The Edwin Allen sweep of the women’s event was led by Tia Clayton who won in 11.49, ahead of twin sister Tina Clayton (11.50), with Serena Cole (11.51) finishing third.
In the Boys Under-20 event, Daley upset the odds, running 10.33 to win ahead of favourite Bryan Levell of Edwin Allen (10.36) and KC’s Bouwahjgie Nkrumie (10.40).
Edwin Allen’s Theianna Lee Terrelonge won the Girls Under-17 100m in 11.96, ahead of St Jago’s Camoy Binger (12.03) and Hydel’s Shemonique Hazel (12.11). Gary Card of Wolmer’s won the Boys Under-17 title in 10.93, ahead of Calabar’s Shaquane Gordon (10.99) and Spot Valley’s Romario Hinds (11.20).
Abigail Campbell, running unattached, won the Girls Under-17 400m in 55.18, ahead of St. Jago’s Quana Walker (55.98) and Vere Technical’s Shevaughn Thomas (56.99).
The Kingston College pair of Tahj-Marques White (48.30) and Marcinho Rose (48.52) were the top two finishers in the Boys Under-17 equivalent, while Edwin Allen’s Antonio Powell was third in 49.29.
Hydel’s Oneika McAnuff won the Girls Under-20 400m in 53.12, ahead of Vere Technical’s Kaylia Kelly (54.09) and Bustamante High’s Shana Kay Anderson (54.25). The Boys Under-20 event saw Edwin Allen’s Delano Kennedy taking the win in 46.97, ahead of Manchester’s Shemar Palmer (47.29) and Kingston College’s Shaemar Uter (47.47).
The athlete, who switched allegiance from Great Britain to Jamaica in June, made her debut at the IAAF World Championships but was unable to take part in the Commonwealth Games earlier this month due to protocols surrounding the international transfer.
The athlete was, however, able to return to the track for the NACAC Games where she finished third in the women’s 800m behind the US pair of Ajee and Allie Wilson. Ajee finished just ahead of her compatriot Allie in a photo finish 1:58.47 to 1:58.48.
The Jamaican finished third in 1:59.54 only her second time under 2 minutes, behind her personal best, which came at the IAAF World Championship in Eugene, Oregon in July. Tracey was delighted with the result and performance.
“Ajee set a really tough pace from the get-go, that was great for me because I actually ran my second fastest time. It was very hot today, it’s super windy. I just made it hard but there is a lot of travel in my legs,” Tracey said after the race.
“I was kind of hoping it would have been a bit more tactical but that was a really honest race and there are some really fast girls in there so I’m really happy with it,” she added.
The distance runner was also delighted to have made the trip.
"It feels like a really special place and this is my first medal as a Jamaican athlete as well, so, I really love the Bahamas.”
The Jamaicans also picked up other medals on the night when Olympic bronze medalist Megan Tapper claimed silver in the women’s 100m hurdles and another bronze for Orlando Bennett in the men’s 110m hurdles.
Distin, who set the NCAA’s leading mark and national indoor record last month, got the better of Trinidad and Tobago and Texas Longhorns jumper Tyra Gittens. The Jamaican jumper equalled her best of 1.92 metres to win the event, with Gittens recording a season best of 1.89m to earn the silver medal. Third place went to South Carolina’s Rachel Glenn who recorded a mark of 1.86m.
Elsewhere, University of South Carolina’s Davonte Burnett claimed the men’s 60m title with a new personal best of 6.50. The Jamaican finished ahead of Indiana’s Rikkol Brathwaite, who was second in 6.52, with Tennessee’s Favour Ashe third in 6.55.
In other events, Wayne Lawrence of Iowa finished 7th in the men’s 400m, an event won by North Carolina’s Randolph Ross and Texas Tech’s Vashaun Vascianna finished just outside the medal places in the men’s 60 MH, which was won by Florida State’s Trey Cunningham.
The 21-year-old sophomore recorded a clearance of 1.92m, which bettered her own previous best of 1.88m that had seen her tied on the country’s national best list with two other jumpers, Kimberly Williamson and Sheree Ruff, for second place.
Her new mark broke the record of 1.90m set in March 2002 by Maresa Cadienhead. On the way to the record, Distin cleared heights of 1.78m, 1.83m, 1.86m, and 1.89m before soaring to the record and the event title.
The jump also moved Distin ahead of Texas Tech's Sydney Sapp in the NCAA leaders table after both were previously tied at 1.88m.
Distin, who has broken the national long jump record several times in the last several months, kept her concentration to dominate the field after a six-hour weather delay. Eventually, the Texas A&M athlete posted an event-winning mark of 1.95m to complete the SEC indoor and outdoor high jump title sweep.
