The event itself was filled with on-track carnage as Switzerland’s Ditaji Kambundji, who was stride for stride with Nugent early on, clipped the fourth hurdle before crashing into the fifth.
The accident put off Poland’s Weronika Barcz who was also out of the race after hitting the fifth hurdle and perhaps also Slovakia’s Viktória Forster who failed to navigate the seventh obstacle.
Nugent, however, held her nerve to finish comfortably ahead of the field, stopping the clock at 12.95. Estonia’s Anna Millend was second in 13.45 with Hungary's Anna Tóth third in 13.58.
In the men’s equivalent, Vashaun Vascianna hit the second to last hurdle but still managed to make his way onto the medal podium after finishing second behind France’s Sasha Zhoya. The Frenchman clocked a world U-20 record 12.72 over the distance, with the Jamaican trailing behind in a personal best 13.25. Poland’s Jakub Szymański also clocked a personal best, 13.43, to secure the bronze medal.
In the women’s 200m the Jamaicans missed out on the medal spots after Briana Lyston, who crossed the line fourth, was disqualified. The other Jamaican in the event, Aalliyah Francis finished 7th in 23.96. The event was won by Namibia’s Christine Mboma, in a championship record 21.84, with her compatriot Beatrice Masilingi second in 22.18, Nigeria’s Favour Ofili was third in 22.23.
The Pan Am Games champion in the Long Jump, began her season in phenomenal form with four straight 7 metres performances, but saw a dip in form as the season went on that culminated with her finishing a disappointing 12th in the Olympic final with a 6.50 metres jump.
Malone, speaking on an episode of SportsMax.Tv’s On Point, said she was having injury trouble up to two weeks before the Games in Tokyo.
“A week prior to Chula Vista in April, I had to get a PRP injection in my hamstring because I found out I had a strain in my hamstring. Two weeks before the games, I strained my hamstring again. Prior to that my knee flared up,” said Malone.
The fact that she never really took a break from training after the pandemic also took a toll on her physically.
“You’re training at this high intensity and your body is like; Ok you’ve got to oil me. You want a Ferrari to run like a Ferrari you’ve got to treat it like a Ferrari. That was just what my body was saying to me after training at such a high intensity for so long because, at that point, it had been 2 years since I’d been training at that intensity,” said Malone.
The 2014 CAC Games champion says she was also affected mentally by her ailments.
“Mentally, that’s what took me out a little bit because I didn’t know if I could trust my body. I wanted to jump, and I knew the kind of shape I was in, but subconsciously you’re being a little hesitant with putting the foot down a certain way or just executing the way you need to. As I reflect on the Games that was one of the blocks that I had,” she said.
The full interview can be seen on the Sportsmax TV YouTube channel.
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.
Miller-Uibo clocked a lifetime-best 48.36 to win her second Olympic 400 metres gold medal after Steven Gardiner won his first Olympic gold medal in the event with a time of 43.85. Gardiner's Olympic gold came two years after he ran his lifetime best of 43.48 to win gold in the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar.
Speaking on Sportsmax TV’s On Point, Miller-Uibo heaped praise on her compatriot.
“I mean, Steven is an exceptional athlete and he’s one of my close friends too. I’m so happy for him and he worked so hard to get to the point where he’s at. He deserves all the success. He’s been doing exceptional work in the sport,” Miller-Uibo said.
She also shared her reaction to him winning his gold medal in Tokyo.
“Him being right the day before me, I mean, I was freaking out for him. I was so happy,” she said.
Miller-Uibo also revealed that hearing the Bahamian national anthem playing at Gardiner’s medal ceremony inspired her performance in her 400 metres final.
“Right before I went for my final, the national anthem was playing and I was just in the back listening to it and watching it on television thinking we have to hear the national anthem play again. It has to happen,” she said.
You can see the full interview with Shaunae Miller-Uibo on the Sportsmax YouTube channel and on the Sportsmax app.
With the World Championships and Commonwealth Games on the schedule as major games this year, the Jamaicans are expected to see quite a bit of each other over the coming months.
McLeod, unfortunately, did not get the opportunity to defend his title as he missed out on making the Jamaica squad after failing to qualify from the country’s national trials and will no doubt have his eyes set on redemption later this year.
