Jackson, who won silver in the 100m with a 10.73 personal best on Sunday, ran a spectacular championship record 21.45 for victory ahead of teammate Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (21.81) and Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith (22.02). Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah finished seventh in 22.39.
Jackson’s time also makes her the fastest woman alive over the distance and is a new national record.
In the men’s equivalent, the USA completed their second sprint sweep of the championships with Noah Lyles defending his title from Doha with a phenomenal world-leading and lifetime best of 19.31 to become the third fastest man in history over the distance.
Kenny Bednarek ran 19.77 for the silver medal while 18-year-old Erriyon Knighton took the bronze in 19.80. The Dominican Republic's Alexander Ogando and Trinidad & Tobago's Jereem Richards were fifth and sixth in 19.93 and 20.08, respectively.
In the Women’s 800m, Jamaica’s 1500m semi-finalist Adelle Tracey ran a personal best of 1:59.20 to finish third in heat one and advance to the semi-finals.
Joining Tracey in the semis will be her Jamaican teammate and 2019 World Championships finalist Natoya Goule, who won the sixth and final heat in 2:00.06.
In the field, the world leader and defending world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada needed only one throw to advance to the final of the men’s javelin, registering a mark of 89.91m. Trinidadian 2012 Olympic gold medallist Keshorn Walcott failed to advance, finishing 16th overall in qualifying with a throw of 78.87m.
Cuba’s Lazaro Martinez jumped 17.06m to advance to the final of the men’s triple jump.
Though the likes of athletics stalwarts Keshorn Walcott, Jereem “The Dream” Richards, Michelle-Lee Ahye, and cyclist Nicholas Paul are experienced campaigners at the highest level, and know how to handle the heat of world class competition, it’s the heat off the track in the French capital is expected to pose a challenge.
However, TTOC president Diane Henderson, is not too concerned.
“In any country, we have always dealt with... when it was extremely cold in Lima, Peru, we had to go out and buy heaters, headwear and gloves, so it’s no different,” Henderson said during the team’s Puma Gear Reveal at TTOC’s headquarters, on Friday.
With the Games organisers taking an eco-friendly approach, the Olympic Village will not have air condition units. As such, some countries, including United States, will supply their own AC units in order to ensure the comfort of athletes as they strive for optimal performance.
Henderson pointed out that TTOC stands ready to provide the necessary assistance to meet the needs of the athletes.
“If the conditions are such, we would have to get fans or something in Paris to deal with that. We’re aware of it so we could always deal with that when we go. It has never been an issue when we have to go out and get stuff. Usually you have the assistants who would guide you effectively and say where we could get the necessary equipment,” she explained.
Sprinters Ahye and Elijah Joseph were among the athletes that modelled the new Team TTO uniforms on Friday, as they gear up for battle on the world’s biggest sporting stage.
“We have always wanted to do something to showcase the uniforms. It brings a lot of pride to the athletes and they feel really special. I think it went well. We’re always grateful to Puma for this sponsorship and partnership. It’s very important to have that support continuously for all our multi-sport Games,” Henderson noted.
Trinidad and Tobago Olympic squad:
Athletics –Michelle-Lee Ahye - 100m & 4x100 relay; Leah Bertrand- 100m & 4x100 relay; Sole Frederick- 4x100 relay; Akilah Lewis- 4x100 relay; Sanaa Frederick - 4x100 relay (Reserve); Portious Warren- Shot Put; Keshorn Walcott- Javelin; Jereem Richards- 200m, 400m & 4x400 relay; Devin Augustine- 100m; Jaden Marchan- 4x400 relay; Shakeem Mc Kay- 4x400 relay; Renny Quow- 4x400 relay; Elijah Joseph- 4x400 relay (Reserve)
Cycling –Nicholas Paul, Kwesi Browne
Swimming –Dylan Carter - 50m and 100m Freestyle; Zuri Ferguson- Backstroke 100m
Under the programme, cyclist Nicholas Paul and sprinter Jereem Richards will be the primary beneficiaries as both men are responsible for the three gold medals the country won in Birmingham.
Paul won gold in the keirin, silver in the match sprint and bronze in the 1000m time trials and is set to receive TT$437,500 while Richards, who won the 200m title in a Games record 19.80 and anchored the country’s 4x400m relay to the gold medal is set to receive TT$375,000.
According to the Trinidad Guardian, athletes competing in relay team events will earn $125,000 each for a gold medal, $62,500 for silver and for bronze, $31,250. Individual gold medals get a whopping TT$250,000.