The athlete finished ahead of South Carolina’s Rachel Glenn who recorded a best of 1.86m and LSU’s Nyagoa Bayak who finished third with 1.86m on the countback. The in-form Distin also had three attempts at 1.99m but failed to clear the bar.
This lifetime best continues a phenomenal start to the season for Distin who jumped a national indoor record 1.92 to win at the NCAA Indoor Championships in in Birmingham, Alabama earlier this month.
1.96m is a school record, the fifth best collegiate jump of all time and also sees Distin achieve the World Championships qualifying standard.
The 22-year-old Distin rebounded from a recent dip in form to claim the top spot with a leap of 195m. She was joined on the podium by Kimberly Williamson who had a best of 192m, the same as Australia’s Eleanor Patterson, the reigning world champion, but was given the bronze medal on countback.
Distin recorded the winning mark with her seventh attempt, but having wrapped up the competition missed out on setting a new national record at 1.98m. Williamson successfully cleared 1.92m on her second attempt in round 7.
The finish by Jamaica was the first time the country had registered two athletes on the medal podium for the event.
Bolt has admitted to being a fan of the energy and sassy attitude of the American sprinter, which he believes is good for the sport. Richardson has in recent times, however, failed to turn that energy into strong performances on the track.
There was plenty of enthusiasm surrounding Richardson earlier this year, following several impressive performances in the months of April and May. Among them was a 10.72 clocking in Florida, which was at the time the fastest for the season.
Heading into the Olympics, the American cast herself as the one that could bring an end to over a decade of Jamaican dominance of athletics. Heading into the Games, however, Richardson tested positive for marijuana, was suspended for a month, and missed the event where Jamaica swept all the podium spots in the 100m.
After that, came a much-publicised Diamond League meeting between the American and the Jamaican Olympic medallist, in Eugene, Oregon, which was framed along the lines of being an opportunity for Richardson to show what would have happened had she not been suspended for the Olympics. Things did not go to plan, however, as she finished in 9th place, with the Jamaicans once again sweeping the top three spots.
She followed that up with a second-place finish in Italy, and a fourth-place finish, in the 200m, at the Diamond League meet in Brussels. Off the track, the sprinter was also criticised for what many believed amounted to disrespect for American sprint legend Allyson Felix. Bolt believes, at this point, the young American needs to refocus.
“I would tell Sha’Carri to train harder and to be focused and not say too much…,” Bolt said in a recent interview with the New York Post.
“If you talk that big talk you have to back it up,” he added.
“So just train hard and focus on that and try to come back, do it and then talk about it.”
Richardson’s performances have split a vocal global track and field fanbase. Her most ardent fans have continued to express support for the struggling sprinter, but others have expressed disappointment at both her performances and recent outbursts. Many, particularly supporters of Jamaican track and field, found the American’s massive failure amusing given her pre-race antics, exuberant expression, and what they believe is disregard for their decorated Olympic medallists.
“Jamaicans were vexed because she was talking a lot of s–t before the actual race, it is just one of those things,” Bolt said of Richardson’s lopsided loss in Eugene, where Olympic champion Elaine Thompson clocked 10.54, the second-fastest time ever run over the distance.
“Jamaicans don’t like when people talk s–t about us because we are a very proud people. So, if you talk about us we are gonna want you to back it up. It definitely gave those women the extra push.”
The post-Usain Bolt Olympic era begun in difficult fashion for the Jamaica men’s team, with the dizzying heights of world record times and podium topping finishes seemingly, for now, well and truly in the past.
In the 100m, an event dominated by Bolt for the past three Olympics, no Jamaican was able to advance to the final for the first time in over two decades. Over double the distance, where Bolt also dominated for the last three editions, one Jamaican, Rasheed Dwyer, made it to the final but finished in 7th place.
In the 4x100m, where the country has won for the last two Olympics, after being stripped of a gold medal in 2008, the team finished fifth in the final. Despite the rapid descent being too much for some fans, who have made their grouses know via various social media platforms in recent weeks, Fraser-Pryce has called for an end to the criticism.
Having been part of the teams that dominated along with Bolt, the athlete has called for patience and appreciation.
“All the Jamaicans that are beating the men and cursing and leaving all the negative comments, you need to stop it,” Fraser-Pryce said, in the aftermath of being part of a gold-medal-winning 4x100m relay team.
“It takes a lot of guts and hard work year to year to compete, to come out here and to represent. A lot of persons are competing at these championships, some of them are going away without making the finals. We were in the finals, so we need to start celebrating the men because their time is coming.”