For his part, Parchment has in the meantime established himself as the country’s top performer at the event and will be looking to keep the wins coming in.
“So far I am feeling good, I think I am in good form,” Parchment told members of the media on Thursday.
“I still have a lot of work to do but I am looking forward to executing a really good race [in Birmingham] and hoping to get a really lovely time on this beautiful track.”
The race will also feature former world indoor champion Andrew Pozzi of Great Britain.”
The event was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thompson-Herah had a phenomenal 2021 season, which included her winning the 100m at the Diamond League final in Zurich and running 10.54 at the Eugene Diamond League to become the fastest woman alive and second fastest woman of all time.
Her greatest achievement in 2021, however, would have to be when she became the first woman in history to win the sprint double at consecutive Olympic Games.
Backing up her exploits from Rio in 2016, Thompson-Herah produced times of 10.61 and 21.53 to win gold medals in both the 100m and 200m at the Tokyo Olympics, in addition to being a part of Jamaica’s 4x100m relay team, alongside Briana Williams, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who finished as runner-up for the Sportswoman of the Year award, and Shericka Jackson, that won the gold medal in a national record 41.02.
Parchment shocked the world to win gold in the Men’s 110m Hurdles in Tokyo, nine years after his bronze medal performance at the London Olympics.
He ran 13.04 to win gold in Tokyo ahead of prohibitive favourite Grant Holloway of the USA.
The past student of Morant Bay High and Kingston College was also third at the Diamond League final in Zurich.
His teammate Ronald Levy, who was the runner-up for the Sportsman of the Year Award, took home the bronze medal in Tokyo.
Other major awards given out on the day include the Chairman's Award to veteran journalist Lance Whittaker; the People's Choice "Performance of the Year Award" to Fraser McConnell; the VM Group Y.O.U.T.H Award to sprinter Tina Clayton and the Gleaner Newspaper Iconic Award to Michael Holding.
In the event, which was broadcast over video-conferencing platform Zoom, Paul and Ahye were named TTOC’s senior Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year respectively for 2021.
TTOC President Brian Lewis addressed the virtual audience before the distribution of awards.
“In 2021, our athletes showed that they faced their fears. They went to Tokyo and gave their best. They did not make excuses and of course, they showed emotional, physical, and mental stamina by facing their disappointments, their failures, their mistakes, and the criticism of those who weren’t in the arena; who didn’t have to overcome economic issues, lack of training issues, doubt issues, death in their families and close circles,” said Lewis.
“As we look forward to 2022, we are encouraged by the example and the discipline and resolve shown by team TTO at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the Junior Pan Am Games,” he added.
It was Ahye’s fourth time holding the title after winning from 2016-2018 while Paul received the award for the second time, his first coming back in 2019.
Paul, the current world-record holder in the Men’s flying 200m, earned the top male award based on his silver medal performance in the Men’s one-kilometre time-trial at the UCI Tissot World Track Cycling Championship in Roubaix, France, back in October.
He was also sixth in the Men’s Sprint at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Ahye was deemed the top female based on her ninth-place finish in the Women’s 100m at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where she narrowly missed out on the final.
Swimmer Nikoli Blackman, a member of T&T’s teams at both the Pan Am Junior Games and Swimming World Championships (SC) this year, was named Junior Sportsman of the Year for the second consecutive year, and track and field athlete Rae-Anne Serville, now representing USC, was Junior Sportswoman of the Year.
Olympic long jump finalist and 2021 NCAA Heptathlon Champion at Texas A&M, Tyra Gittens, was named the Sports Personality of the Year and reacted to it on her Instagram page on Wednesday.
“Blessed to receive the Sports Personality award during the TTOC 27th Annual Award Ceremony this evening. I can’t wait to represent TTO again next year,” she said.
West Indies senior women’s vice-captain Anissa Mohammed won the Future is Female award.
Pinnock and McLeod jumped 7.92 and 7.91, respectively, to finish as the top two ahead of Georgia’s Matthew Boling who jumped 7.86 for third.
St. Lucian Texas Junior and former St. Catherine High sprinter Julien Alfred turned heads in the Women’s 60m preliminaries with a personal best, collegiate and national record 7.04 to be the fastest qualifier to the final.
