Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands and Shamier Little of the USA, as well as McLeod, battled for the lead over the first 300m with the American taking the lead coming off the curve into the home straight. She seemed headed for victory before Bolingo unleashed a stirring run to take victory in 50.02.
Klaver managed to edge ahead of Little to take second place in 50.16 with the American fading to third in 50.58.
Great Britain’s Victoria Ohurugou managed to out-lean McLeod at the line to take fourth in 50.81.
Bol, who boasts a personal best of 51.45, clocked 51.98s after shaking off a brief challenge from American Shamier Little, to shatter the previous meet record of 52.77 set by Dalilah Mohammad two years ago.
The American and Bol were neck and neck with three hurdles to go but Bol unleashed her superior speed and strength to pull away from the rapidly fading Little, who finished second in 53.45 just ahead of the rapidly closing Jamaicans.
Clayton, who won her second bronze medal in Budapest clocked 53.56 to just held off Russell, the two-time Commonwealth Games champion, who stopped the clock in a season’s best 53.60.
Clayton, 30, who has been holding superb form demonstrated that much, clocking a new personal best 52.81s, just being edged by American Shamier Little, who clocked a season’s best 52.80s for silver.
The event was won by the impressive Dutchwoman Femke Bol, who finally got gold in 51.70s, to go with her bronze at the Olympic Games in Tokyo and silver at last year’s Championships in Eugene.
Jamaica’s other finalists Janieve Russell (54.28s) and Andrenette Knight (55.20s) were seventh and eighth respectively.
Clayton's performance capped what was an exhilarating night for Jamaica, as her bronze, followed gold medal performances by Antonio Watson in the 400m and Danielle Williams in the women's sprint hurdles, as well as an historic silver and bronze medal winning performances by Wayne Pinnock and Tajay Gayle in the men's long jump finals.
By virtue of that, Jamaica moved to third on the medal standings with two gold, three silver and three bronze medals, heading into Friday's seventh day of competition.
Thompson-Herah is entered in both 100 metres and 200m events. The 100 field also includes her fellow Jamaicans Natasha Morrison and Briana Williams, Bahamian Tynia Gaither, Trinidad and Tobago’s Kelly-Ann Baptiste and American Tianna Bartoletta.
Thompson-Herah is second on the 2021 world outdoor performance list at 10.78 seconds, trailing only American sprint sensation Sha’Carri Richardson (10.72). Morrison is fourth with a 10.87 run, while Williams is 11th at 10.98. Gaither is also in the top 20, her 11.02 clocking placing her at number 13.
In the longer sprint, Thompson-Herah will be challenged by Williams, Gaither, Great Britain’s Jodie Williams and American Brittany Brown, the 2019 World Championship 200m silver medalist.
Brown, eighth on the 2021 global list at 22.43 seconds, is tipped for top honours in the NACAC New Life Invitational half-lap event.
Bartoletta, the 2016 Olympic Games long jump gold medalist, is on the entry list for her pet event. Bartoletta will face strong challenges from fellow American Malaina Payton, Jamaica’s Chanice Porter, Briton Lorraine Ugen and Canadian Christabel Nettey.
The women’s 100m hurdles is packed with quality that includes Jamaica’s 2015 world champion Danielle Williams, Nigerian Tobi Amusan and American Christina Clemons.
Jamaican Chrisann Gordon-Powell and American Wadeline Jonathas go head-to-head in the women’s 400 while in the 400 hurdles, Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad takes on 2021 world leader Shamier Little (53.12).
The two Americans, though, will not have things all their own way as in-form Jamaicans Rhonda Whyte and Shiann Salmon are also in the line-up and coming off season-best performances in Jacksonville on Sunday.
American Ajee Wilson is expected to dominate the women’s 800m.
And in the women’s triple jump, Dominican Republic’s Ana Tima is the one to watch.
Among the men that will feature at the NACAC New Life Invitational are American sprint star Trayvon Bromell, the 2021 100m world leader at 9.88 seconds, and Samoan discus thrower Alex Rose.
Some 200 athletes from 27 countries are expected to be on show at the NACAC New Life Invitational. Saturday’s meet starts at 2 pm (Eastern Daylight Time).
Running from lane six in heat one, the Americans—Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon, and Kaylyn Brown—left the field in their wake to stop the clock in 3:07.41, bettering their own previous mark of 3:08.80 set at last year’s World Championships in Budapest. Poland’s Olympic Record of 3:09.87 set in Tokyo, was also erased.
France (3:10.60) and Belgium (3:10.74) were second and third with national record times, while Jamaica’s quartet of Raheem Hayles, Junelle Bromfield, Zandrion Barnes, and Stephanie-Ann McPherson also clocked a national record of 3:11.66 for fourth. They progressed as one of the fastest non-automatic qualifiers, along with Poland (3:11.43).
Bahamas struggled throughout and ended at the back of the pack in 3:14.58. The same is true about Dominican Republic (3:18.89) in heat two.