Bahamian sprint queen Shaunae Miller-Uibo has arguably been, overall, the best female athlete in the world for the last five years, but for the upcoming Olympics, attempting the 200m-400m double is likely to be biting off more than even she can chew.
At her best, the athlete would still be a favorite to claim the women’s 400m title in a strong and very open field.
So far, the event’s best time has been set by Namibia’s Christine Mboma who ran 48.54 last month. Next is Miller-Uibo who has a best of 49.08, another Namibian Beatrice Masiling (49.53), the USA’s Athing Mu (49.57), Jamaica’s Stephenie McPherson (49.61), and Quanera Haynes (49.67).
Mboma and Masiling have, however, been banned from competing in the women's 400m race at the Tokyo Games for having testosterone levels that are too high, while Mu will focus on the 800m. That leaves Miller-Uibo with the best time heading into the event, with McPherson and Hayes also looking like genuine medal prospects at this point. With her personal best of 48.37, set in Doha 2019, the Bahamian is the only woman in the field to have broken the 49-second barrier.
The 200m is, however, a different case entirely. The Bahamian is nowhere close to the world leaders this year. Amazingly, her season’s best of 22.03 put’s her at 12th on the list this year, in a season where the women seem intent on pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the sprint events.
In fact, four women, Gabrielle Thomas (21.61), Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (21.79), Shericka Jackson (21.82), and Jenna Prandini (21.89) set personal bests last month. Thomas’ time is the second-fastest ever run over the distance. Even if she were to reproduce her personal best time of 21.74, she would be in contention, but certainly not guaranteed a spot on the podium.
Add the stresses of rigorous, unfriendly scheduling for a 200m-400m double and it’s not inconceivable that she could miss out on a spot on the podium entirely if things go badly.
The last time she attempted the feat at a major Games was 2017 where she ended up with a bronze medal in the 200m and missed out on the spots entirely in the 400m after finishing 4th. This after heading into the 400m with three of the top five times that year.
If she isn’t careful, we could have a similar type of situation unfold in Tokyo. Word is the athlete is recovering from an injury and not yet at her best, but she will need to get there in a hurry.
The quartet of Serena Cole, Tina Clayton, Brandy Hall and Tia Clayton had a string of flawless baton exchanges to eventually cross the finish line in a time of 43.37 seconds, a new meet record and high school world record.
They finished more than a full second ahead of Hydel who ran 44.40 for second place while St. Jago finished third in 45.50.
Edwin Allen also took the girls Class 4 4x100 in 48.81 and the 4x200m Open in 1:35.91.
Hydel High girls won the Girls Class 2 4x100m in 44.62 and the 4x400m relay in 3:33.76.
Holmwood Technical was also in record-breaking form in the Girls Sprint Medley with 3:55.77 to better the previous meet record of 4:00.83.
Meanwhile, Jamaica College’s 4x800m team was also in fine form, running a new meet record of 7:24.30 to finish almost 12 seconds ahead of second-place finishers Kingston College who ran 7:36.21. St. Jago was third in 7:45.46.
JC smashed the previous meet record of 7:31.71.
Kingston College won two of the four sprint relays, running 44.36 and 45.99 to win Classes 3 and 4, respectively.
The Class 1 4x100m was won by St. Jago in 40.26 ahead of JC (40.40) and St. Catherine High (40.50) while Calabar stormed to victory in Class 2 in 42.19 ahead of KC (42.26).
St. Jago also won the final event of the meet, the boys’ 4x400m in 3:10.48 ahead of KC (3:11.43) and JC (3:12.49).
JC won the Boys’ Sprint Medley in 3:30.82 ahead of KC (3:31.53) and Calabar (3:38.40).
There were also some standout performances from the seniors on display, namely Tissana Hickling and Lushane Wilson.
Hickling won the Women’s Long Jump in 6.70m and 100m in 11.85 while Wilson leapt to a new personal best 2.21m to win the Men’s High Jump.
The regional junior track and field event is expected to be staged in Jamaica for the first time since 2011 and more specifically return to the city of Kingston for the first time since 1996, in April of this year.
With the country and globe still in the midst of battling the coronavirus pandemic, however, the situation regarding the possibility of spectators and the number of spectators that can attend a given event, as always, remains a fluid and often tenuous process.
For example, recently it was announced that another upcoming track meet, the Gibson Relays, would be allowed to have spectators in attendance. Only a few weeks ago, however, the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) was denied permission for fans to enter the National Stadium for the country’s World Cup qualifiers.
Chairman of the local organising committee of the 2022 Carifta Games, Mike Fennell, revealed negotiations regarding the situation of fans were ongoing.