Jamaicans Charokee Young and Stacey-Ann Williams were the two fastest qualifiers in the Women’s 400m. Young, formerly of Hydel High and now competing for Texas A&M, advanced fastest with 51.70 while Williams, formerly of STETHS and now competing for The University of Texas, ran 51.89 to qualify second fastest.
Messam passed away at 61 on Sunday after a long battle with illness.
The Calabar High School Old Boy was an IT professional, working as an Oracle Database Administrator at the Porth Authority for 22 years.
At the same time, Messam was a respected Track & Field coach, specializing in hurdles events.
A former Florida International University and Seton Hall University student, Messam was also the founder of Hurdles Crew Jamaica, an organization, which was created to enhance the lives of at-risk youth by allowing them to engage in voluntary work at Track & Field meets each year.
Messam was often the man to who Track & Field coaches would send their hurdlers when they needed someone to fix their technique.
Funeral arrangements will be made at a later date.
Instead, the nine-time World Champion is more intent on keeping her attention on the rest of the field that she is set to face, which will include 200m Olympic silver medallist Christine Mboma of Namibia.
Ahead of the meet, a lot of attention had been placed on the possibility of another 100m match-up between the Fraser-Pryce and Richardson, no doubt a spillover from last season which feature a highly-anticipated showdown at the Eugene Diamond League meet. Just two days ahead of the Continental Tour, however, and for the third time this season, it was discovered that Richardson had withdrawn from the meet without a public explanation being provided.
Last year, the Eugene match-up between Richardson and Fraser-Pryce had been billed as a great redemption story of sorts for the American. The athlete had missed out on facing the Jamaica medal-winning trio of Fraser-Pryce, Elaine Thompson-Herah, and Shericka Jackson at the Olympics, after being suspended for a month for marijuana usage.
Despite the American’s presence, however, the Jamaicans finished in the same order as the Tokyo Games, where Thompson-Herah finished ahead of Fraser-Pryce and Jackson third. Richardson finished in last place.
“As far as I’m concerned there are seven other competitors in the race that I think deserve the same amount of attention and respect as me because when we each line up to compete I don’t think we are fearful of who is beside us or in the next lane. We are just here to compete and give our best,” Fraser-Pryce told members of the media.
“So, if someone is missing from the competition it doesn’t stop me from focusing on what I’m here to do and getting the job done.”
In addition to Mboma, the 100m field will consist of the USA’s Shannon Ray, Maximilla Imali (Ken), Bassant Hemida (Egy), Rani Rosius (BEL), Patrizia Vanderweken (Lux), and Javianne Oliver (USA).
Pre-race favourite Fred Kerley recovered late on to just edge out compatriot Marvin Bracey who seemed destined for gold after getting off to a brilliant start. A third American Trayvon Brommel was just behind. Timewise Kerley never quite lived up to the explosive promise of a 9.79 clocking in the first round, but still took the event in a respectable 9.86. Just ahead of Bracey who clocked 9.88 for second place. Brommel stopped the clock in an identical time.
Just behind Brommel was Seville who was fourth in 9.97. Despite missing out on the podium the result capped off a strong season for the 21-year-old who broke 10 seconds for the first time earlier this year and clocked a personal best of 9.86 in May of this year. Seville is coached by Glen Mills at the Racers Track Club the same place sprint legend Usain Bolt was conditioned.
Earlier the country’s 100m national champion Yohan Blake failed to make it to the final after finishing 6th in the semi-finals.
Seville got away well before pulling away from the field to record a massive new personal best, shattering his previous mark of 10.00. Conroy Jones took the second spot behind Seville in 10.14 seconds, with Emmanuel Archibald taking third in 10.20.
In the women’s equivalent, Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah dominated the field to take first place in 10.94. Thompson-Herah pulled away down the stretch to finish well clear of second-place Remona Burchell who was next in 11.31 and Jodean Williams who was third in 11.40.
Earlier this summer, the 21-year-old was expected to be one of the headliners at the Olympic Games, but things did not go to plan as she missed the event after being suspended for a month after testing positive for marijuana.
Nor did her match-up with the medal-winning Jamaica trio from the Olympics, Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and Shericka Jackson. Despite plenty of pre-race hype, the American finished last in the event. The result divided social media users with many still offering support for Richardson, while many others ridiculed her.
