For Jamaica, discus throwers Samantha Hall and Fedrick Dacres, both claimed bronze in their respective events, while Dominican Republic proved too good for rivals in the 4x400m mixed relay.
Hall, who competed at the World Athletics Championships in Hungary, claimed her first medal at the senior level, with a throw of 59.14m. She placed behind the Brazilian pair of Izabela Rodrigues, who won gold with a throw of 59.63m, and Andressa Oliveira (59.29m).
Another Jamaican Adrienne Adams was eighth in the event with a best mark of 55.55m.
On the men’s side, Dacres secured Jamaica's third bronze when he launched the instrument to a mark of 61.25m. Chile’s Lucas Nervi (63.39m), and Colombia’s Mauricio Alexander Ortega (61.86m), were first and second. Kai Chang, the other Jamaican in the event, was sixth at 59.96m.
Domincan Republic added a sixth gold medal to go with their four silver and 10 bronze, with victory in the 4X400m Mixed relay final. Their quartet, which included World Champion Marileidy Paulino, won in 3:16.05, ahead of Brazil (3:18.55) and United States (3:19.41).
Elsewhere on the track, Liranyi Arislayne Alonso of Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago's Reyare Mary Thomas, clocked identical times of 11.69s for second and third in semi-final one of the women’s 100m. Both, along with winner Cecilia Tamayo (11.66s) of Mexico, secured a spot in the final.
Guyana’s Keliza Smith (11.78s) and Jamaica’s Mickaell Moodie (11.86s), who also contested that semi-final, were sixth and seventh respectively.
Jasmine Abrams of Guyana won semi-final two in 11.60s, with Brazil’s Ana De Jesus (11.64s) and Cuba’s Yarima Garcia (11.65s), in second and third respectively.
On the men's side, Guyana’s Emanuel Archibald (10.35s) and Odaine McPherson (10.37s), produced contrasting performances in semi-final one, but did enough to secure their respective spots in the final. Archibald was third and McPherson, who advanced to the final as a non-automatic qualifier, was fourth.
They joined Jose Alnardo Gonzales (10.30s) of Dominican Republic, who won ahead of Brazil's Felipe Bardi (10.33s). Hakeem Huggins of St Kitts and Nevis was seventh in 10.54s.
Jamaica's Jevaughn Whyte and Samson Colebrooke of the Bahamas were fourth and seventh in semi-final two, clocking 10.52s and 10.62s, respectively, as both failed to make the final cut.
Cuba’s Shainer Rengifo was the lone Caribbean athlete to progress from semi-final three, which he won in 10.36s.
Meanwhile, Guyana’s Aliyah Abrams secured her spot in the women’s 400m final after she place second in semi-final one in 51.82s. Chile’s Martina Weil won the event in 51.47s, with Ecuador’s Nicole Caicedo (52.32s) third.
The Dominican Republic team of Lidio Andres Feliz, Fiordaliza Cofil, Alexander Ogando and 2022 world leader in the 400m, Marileidy Paulino, ran 3:12.22 to win the heat while the Jamaican quartet of Demish Gaye, Roniesha McGregor, Karayme Bartley and Tiffany James ran 3:13.95 for third. Ireland were second in 3:13.88.
The first heat was won by the USA in a world leading 3:11.75 ahead of the Netherlands (3:12.63) and Olympic champions Poland (3:13.70). Italy (3:13.89) and Nigeria (3:14.59) also advanced from heat one to complete the eight team field for the final scheduled for Friday night.
Led by Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson, Jamaica’s women pretty much stole the show, despite being upset in the final of the 4x100m relay by the United States.
It is no surprise then that the Jamaican superstars topped the table for most points accumulated during the championships. Jamaica’s women topped the table with 75 points, one more than that United States’ 74. Ethiopia was third with 60 points.
Great Britain (39), Kenya (39), Netherlands (20), Nigeria (13), Kazakhstan (12), Bahamas (10) and the Dominican Republic (10) round out the top 10 nations.
Eight points are accumulated for first place and a point for eighth.
At the championships, Fraser-Pryce led a Jamaica 1-2-3 finish in the 100m. Shericka Jackson won silver and Elaine Thompson-Herah, the bronze medal.
Shericka Jackson turned the tables in the 200m winning in a championship record 21.45, the second fastest time in history. She was followed by Fraser-Pryce who won silver.
Thompson-Herah was seventh.
Britany Anderson won a silver medal in the 100m hurdles won by Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan. Danielle Williams finished sixth.
Meanwhile, Rushell Clayton finished sixth in the final of the 400m hurdles won by the USA’s Sydney McLaughlin in a world-record 50.68.
Jamaica also won silver in the 4x100m relay and bronze in the 4x400m relay.
Paulino, the reigning world champion, continued her dominance in the 400m. Although she fell short of her goal to break the 48-second barrier, Paulino's performance was nothing short of impressive. She won the 400m with a season's best time of 49.20 seconds, pulling away from Poland's Natalia Kaczmarek, who finished second in 49.82 seconds, and Salwa Eid Naser, the 2019 World Champion, who took third with the same time. Despite not achieving her target, Paulino's victory reaffirmed her readiness to contend for Olympic gold in Paris.
Speaking at the pre-meet press conference on Saturday, Paulino had expressed her desire to run under 49 seconds. "I feel very well prepared. My main ambition is to do the best possible time and to have an optimal race execution. For me, a time of 48'' would be ideal," she said. Her performance on Sunday, while just shy of this mark.
Meanwhile, James-King, fresh off his massive personal best at the Jamaica National Championships, delivered another remarkable performance in the 400m hurdles. Arriving in Paris only 12 hours before the race, James-King clocked an impressive 48.37 seconds to secure third place. This follows his stunning victory in Kingston, where he dethroned national record holder Roshawn Clarke with a lifetime best of 47.42 seconds.