“We have a meeting set up with the agencies and ministries in providing the sort of regulations that will exist,” Fennell said.
“We have not finalized anything yet because we know that that is a moving target and the times are not static, but we continue to have meetings and there is goodwill all around,” he added.
“Everyone accepts the importance of having these games. They're not for the seniors, they’re for the juniors but it is critical in the development of the sport.”
Thompson-Herah became the second female sprinter to legally dip below the 10.7 seconds barrier on three occasions, joining American world record holder Florence Griffith-Joyner.
On Thursday, Thompson-Herah finished in second place behind Fraser-Pryce, but still clocked the joint seventh fastest time ever recorded over the distance with 10.64. Fraser-Pryce took the event in a new personal best 10.60, the third-fastest ever run over the distance.
Thompson-Herah’s time adds to an impressive collection this season, which also saw her claim Olympic gold in 10.61 and run the second fastest time ever recorded over the distance, 10.54, set at the Prefontaine Classic last week.
Griffith-Joyner legally cracked the 10.7s barrier thrice in 1988, clocking 10.49 to set the current world record and clocking 10.62 and 10.61 at the Seoul Olympics. Fraser-Pryce’s time sees her now achieving the feat twice, having clocked 10.63 earlier this season.
American Carmelita Jeter also broke the 10.7s barrier twice, registering times of 10.67 and 10.64 in 2009. Marion Jones, who clocked 10.65 in 1998 is the only other athlete in history to be represented on the list.
Residents of Fraser-Pryce’s hometown of Waterhouse were the beneficiaries on Saturday and Ewarton, the hometown of her husband, Jason Pryce, enjoyed the festivities on Sunday.
The treat, which wasn’t held on Boxing Day for the first time in 14 years, was aided by a team of sponsors and volunteers who provided the residents with a variety of goodies ranging from food bags to toys and treats.
"We’re going to be giving our adults food bags courtesy of Grace Kennedy and then for the kids, they’ll be receiving toys and other goodies from Excelsior, Digicel, Nike and others,” said Fraser-Pryce, who also thanked Toyota Jamaica for providing transportation for the event.
The nine-time World Championships gold medallist said the aim was to bring some joy to the communities in the midst of a difficult year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. She also thanked her sponsors for helping to make it happen.
“It has been a crazy year for all of us because of the pandemic and I’m hoping that as a foundation we can bring some cheer to the community of Waterhouse and also Ewarton so I want to thank all my sponsors for what they do for me and my community year after year. We could not have done it without you guys, so thank you so much,” Fraser-Pryce said.
The Jamaican looked in superb form as she stopped the clocked at 10.87, easily covering the field before shutting down comfortably ahead of Britain’s Daryll Neita and Germany’s
Gina Lückenkemper who also qualified.
In fact, overall, as expected, there was no drama in the opening round as Fraser-Pryce compatriots Shericka Jackson and Elaine Thompson-Herah also won their heats, while the fourth Jamaican Kemba Nelson also advanced to the semi-finals after being third in Heat 4.
“I was trying to qualify as easy as possible and I hope I was able to do that and just look forward to the next round,” Fraser-Pryce said after the race.
“I couldn’t see the start from where I was so I’m not sure how that was executed but I’m sure when I go around the coach will have it and I’ll be able to look at it and see if I was able to execute. First rounds are usually hit and miss because there are so many things happening.”
Fraser-Pryce, who will be looking for a 5th world title, has come into the event with the fastest time in the world this year, 10.67, recorded in Nairobi, Kenya.
Running into a -2.2m/s headwind, Fraser-Pryce, the former MVP athlete, stopped the clock at 11.00 flat, well clear of Sprintec’s Shashalee Forbes who was second in 11.49. Bahamas’ Anthonique Strachan was third in 11.84. In the men’s equivalent, MVP’s Nesta Carter clocked 10.38 to only just edge out Tumbleweed’s Tyquendo Tracey and G.C Foster’s Romario Williams, who both clocked 10.39 for second and third respectively.
Over double the distance, MVP’s Shericka Jackson ran 22.89 to finish heat three ahead of teammate Elaine Thompson, who clocked 22.98, with Forbes third in 23.45. The men’s 200m went to Julian Forte, who clocked 20.71 running into a negative headwind. He finished ahead of Rasheed Dwyer, 21.06, and Romario Williams, 21.07.
In the women’s hurdles, Janieve Russell (57.29) dominated affairs, claiming the event comfortably ahead of Rhona Whyte (57.97). In the 100m hurdles, Megan Tapper won the event in 13.25, ahead of Amoi Brown, who was second in 13.46s.