Recently the sprinter also drew heat for what many construed to be disrespect shown to legendary American sprinter Alyson Felix who called for patience and support for the young runner. Bolt, however, believes the athlete’s personality draws more people to the sport.
“I like her energy because I think she’s good for the sport because her energy is different. It’s spicy, it’s a vibe,” Bolt told hip hop magazine Revolt Tv.
“Everybody is different. But, I think she brings a different spice to track and field. And sometimes sports need somebody like that to give the energy, to get people talking about it,” he added.
The double world record holder also offered some kind words of advice to the young American.
“You will have failures throughout your career, it’s just one of those things. In my first Olympics in Athens, I didn’t make it outside the first round. So, it’s just about being determined and pushing yourself, and just believing that you can do it, and just go and do your best.”
The fastest woman alive Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce seems assured of her spot at a fourth Olympic Games, and she seems certain to be joined by reigning champion Elaine Thompson-Herah by the time the women's 100m is complete at the National Stadium in a few hours time.
Who will win the battle to claim the rest of the spots is, however, anyone’s guess. The likes of world junior champions Briana William, in-form NCAA sprinter Kemba Nelson, World Championships relay gold medallist Natasha Morrison and 400m specialist Shericka Jackson will all be part of a quality, competitive pack.
Jamaica sprint king Usain Bolt has now long retired, and it seems an almost impossible task for the current generation to fill his shoes. The likes of World Champion Yohan Blake once thought to be his natural successor will be looking to make a statement when he touches the track tonight.
Both projects will fall within the remit of a government maintenance program geared towards ensuring that money is set aside for upgrading the island's stadiums. According to Grange, resurfacing work at the National Stadium is expected to begin “any time now, with Catherine Hall Sports Complex penciled in as a priority for the next year.
According to Grange two factors will determine when the work gets going at the National Stadium. The first is the fact that the track has to be laid on a completely dried surface, and the process must therefore await the end of seasonal rains. The other factor is the ability of the manufacturers' representatives, BSW of Germany, to leave Germany to come to Jamaica to supervise the project and that will depend on COVID restrictions.
“The material for the resurfacing of the Stadium track is on site. Upgrading after 10 years of usage is now necessary for the track to retain its Class 1 certification by World Athletics, formerly the International Association of Athletics Federations. The track was laid in 2010 with a projected lifespan of eight years. But because of maintenance and care we were able to extend it by another two years to 2020,” Grange said.
“The Government is putting a maintenance/replacement program to ensure that there is money for upgrading stadiums. It is through such a plan for the National Stadium that we have money for a new track. Money was actually put aside for the National Stadium because of proper planning and going forward we will be using that approach for upgrading of the facilities.”
The Jamaican sprinter is looking for her third Olympic 100m gold.
Long jumper, Andwuelle Wright, and 400m hurdler, Sparkle-Ann McKnight, will not compete at the Games in Tokyo after their covid-19 tests returned positive results. A coach, Wendell Williams will also miss the games, after becoming the third positive result.
With less than 24-hours to compete, the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee revealed the breaking news via social media.
“Two Team TTO athletes and one official received positive test results following daily routine Saliva Antigen tests at the Olympic Village. This came following two Nasopharyngeal PCR verification tests in accordance with established TOKYO2020 COVID-19 protocols, countermeasures, and guidelines.
The three members have been placed into quarantine at an approved hotel facility for foreign athletes and officials.
Former Carifta gold medallist and Trinidad and Tobago’s national long jump record holder, Wright, also confirmed the news via social media. The aspiring athlete is disheartened by the circumstances but is happy that he is healthy and well.
“The Olympics has come [and] gone for me and my heart hurts more than anything else. I am devasted, confused and heartbroken. My coach and I both tested positive for COVID-19 virus days before I had to compete, after receiving six (6) negative test and I had to withdraw from the games,” he posted.
“More Importantly I’m okay although I don’t know what “okay” looks like right now but I’m happy to be alive and breathing.”
23-year-old Wright, who is from Tobago, said he was fully vaccinated and was not showing any symptoms during his time at the Olympic Games.
“[I was] experiencing zero symptoms of this virus also being fully vaccinated, meaning my Olympic dreams and everything we worked hard towards was shattered.”
McKnight, previously represented Trinidad and Tobago at the 2013 and 2015 World Championships in Athletics, reaching the semifinals on the second occasion.