That heat was won by Great Britain in a national record 3:10.61, ahead of Netherlands (3:10.81) and Italy (3:11.59).
The field will include a number of the world’s top hurdlers including global medallists including the likes of Rushell Clayton, Shamier Little and Dalilah Muhammad.
Muhammad won Olympic gold back in Rio eight years ago and took silver in Tokyo five years later. Her time in the Tokyo final, 51.58, remains a personal best and makes her the third-fastest woman ever.
At the World Championships, the 34-year-old won gold in 2019 in a then-world record 52.16. She was also among the medals in Moscow in 2013, London in 2017 and Eugene in 2022.
Clayton took bronze at the 2019 World Championships in Doha and had a similar result last year in Budapest with a personal best 52.81.
Little is a two-time World Championship silver medallist. The first came back at the 2015 edition in Beijing and the second came in Budapest last year.
Her personal best 52.39 was done back in 2021 and puts her fifth all-time.
Saturday’s field is completed by two-time Commonwealth Games champion Janieve Russell, Pan Am Games champion Gianna Woodruff, World Championship finalists Andrenette Knight and Anna Cockrell and Commonwealth Games silver medallist Shiann Salmon.
Pryce's incredible run saw her shatter her own national record of 48.89, previously set at the NCAA National Division 1 Championships in June. In a thrilling race, Pryce defeated European champion Natalia Kaczmarek, who also achieved a personal best and set a Polish national record with her time of 48.90. Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands finished third, clocking a personal best of 49.58.
In the men's 400m hurdles, Alison Dos Santos made a strong comeback from his recent defeat in Monaco, winning with a time of 47.18. Jamaica's Roshawn Clarke ran a season's best of 47.63 to secure second place, while Ismail Daudai Abakar of Bahrain finished third with a personal best of 47.72.
The women's 400m hurdles saw Netherlands' Femke Bol, fresh off her new lifetime best of 50.95, a European record, dominate the field. Bol clinched victory with a time of 51.30, while the USA's Shamier Little finished second in 52.78. Jamaica's Rushell Clayton earned third place with a time of 53.24, and her compatriot Andrenette Knight followed closely in fourth, setting a season's best of 53.69.
Nickisha Pryce's record-breaking performance not only cements her status as one of the world's elite sprinters but also sets a formidable tone ahead of the Paris Olympics. As the Games approach, Pryce, along with her fellow Jamaican athletes, is poised to make a significant impact on the global stage.
Among the highly anticipated events is the men's 110m hurdles, featuring Olympic champion Hansle Parchment and Commonwealth Games champion Rasheed Broadbell. They will be joined by standout American hurdler Daniel Roberts, promising a thrilling battle over the barriers.
In addition to the hurdles spectacle, the sprint events will showcase talents such as recently crowned World Indoor 60m champion Julien Alfred, making her return to Jamaica after her high school years. Joining her are international sensations like Great Britain's Dina Asher Smith and two-time world champion Abby Steiner, ensuring top-class competition on the track.
The men’s sprints is promising to equally captivating with Zharnel Hughes, Marvin Bracy, Trayvon Brommel, Abdul Hakim Sani-Brown and Fred Kerley confirmed for the meet.
The 400m races will see world championship gold medalist Alexis Holmes taking on Jamaican quarter-milers Charokee Young and Stacey-Ann Williams in the one-lap sprint, while Commonwealth Games medalist Matthew Hudson-Smith leads the men's charge.
Two-time world championship 400m hurdles bronze medallist Rushell Clayton will go to head to head with the outstanding Shamier Little while Pan American champion Jaheel Hyde will take on World Championship bronze medalist Kyron McMaster over the 400m hurdles.
Field events will be equally captivating, with Jamaican prodigy Jaydon Hibbert and Donald Scott confirmed for the triple jump. Two-time world championship silver medalist Shanieka Ricketts will clash with 2024 World Indoor Champion Thea Lafond of Dominica in the women's event.
Fedrick Dacres, the 2019 World Championship silver medalist, will add excitement to the men's discus event.
Ludlow Watts, chairman of the local organizing committee, emphasized the significance of the JAI in showcasing international talent in Jamaica.
“Those who might have thought that the days of staging of international events by the JAAA are over you will now know we jus’ a come,” said Ludlow Watts, who is chairman of the local organizing committee. “JAI will feature 14 international events; 10 running events and four field events. The international segment will be held between 7:30 and 9:30 pm. There will also be a developmental segment between 6 and 6:30 pm. That segment is to provide opportunity for those who did not get into the main event.
"We want every Jamaican to be in the stadium. We would like a full cheering stadium."
Ticket prices have been designed to ensure that the National Stadium will be filled to capacity for the meet. As such finish-line tickets for the Grand Stand will be sold for JMD$3000 with seats in all other sections of the stand fetching a price of JMD$2500. The Bleacher seats will be free.
Tickets for the event will be available online from April 22 to May 4 and can be purchased at the Jamaica Pegasus in Kingston and the National Stadium Ticket Office from May 8 to 11.
