 100m hurdles with the Jamaican duo of Olympic bronze medallist Megan Tapper facing off with compatriot Britany Anderson. The Bahamas’ Devynne Charlton will also be part of that field.
The meet will be the seventh in the series, which runs off with the Doha Diamond League meet on May 13. An appearance at the Paris meeting, scheduled for June 18, could mark a long-awaited return to the city for the reigning 400m Olympic Champions.
Miller-Uibo, who has won the 200m event at the 2017, 2018, and 2019 editions and the 400m, at the 2017 event, has not appeared at the Paris meet since 2011. Gardiner has yet to win the title and last made an appearance in Monaco in 2019.
The duo has been in splendid form early this season with Miller-Uibo claiming the 400m title at the World Indoor Championship and Gardiner registering a number of impressive times indoors before opening the outdoor season with world-leading 44.22 seconds at the LSU Alumni Gold meet.
The cross-continent meeting will involve 30 athletes competing in eight disciplines across seven stadia. Athletes will compete in teams, with a Europe squad going up against teams from the USA and the rest of the world.
In the 150m, Miller-Uibo of Bahamas will race in Miramar, Florida, against USA’s six-time Olympic gold medallist Felix in Walnut, California, and Switzerland’s world bronze medallist Kambundji in Zurich.
Meanwhile, McLeod will take on Andre DeGrasse and Andre Vicaut in a 100-yard dash.
Dalilah Muhammad will battle Léa Sprunger in a 300m hurdles and Katerina Stefanidi and Sandi Morris will contest the pole vault.
Noah Lyles and Alex Wilson take on the 200m and Christian Taylor goes up against Omar Craddock and Pablo Pichardo in the triple jump.
The Olympic and World Champion left very little to doubt as she left the blocks and quickly covered the field by the top of the straight.
World championship bronze medalist Sada Williams of Barbados looked to battle back against Miller-Uibo down the stretch but the Bahamian had enough to pull a few metres clear by the finish line.
Miller-Uibo, who has lost just once in 8 races over the distance this season, stopped the clock in 49.40, her fourth fastest time of the season. Williams finished second in 49.86, while Jamaica’s Stephenie-Ann Mcpherson was third in 50.36.
In the men’s equivalent, Jamaica’s Christopher Taylor recorded his fastest time over the distance this season after outbattling his opponents down the stretch to stop the clock at 44.63, only his second time below 45 seconds this season. Another Jamaican Nathon Allen was second in 45.04 with the United States’ Bryce Deadmon third in 45.06.
NACAC announced on Thursday that the 2021 Carifta Games are to be held in Bermuda from August 13-15 due to the Caribbean Examinations Council setting the 2021 external examination dates from June 14-July16. Those dates overlap with the previous dates of July 2-4 for the Carifta Games.
Responding to whether fewer athletes would turn out for the Games because of how close they were to the World Championships, Sands said it was a concern, it was also an opportunity.
“That is a fix that we cannot resolve other than the fact that it does two things; one, countries are going to have to make a determination where their athletes will compete, but having said that we must understand that for the Carifta Games there is not a set qualifying standard,” he said.
“What you may have is that individual member federations have standards for their athletes to achieve, and so as opposed to the World U20 championships where there is a set standard, and so the question remains, how many of our area athletes would make those standards, particularly those from the smaller countries that may have a number of athletes making the standards for the world event.
“If that is the case, it now means that the member federations would have to make a determination whether some of their athletes go to Carifta and the qualifiers go to the WorldU20 championships.”
That scenario, he suggested, opened the door for a “second level of athletes that may not have qualified” for the global championships but who would become available for the 49th edition of the regional youth championships.
He cited athletes from Jamaica, The Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados who would be among those benefitting from the situation.
Garth Gayle, President of the Jamaica Athletic Administrative Association (JAAA), on the prompting of the NACAC president said his federation would be reviewing the matter carefully with the intention of sending its very best athletes to both competitions.
“President Sands, the options that you have put forward would have been very clear to us but let me say from the get-go the JAAA will be supporting both events. We are Caribbean and therefore Carifta is critical to us and to youth development,” Gayle said.
“We are also part of the global stage and so our elite junior athletes would also have that option to move onto the world event. We believe it is doable and we do not see a major issue.”