Williams was a former Trinidad and Tobago national long jump record holder. He held the previous mark of 8.14m since 1999. However, Wright leaped to an impressive 8.23m to eclipse the feat his coach had achieved.
The diminutive sprint hurdler, who won national titles in 2016 and again in 2021, had improved significantly during the season when she ran what was then a new lifetime best of 12.63. However, after getting to the final in Doha, she hit the first hurdle and fell.
Speaking on the latest episode of On Point on the SportsMax TV YouTube channel, Tapper elaborated on the emotions she experienced during that moment on the track.
“Just complete and utter devastation. It was unbelievable. I couldn’t believe that the opportunity that I trained so long and hard for ended in such devastation. There’s no other word that can basically describe that moment,” Tapper said.
Tapper says those emotions also stemmed from the fact that she was in great shape and ready for the race.
“I’ve never been ready, up to that moment, for a race, the way I was ready for that final and unfortunately I wasn’t able to finish the race,” she said.
In that moment, according to Tapper, she was unable to contain her emotions.
“The feeling was overwhelming. I wasn’t able to be the composed Megan that most of us know because the emotions were so raw and overwhelming,” said Tapper.
Afterwards, she said, she sought support from those close to her for support.
“I reached out to the various people who were in my circle at the time and they would say to me 'don’t worry about it, this is just another roadblock. You are still Megan, you are still capable, anything is still possible for you, shake it off and let’s go again. Talking to my support team was how the motivation came back for me,” said Tapper.
The full interview can be seen on the SportsMax TV YouTube channel.
Paulino has had an outstanding 2022, setting national records in both the 200m and 400m. In addition to that, the 25-year-old athlete claimed a silver medal at IAAF World Championships and ended the season by capturing the Diamond Trophy. On that occasion, the athlete set another national record and more importantly dipped below the 49-second mark for the first time in her career.
The time of 48.99 marks the athlete the 12th fastest in history. A fine accomplishment, but approaching the record of 47.60, set, and held for 37 years, by the German Democratic Republic’s Marita Koch is no simple feat. In fact, the sprinters in the many years since have found it almost difficult to even approach the previous mark of 47.99 set by Czechoslovakia’s Jarmila Kratochvílová in 1983.
"That's a dream she has, we both have it. In the end, we are going to keep working. It's a tough thing, but so far everything has been difficult and we have set out on the road to the world record," said Pérez said. Despite the difficulty, the coach points out the athlete has been taking things stage by stage.
"Next year we are going to try to establish the stability of 48 seconds. This season, we had worked very well to maintain the levels obtained in the Olympic Games and as we worked throughout the year, improving the speed part, we saw what was coming and the time of 48 became a fact. It didn't happen at the world championships because of the disruption of the relays, but we had been working to lower it.”
The 34-year, who has represented the county at the Olympic Games on several occasions, retired from international competition in 2018, pointing to the exorbitant cost of competing as a major factor in his decision.
Earlier this year, Bailey announced that he had decided to return to the sport in order to compete at next year’s Olympic Games. It seems, however, that some things have yet to change.
“They turned down my stuff and I left it alone, but I knew that was going to happen and I just think that the NOC is a sham because they don’t care about the athletes,” Bailey said recently on the Good Morning Jojo sports show.
“It is the first time I have sent the NOC an email about funding and the murmuring stated as to why Bakka want this and why Bakka wants that but at the end of the day, the money does not belong to any one of them and without the athletes, they can’t get any funding,” he added.
Earlier this year, EP Chet Greene, politician, and president of the NOC pledged to support the athlete after learning of his bid to qualify for the Olympics.
Bailey’s scorn was not, however, limited to the NOC as he reflected on a long career of footing his own expense.
“For the majority, I had to do it myself along with two or three corporate sponsors. The NOC is not coming on board, the athletics association is not coming on board and the Ministry of Sports is not coming on board. At the age of 18 years, I left for Jamaica on an IOC scholarship, and ever since then I have never gotten any help from the NOC, the government nor the Ministry of Sports. I have been to four Olympic Games, spent 100s of thousands of dollars on myself, and represented this country without a dollar from anybody.”
Bailey, who has a personal best of 9.91, has made it to the semi-finals of two Olympic Games and was fourth at the 2009 World Championships.