World long jump champion Tajay Gayle topped his pet event with a wind-assisted 8.52m (4.5m/s). Doha 2019 triple jump silver medallist, Shanieka Ricketts, claimed that event with 14.11m.
Her first treat was held at the Windalco Sports Complex in Ewarton a week earlier.
On Boxing Day, children at the Fesco Field, children in the Waterhouse community were treated to a mixture of toys, rides, food and face painting to name a few.
Sponsors for the treat were Nike, Digicel Jamaica, Grace Foods, XLCR Jamaica and Toyota Jamaica Limited.
“The best Birthday gift I can ever receive is having a successful Treat each year,” said Fraser-Pryce who also celebrated her 37th birthday on Wednesday.
“Nothing more, nothing less. Thank you to our amazing sponsors and volunteers,” added the three-time Olympic and 10-time World Champion.
Fraser-Pryce only competed in five 100m races in 2023 due to a nagging knee injury.
Despite those concerns, she was still able to perform when it counted with 100m bronze at the World Championships in Budapest in August.
Her time (10.77) was a season’s best in her last race of the season.
Fraser-Pryce, the fastest woman in the world this year, pulled out of the Lausanne Diamond League last week with a tight hamstring. The athlete admits that she was apprehensive about risking an injury, but has revealed that scans have shown no significant damage to the muscle and insists she is now ready to go.
In Brussels, Fraser-Pryce is expected to battle compatriot and 100m silver medalist Shericka Jackson and Americans Aleia Hobbs and Sha ‘Carri Richardson, along with Diamond League event leader Marie-Josée Ta Lou of Côte d’Ivoire.
“At one point I thought about calling it a season after Lausanne because I didn’t want to take any risks,” Fraser-Pryce told members of the media, on Thursday, ahead of the Brussels meet.
“Then I got some rest for a couple of days, got a scan done and they said it was just the contraction of the muscle, then I got a second scan and it was good…I know it’s not 100 percent but I’m very optimistic about what I can do tomorrow,” she added.
Depending on how she fares after tomorrow's event, Fraser-Pryce could be looking at competing in one or two more races to take advantage of her good form so far this season. The athlete has clocked 6 times below 10.7s so far this season, the most in the event's history.
The 35-year-old Fraser-Pryce, now a five-time National Sportswoman of the year after wins in 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2019 previously, produced an outstanding year in which she won her fifth 100m title at the World Athletics Championships in July, in Eugene, Oregon, leading a Jamaican sweep of the podium places with Jackson finishing second in a personal best 10.73 seconds and Elaine Thompson-Herah third in 10.81 seconds.
Fraser-Pryce was also the Diamond League 100m champion in 2022 and ran a world-leading 10.62 seconds among her record seven sub-10.70 100m races during the season.
Meanwhile, Broadbell enjoyed an excellent breakout season in which he ran 13.08 seconds to win 110m hurdles gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and enjoyed some strong Diamond League performances, including a personal best time of 12.99 seconds while defeating American World and Olympic champion Grant Holloway of the USA at the Lausanne Diamond League meet in August, before finishing second to Holloway at the finale in Zurich the following month.
World 200m champion Shericka Jackson and West Indies all-rounder Rovman Powell, who led the Jamaica Tallawahs to their third Caribbean Premier League T20 title and Jamaica Scorpions to their first Super 50 title in 10 years, were the respective runners-up.
The 20-year-old Williams recently announced the decision to part ways with long-time coach Ato Boldon and join Frater and Gregory Little at Titans. As a junior, Williams was a world champion in both the 100m and 200m. Since turning pro in 2020, however, the athlete has failed to engineer anything close to similar success at the senior level.
Williams has made both the Olympics and World Championship teams, going on to win 4x100m relay gold, but has only managed to secure a spot in the relay pool to date and missed out on individual appearances. At the Jamaica national trials, earlier this year, her time of 10.94, a new personal best, was only good enough for fourth spot.
In track and field, it isn’t uncommon for junior stars to fail to make the grade at the senior level but Frater believes Williams has the mindset to join the likes of Usain Bolt and Veronica Campbell-Brown as world juniors champions who went on to excel at the senior level.
“It’s hard for a lot of these athletes that do great things at young ages, a lot of them never surpass what they do,” Frater told the SportsMax Zone.
“That's why most people will tell you that they prefer athletes who weren’t teeing off at a young age,” he added.
“I think with Briana’s attitude and dedication, though, it won’t be a problem for her transitioning to the next level, and as coach Ato said he may not have been able to spend enough time with her. For an athlete to be a world-class athlete she has to get the full attention that she needs.”