He said the athlete and his or her coach would essentially choose which event they would want to compete in.
Since it's inception in 1972, Jamaica has won the Carifta Games on more than 40 occasions.
The 26-year-old Nassau native has had a strong season to date. She posted a then 100m world-leading 10.98, before returning to post 21.98 the next day, over double the distance, at the USA’s Back to the Track meet, three weeks ago. The times saw the sprinter join elite company, with just four women who have run sub-11s in the 100m, sub-22s in the 200m, and sub-49s in the 400.
On Monday, however, the athlete did not present in that kind of form and crossed the finish line, in the preliminaries, in fourth place, with a sub-par 13.56 seconds. Sha’Carri Richardson clocked the fastest qualifying time of 10.95.
Miller-Uibo did not show up for the final, which was won by Richardson in 10.83. Her absence prompted fear the athlete may have sustained an injury. Miller-Uibo’s manager Claude Bryan, however, revealed it was “just a mild discomfort so she opted for caution.”
He further confirmed that the athlete would not be looking to shut down the season, without finishing up as scheduled.
“We’re looking for other low-key opportunities for her to wrap up the season.”
Speaking on Sportsmax TV’s On Point, Millier-Uibo said an injury she sustained while running 49.08 to win the 400 metres at the USATF Grand Prix in Eugene on April 24th prevented her from doing any speed training in preparation for Tokyo.
“We were supposed to start our speed training after Eugene at the end of April and that’s when I got hurt so we never really got a chance to jump into speed work. It’s unfortunate sometimes in track,” she said.
As it turns out, the injury was more serious than she initially thought.
“At the end, we found out that it was a tear in my gluteus medius. I actually stalled for a bit with trying to fix it because I didn’t quite know what it was at first. It just felt as though something was jammed so I figured maybe I could go to the chiropractor and get it sorted out. We tried that and it didn’t help,” she said.
The gluteus medius is a muscle located on the outer surface of the pelvis.
The three-time World Championship medalist says the pain started to ease going into the rest of the season until she went to compete at the Adidas Boost Boston Games in May.
“It started to get a little softer going into the rest of the season and then I went to Boston to compete and realized this is something really bad and the minute we get back home I’m going to check and see what it is. Took an MRI and found out there was a slight tear in my gluteus medius so we decided to rest it off and go slowly from there to try and build it up in time for Tokyo,” she said.
Injuries also affected her in Tokyo as was evident in the final of the Women’s 200 metres where Miller-Uibo finished eighth in a time of 24.00.
“I went into Tokyo nursing an injury and right before the heats, I felt really good. Everything was going really well and it was after the heats that I got a little banged up where I started to feel my right hip. I went and raced on it because it was still light at the time, raced into the semis and really hurt it then.”
In addition the trouble with her hip, Miller-Uibo also felt pain in her hamstring in her 200 metres semi-final.
“In the race itself I actually didn’t feel the hip. It was my hamstring that ended up grabbing on me and it was just a wrap from there.”
The Bahamian champion overcame her struggles and returned days later to storm to a new personal best 48.36 and win her second consecutive Olympic women’s 400 metres title.
The full interview with Shaunae Miller-Uibo can be seen on Sportsmax TV’s YouTube channel.
Paulino got the baton down the field and produced a 48.93 split on her anchor leg to move her country up to second (3:14.39) and secure a spot in Saturday’s final alongside the Netherlands who won the heat in 3:12.16.
Both teams also secured their spots in the field at the Olympics in Paris later this year.
Jamaica (Roshawn Clarke, Leah Anderson, Rusheen McDonald, Janieve Russell) ran 3:14.83 and hosts the Bahamas (Alonzo Russell, Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Steven Gardiner, Shania Adderley) ran 3:14.86 but failed to advance to the final after finishing third and fourth, respectively.
Both teams will get another opportunity to make it to Paris in the second round of Olympic qualifying on Sunday.
USA (3:11.52), Ireland (3:12.50), Belgium (3:13.18) Poland (3:13.53), Nigeria (3:13.79) and France (3:14.71) make up the eight teams to advance to the final.
Pinnock, a Kingston native, concluded an impressive indoor season by remaining undefeated in the long jump. Representing the University of Arkansas, he clinched victory at the NCAA Championships with a remarkable leap of 8.40m, equaling the Jamaican national record set by former teammate Carey McLeod. Pinnock's performance not only secured him the NCAA title but also positioned him at No. 5 on the all-time collegiate chart, tying with McLeod.