That means Dwight St Hillaire, Asa Guevara and Machel Cedenio will each get $125,000 and the members of the 4x100 metres team - Jerod Elcock, Eric Harrison Jnr, Kion Benjamin and Kyle Greaux - will each get $62,500 for their silver medal run.
The 2017 World Championship bronze medallist ran a swift 20.12 to win ahead of Great Britain’s Charlie Dobson (20.19) and the USA’s Trevor Stewart (20.45).
Richards will be looking to take his momentum from a gold medal in the 400m at the World indoor Championships in Belgrade in March into this outdoor season.
Meanwhile, Jamaica’s Natalliah Whyte ran 22.57 for third in the Women’s 200m behind the USA’s Cambrea Sturgis (22.40) and Kayla White (22.50).
Elsewhere, Jamaican Olympian Rhonda Whyte was victorious in the Women’s 400m hurdles in 55.49 ahead of the USA’s Deshae Wise (56.19) and Turks and Caicos’ Yanique Haye-Smith (57.15).
The 30-year-old, who entered Wednesday’s Men’s 400m final at the Stade de France with a personal best of 44.18 done at the London Diamond League on July 20 this year, produced a national record 43.78 to finish fourth.
The previous national record of 44.01 was held by Machel Cedenio who ran that time in a fourth-place finish at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Running out of lane nine, Richards went out extremely hard in the first 300m before being caught by the field in the last portion of the race.
American Quincy Hall won his maiden Olympic title with a brilliant personal best 44.40, the fourth fastest time in history.
Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith, like he did at the World Championships in Budapest last year, took silver with a European record 43.44 while Zambia’s Muzala Samukonga ran 43.74, a national record, to take bronze just ahead of Richards.
Grenadian 2012 Olympic champion Kirani James was fifth in 43.87. USA’s Chris Bailey (44.58), Nigeria’s Samuel Ogazi (44.73) and USA’s Michael Norman (45.62) rounded out the top eight.
Richards, hunting his first Olympic Games medal, finished second in semi-final one in 44.33s, behind American Quincy Hall, who won in 43.95s.
James, a three-time Olympic medallist in the event, seems poised to add to his tally as he rekindled his form of old with a blistering season’s best 43.78s clocking in winning semi-final two. It was just outside his personal best of 43.74s.
Meanwhile, Jamaica’s lone semi-finalist, Jevaughn Powell (44.91s), produced a gallant performance for fourth in semi-final three, but it was not enough to progress.
The other finalists are Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith (44.07s), American Michael Norman (44.26s), and Christopher Bailey (44.31s), as well as Zambia’s Muzala Samukonga (43.81) and Samuel Ogazi (44.71s) of Nigeria.
The final is scheduled for Wednesday August 7.
The 23-year-old produced 22.36, bettering her previous lifetime best 22.38 done in 2023, to win ahead of fellow Jamaicans Ashanti Moore who ran a season’s best 22.74 in second and Jodean Williams who ran 22.95, also a season’s best.
Her coach Edrick Floreal previously told SportsMax.tv earlier this season that he believes Thomas can run as fast as 21.7 this season.
“He knows. Even if I don’t believe I can do it, if he says I can do it I’m stepping on the track and I’m going to do it,” Thomas said when asked about that prediction after the race.
“All my coach told me to come here and do was execute the first 150, and I did that and I ended up finishing as strong as I could so that makes me know that, the last 50, all I needed to do was execute the last 50 to dominate the race,” she added.
The men’s equivalent saw Trinidadian World Championship bronze medallist Jereem Richards run 20.13 to take the win ahead of Nigeria’s Udodi Onwuzurike (20.27) and Jamaica’s Bryan Levell who ran a season’s best 20.48 in third.
Richards, who has competed in both the 200m and 400m this season, says he has yet to decide on which event he will focus on in Paris.
“I’m just going to run both events throughout the season and see which is the best one. As late as possible, I will make my pick,” he said.
Richards says his plan was to use his 400m strength to outlast his competitors.
“Udodi is my training partner. I know he’s very fast but I know I’m very strong right no too. I just tried my best to stay relaxed even though somebody tried to pull away from me. I could slowly see my speed getting there so I’m excited for what the rest of the season holds,” Richards added.
The 27-year-old Trinidad stormed to victory in 20.26s leaving Josephus Lyles (20.46) and Jamaica’s Christopher Taylor (20.73) in his wake.