Brazil's Alison dos Santos, the pre-race favorite, won the 400m hurdles in 47.78 seconds, followed by Estonia's Rasmus Magi, who finished second in 47.95 seconds. James-King's podium finish against such a competitive field highlighted his potential for further success on the international stage.
The Paris Diamond League meeting was packed with thrilling performances, including a world record in the women's high jump and a world-leading time in a sensational 800m race. Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati topped the 800m with a lifetime best, world lead, and national record of 1:41.56. He narrowly edged out Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi, who ran a lifetime best of 1:41.58, and Frenchman Gabriel Tual, who set a national record and lifetime best of 1:41.61. The depth of competition was evident, with the next three runners all finishing under 1:43 and achieving personal bests.
One of the highlights of the meet came in the women’s high jump, where Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh broke Stefka Kostadinova’s long-standing world record of 2.09m, set in 1987. Mahuchikh, facing strong competition from world indoor champion Nicola Olyaslagers, who had matched her at 2.01m, went on to clear 2.03m and then 2.07m before soaring to a new world record of 2.10m, surpassing her own meet record and world lead of 2.04m.
Serbia Angelina Topic set a new national record of 1.98 for third.
Notably, Jamaica’s Lamara Distin was fourth with 1.95.
The other came in the 1500m where Faith Kipyegon broke her own the 1500m world record running an incredible 3:49.04 eclipsing her previous mark of 3:49.11 set last year. She dragged the field to outstanding performances with Australia’s Jessica Hull benefitting the most with a new lifetime best of 3:50.83, an Area Record. Laura Muir of Great Britain was third in a new personal best and national record of 3:53.79.
The next five runners all ran personal best times as the meet came to its conclusion.
As the penultimate Diamond League meet before the Olympics, the performances in Paris have set the stage for an exciting and highly competitive Games.
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.
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.
At the Doha meeting, it was the Olympic silver medalist Paulino who dominated proceedings. Running from an inside lane, the Dominican tracked Miller-Uibo well before coming off the curve with a lead. The typically strong-finishing Miller-Uibo not only failed to make up ground on Paulino but was overtaken near the line by McPherson who nabbed second spot.
Paulino took the top spot with a time of 51.20, followed by McPherson, second in 51.69, and Miller-Uibo third in 51.84. Barbados’ Sada Williams was next, and she finished ahead of another Jamaican, Candice McLeod.
In the meantime, the women’s 200m was won by the United States’ Gabrielle Thomas who took top spot after outbattling Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson down the stretch to stop the clock at 21.98, ahead of Jackson’s 22.07. Great Britain’s Dina Asher was third in 22.37.
In other events, Grenadian Anderson Peters dominated the men’s javelin to take top spot with a throw of 93.07, while Jamaica’s Shanieka Ricketts captured the women’s long jump.
The other regional athletes in competition, Jamaicans Chanice Porter and Tissanna Hickling finished 24th and 25th respectively in qualifying with distances of 6.22 and 6.19.
Elsewhere, Trinidad & Tobago’s Portious Warren could not manage to get among the medals after finishing 10th in the final of the women’s shot put.
Men's 400m
Nine Caribbean men advanced to the next round of the men’s 400 metres. Heat 1 of the event saw Grenada’s 2012 Olympic Champion, Kirani James, finish second in 45.09 to advance.
Demish Gaye of Jamaica and Alonzo Russell of the Bahamas also advanced to the semi-finals from heat 1 as two of the six fastest losers, after finishing 4th and 5th in 45.49 and 45.51 respectively.
The third heat also saw three Caribbean men advance to the semi-finals as Jonathan Jones of Barbados, Christopher Taylor of Jamaica and Dwight St. Hillaire of Trinidad & Tobago all made it through.
Jones and Taylor finished second and third with times of 45.04 and 45.20 to advance automatically and St. Hillaire finished fourth in 45.41 to advance as a fastest loser.
Steven Gardiner, the reigning world champion, easily won heat 5 in 45.05 to advance to the semi-finals.
Trinidadian Deon Lendore also advanced from heat 5 after finishing second behind Gardiner in 45.14.
Jamaica’s Nathon Allen was also in heat 5 but failed to advance after finishing fourth in 46.12.
Machel Cedenio, the Trinidadian who narrowly missed out on a medal five years ago in Rio, also advanced to the semi-finals after finishing third in the 6th and final heat in 45.56.
Men's Lomg Jump
Earlier, Tajay Gayle qualified for the final of the men’s long jump, despite picking up an apparent left knee injury.
The Jamaican fouled his first attempt and picked up the injury while jumping 6.72 in his second attempt. He jumped out to 8.14 in his third, with heavy strapping around his left knee.
Juan Miguel Echevarria of Cuba had the longest jump in qualifying after leaping out to 8.50 in his first attempt.
The men’s long jump final will get underway at 8:20pm today.
Natoya Goule won her semi-final to advance to the final of the women’s 800 metres.
Goule took the lead early and never looked back, running 1:59.57 to get to her first Olympic final.
Jamaica’s Chad Wright, in the meantime, finished ninth in the men’s discus final with a throw of 62.56.
Elsewhere, the Dominican Republic mixed 4x400m team of Andres Feliz, Marileidy Paulino, Anabel Medina, and Alexander Ogando ran 3:10.21 to finish second in the final and secure the silver medal.
Sean Bailey, Stacy Ann-Williams, Tovea Jenkins, and Karayme Bartley ran for Jamaica and finished 7th in 3:14.95.