Meanwhile, Romaine Beckford, hailing from Portland, Jamaica, demonstrated his prowess in the high jump. Competing for the University of Arkansas, Beckford enjoyed an undefeated indoor season and successfully defended his indoor high jump title. He cleared a height of 2.27m to secure victory at the NCAA Championships in Boston, matching his personal record set earlier in the season.
Bahamian sprinter Terrence Jones, representing Texas Tech University, showcased his speed and versatility on the track. Jones emerged as a double sprint champion at the NCAA Championships in Boston, clinching victory in both the 60m and 200m events. His impressive performances included a winning time of 20.23 seconds in the 200m, just shy of his personal record of 20.21 seconds set at the Big 12 Indoor Championships.
The next Bowerman Watch List will be released on April 11, providing further insight into the standout performers in collegiate track and field.
It is the first time ever that Jamaica will have three athletes in the long jump final at a global athletics championships.
It was one and done for Jamaica’s Pinnock and McLeod, while Gayle took his time to get going before hitting a reasonable mark to secure a spot in the final scheduled for Thursday at 12:30pm Jamaica time.
The 22-year-old Pinnock was poetry in motion where execution is concerned, as he was perfect off the board and that propelled him to a big world-leading mark of 8.54m in a positive 1.2 metres per second reading, which left him in shock.
“The first thing was just to execute as coach told me, push off on the first six steps, maintain my transition and then just run through the board which is what I did. But when I saw the distance, I was like ‘wow’, I wasn’t expecting that, but I’ve thought of this moment every night before I go to bed,” Pinnock said after his leap.
McLeod followed suit on his try, as he also cleared the automatic qualifying mark of 8.15m, cutting the sand at 8.19m in a positive 0.5m/s wind, on his first attempt.
Meanwhile, 2019 World Champion Gayle needed two jumps to find his rhythm, cutting the sand at 7.84m and 7.68m, respectively before leaping to 8.12m in a negative 0.7m/s wind, which was good enough to get him into the final.
Cuba’s Alejandro Parada (8.13m), will also line up in the medal event.
You can catch live action of the 2023 World Athletic Championships by downloading the Sportsmax App.
The six, a Jamaican trio of reigning champion Shericka Jackson, Kevona Davis and Natalliah Whyte will be joined by Bahamian Anthonique Strachan, St Lucian Julien Alfred and young British Virgin Islands sensation, Adaejah Hodge. Another Jamaican Ashanti Moore was the only Caribbean athlete to miss out.
Strachan, running from lane nine, got the show going in the first heat, where she was comfortable from start to finish, stopping the clock in 22.31s, ahead of Great Britain’s Daryll Neita (22.39s), with Jael Betsue (22.58s) of Spain taking the third automatic spot.
Moore, who was giving the opportunity to run the event following Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s withdrawal, found herself in a tough second heat. Though she went out hard, Moore had to settle for fifth in 23.12s, which was not good enough for one of the six non-automatic qualifying spots.
The heat was easily won by newly minted 100m champion American, Sha’Carri Richardson in 22.16s, ahead of Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josee Ta Lou, who clocked a season’s best 22.26s. Olivia Fotopoulou of Cyprus clocked a new personal best 22.65s for the third spot.
Jackson, the reigning 200m champion, expectedly made light work of rivals in heat three, as she cruised to 22.51s. Singapore’s Veronica Shanti Pereira, was second in a national record 22.57s, with Jessika Gbai (22.78s) of Ivory Coast in third.
Though Hodge was fourth, her time of 22.82s, was good enough to progress as one of the non-automatic qualifiers.
St Lucia’s Alfred was tops in heat four, as she powered her way to 22.31s, ahead of Jamaica’s Whyte 22.44s, with Great Britain’s Bianca Williams (22.67s) in third.
The fifth and penultimate heat saw another young Jamaican Davis (22.49s), also booking her semi-final spot with a second-place finish behind American Gabrielle Thomas, who clocked 22.26s.
Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith justified favouritism in the final heat which she won in 22.46s.
You can catch live action of the 2023 World Athletic Championships by downloading the Sportsmax App.