It was his second win from three 200m starts this season following his victory at the Pure Athletics Spring Invitational in Clermont, Florida on April 4 and a second-place finish at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in Gainesville, Florida on April 16.
On each of those two occasions, he has run faster – 20.37 in Clermont and 20.30 in Gainesville - but his victory on the weekend was even more impressive considering the -1.3m/s wind he was running into.
“I’m very pleased with my performance last weekend. It gives me a lot of confidence going forward and I’m just trying to keep on building on my progress thus far,” he told Sportsmax. TV.
Richards moved from the University of Alabama under coach Blaine Wiley, who was his coach in 2017 when he won 200m bronze at the World Championships in London and then ran a 43-second relay leg as Trinidad and Tobago upset the USA to win the 4x400m gold medal.
He won the 200m Commonwealth Games title in 2018, silver at the Pan Am Games and then gold in the 4x400m relay at the World Relays in Japan in 2019.
However, moving from Alabama to Florida, he said, was down mainly to the impact of the pandemic.
“With the things that are happening in the world and not being able to train sufficiently with regards to COVID-19 and let’s say it gets back bad and we wouldn’t be able to use the facilities in the College (University of Alabama), I didn’t want to take chances and I decided to put myself in a position where, in the event that this happens, I’m somewhere that I will be able to train, somewhere where I have other professional athletes that might be going through the same struggles,” he told the Trinidad Guardian.
At Clermont, he rubs shoulders with the likes of World Champion Noah Lyles and his brother Josephus and several of the world’s elite sprinters. Training with them each day, he said, has allowed him to bring out his best.
“An improvement that I’ve seen since I moved is being around a lot of talented athletes from all around the world which motivates you to always be your best and push you beyond your limits,” he said.
The first notable participation came in 1948 when Rodney Wilkes won the nation’s first Olympic medal, a silver in the men’s featherweight division in weightlifting at the London Olympics. Wilkes continued his success by securing a bronze medal at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Trinidad and Tobago's first gold medal came in 1976 when Haseley Crawford won the men’s 100m in track and field athletics at the Montreal Summer Olympic Games. This historic victory was a monumental achievement, putting Trinidad and Tobago on the map in the athletics world.
Ato Boldon stands out as one of Trinidad and Tobago's most decorated Olympians, having won four medals in his illustrious career. Boldon claimed bronze in both the 100m and 200m at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and followed up with a silver in the 100m and another bronze in the 200m at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. His achievements cemented his status as a track and field legend for the nation.
In more recent history, Keshorn Walcott brought home gold in javelin at the 2012 London Olympics, adding to the country's illustrious track and field legacy. Walcott continued to shine by winning a bronze medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics, and now, he aims for a third Olympic medal in Paris. Additionally, the nation received a gold medal in the 2008 men’s 4x100 relay after Jamaica was disqualified due to a doping violation by Nesta Carter.
As Trinidad and Tobago prepare for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the nation has much to look forward to. Securing spots in the 4x100m and men's 4x400m relay teams at the World Athletics Relay Championship in Nassau, Bahamas, on May 5, 2024, highlights their continued strength in athletics.
The Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee has announced a team of 17 athletes, including seven women and 10 men, who will compete in athletics, cycling, and swimming. Among the notable athletes is Michelle-Lee Ahye, a seasoned sprinter known for her speed and competitive spirit. Jereem Richards, another formidable contender over 200m and 400m, will join her on the track. In the pool, Dylan Carter is an accomplished swimmer with a history of strong performances. Keshorn Walcott, the Olympic gold and bronze medalist in javelin, is looking to add a third Olympic medal to his collection. Nicholas Paul, a world-class cyclist participating in his second Olympic Games, will be joined by fellow cyclist Kwesi Browne, adding depth to the team’s cycling prospects.
The team will be supported by a dedicated group of officials and coaches, including manager Dexter Voisin, Chef De Mission Lovie Santana-Duke, Chief Medical Officer Rudranath Ramsawak, and Olympic medalist Keston Bledman.
With a total of 19 Olympic medals—15 in track and field, three in weightlifting, and one in swimming—Trinidad and Tobago have a proud history of Olympic success. The 2024 Paris Games represent another opportunity for the nation to showcase its athletic prowess and continue its legacy of excellence on the world stage.
The team of Dwight St Hilaire, Che Lara, Machel Cedenio and Richards clocked 3:01.29. It was Richards' second gold medal of the Games. He won the 200m title in a Games record 19.80s on Saturday.
Botswana won the silver running 3:01.85. The bronze medal went to Kenya who ran 3:02.41. Jamaica crossed the finish line in fourth place but was disqualified.
Jamaica’s women enjoyed better fortunes as the team of Shian Salmon, Junelle Bromfield, Roneisha McGregor and Natoya Goule ran bravely for the bronze medal in 3:26.93.
The gold medal was a battle between England and Canada with both teams battling to the line with the home team winning their first 4x400m Commonwealth title in 28 years.
Their winning time was 3:25.83 with Canada 0.01 seconds behind in 3:25.84.
Meanwhile, in the field, Grenada’s Anderson Peters was upset in the javelin.
Peters struggled early but produced his best throw of 88.64m, which temporarily gave him the lead. It would not last, however, as Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem uncorked a career-best 91.18m, a new Games record to snatch victory.
Kenya’s Julius Yego, the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2015 World Champion produced a season-best 85.70m for the bronze medal.
In what was her first race since suffered a tight hamstring at the USATF Golden Games in Walnut, California on April 16, Williams advanced to the final after winning her preliminary round heat in a wind-assisted 10.96 (5.3m/s).
In the final, she locked strides with Tanisha Terry until late in the race when the American pulled away to win in 10.94.
Maia McCoy was the best of the rest, running 11.20 for third.
Williams, 20, races next in the 100m on June 12 at the USATF Grand Prix in New York before she travels to Jamaica for the National Senior Championships scheduled for June 23-26.
Former Hydel High star sprinter Ashanti Moore, meanwhile, ran out a comfortable winner in the 200m. The powerful sprinter, who now trains at Pure Athletics alongside some of the world’s best sprinters including the 2019 World 200m champion, Noah Lyles, clocked a nippy 23.02 easily defeating Lily Kaden (23.21) and Camile Laus (23.63).
Lyles was equally dominant in the men’s 200m which he won in 19.86 over Trinidad and Tobago’s Jereem Richards (20.06) and his brother Josephus Lyles, who ran 20.20, his fastest-ever season opener.
Kimberly Williams jumped a wind-assisted 13.93m to win the triple jump by one centimetre over Naomi Metzer (13.92m). Sineade Gutzmore jumped 13.22m for third.
Williams followed up her personal best 7.06 in the heats with a time of 7.07 to win the third semi-final ahead of Lee-Ahye who ran 7.12 for second place and an automatic berth in the final.
Jackson came third in the first semi-final and qualified as one of the fastest losers with a personal best of 7.08. The final is scheduled for later on Friday.
Stephenie Ann-McPherson won semi-final one of the Women’s 400m in 51.26 ahead of Femke Bol (51.28). Aliyah Abrams of Guyana finished third in 51.57 to also advance to the final. Shaunae Miller-Uibo looked in ominous form, easily winning semi-final two in a comfortable season’s best 51.38.
Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago put himself in position for a medal when he won his semi-final heat in 46.15.
It was bad news for Christopher Taylor who appeared to suffer an injury and did not finish his semi-final heat.
The Women’s and Men's 400m finals are scheduled for Saturday.
Richards, 28, was Trinidad and Tobago’s only medalist at the 2022 World Indoor Championships in March when he clocked a smart 45.00 to win gold for the twin-island republic. However, speaking with Sportsmax.TV this week, he outlined his plans for his national championships.
“This weekend I’ll be competing in just the 200m and my expectation is I break the 20-second barrier once again,” said Richards, who last broke 20 seconds when he ran 19.99 in Doha in May 2018.
Outside his personal objectives, Richards said he believes TT will field a strong team for the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon in July.
“I’m excepting that team TTO will be strong in the respected events such as sprints relays and throws,” he said, explaining that he believes he, Dwight St Hilaire, Machel Cedenio and Asa Guevara will be part of the make-up of his country’s 4x400m relay team.
TTO will also likely have the in-form Keshorn Walcott, the 2012 Olympic champion, in the team for the 2022 global championships.
Richards’ goals for the season extend beyond the World Championships. In 2018, he won the 200m at the Commonwealth Games on Australia’s Gold Coast and he is aiming to travel to Birmingham, England to defend his title later this summer.
The Commonwealth Games are set to begin on July 28, just four days after the end of the World Championships but Richards believes the work he has done to prepare for the season will help him successfully navigate the hectic schedule.
“My plan is to trust in God, trust in the plan my coach has for me and just make sure that I’m healthy to get the job done,” he said.
