Olympic finalists Roshawn Clarke and Shiann Salmon both produced their best performances of the season in winning efforts at the Zurich Diamond League on Friday.

Clarke, who was a DNF in the Olympic final in Paris last month, ran a season’s best 47.49 to win in a stacked men’s 400m hurdles ahead of Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba (47.58) and Estonia’s Rasmus Magi (48.02).

Salmon, sixth place in the final in Paris, dipped below 53 seconds for the first time in her career with an excellent personal best 52.97 to win ahead of Olympic silver medallist Anna Cockrell (53.17) and Shamier Little (54.07).

Also, among the winners on Friday was Olympic silver medallist Wayne Pinnock who produced a best jump of 8.17m to take top spot over rival and Olympic and World champion Miltiadis Tentoglu (8.02m) and Simon Ehammer (7.98m).

Two-time World Champion and Olympic bronze medallist Anderson Peters threw 85.72m to take the win in the men’s javelin ahead of Germany’s Julian Weber (85.33m) and Japan’s Roderick Genki Dean (82.69m).

In a much-anticipated Olympic final rematch in the women’s 100m, American Sha’Carri Richardson (10.84) this time secured victory over St. Lucian Olympic champion Julien Alfred (10.88) and British 2019 World 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith (10.89).

Puerto Rican Olympic bronze medallist Jasmine Camacho-Quinn ran 12.36 to win the women's 100m hurdles ahead of Cyrena Samba-Mayela (12.40) and Olympic champion Masai Russell (12.47).

2021 Olympic champion Hansle Parchment ran a season’s best 13.18 for fourth in the men’s 110m hurdles won by Olympic champion Grant Holloway in 12.99. Sasha Zhoya took second in a personal best 13.10 while Freddie Crittenden ran 13.15 in third.

Alexander Ogando of the Dominican Republic ran a respectable 19.87 for fifth in the men’s 200m. Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo took the win in a fast 19.55, just ahead of American Kenny Bednarek (19.57). Erriyon Knighton ran 19.79 in third while Fred Kerley ran 19.81 in fourth.

The next stop on the Diamond League circuit will be the Diamond League Final in Brussels on September 13 and 14.

 

National 110m hurdles record holder Omar McLeod continued his resurgence this season with a winning effort at the Paavo Nurmi Games, a Word Athletics Continental Tour-Gold event in Turku, Finland on Tuesday.

The 2016 Olympic and 2017 World champion produced a season’s best 13.25 to win the final of the men’s sprint hurdles ahead of Belgium’s Elie Bacari (13.38) and Finland’s Elmo Lakka (13.43).

The 30-year-old earlier ran 13.29 to advance fastest from the heats.

The women’s sprint hurdles saw World Championships silver medallist Britany Anderson produce a season’s best 12.87 for sixth in the final after running 12.93 earlier in the heats.

The final was won by American World champion Nia Ali in 12.48 just ahead of Dutchwoman Nadine Visser (12.51). Ireland’s Sarah Lavin was third in 12.66.

This was McLeod’s third win in four events this season, with his previous two coming in Italy on May 15 and 19 with times of 13.37 and 13.47 at the Savona International Meeting and Lucca International Meeting, respectively.

Elsewhere, two-time World Championships triple jump silver medallist Shanieka Ricketts took the win in the women’s triple jump with a best jump of 14.17m coming in the first round of the competition.

Italy’s Dariya Derkach was second with 14.08m while Sweden’s Maja Askag was third with 14.06m.

Two-time World champion Anderson Peters threw 82.58m for fourth in the javelin throw behind India’s Neeraj Chopra (85.97m) and the Finnish pair of Toni Keranen (84.19m) and Oliver Helander (83.96m).

Two of the top young Bahamian javelin throw prospects, Dior-Rae Scott and Taysha Stubbs, have committed to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Scott and Stubbs, both 16, are two of the premier female javelin throwers in the region and globally as well.

They both won gold medals at the 51st CARIFTA Games in St. George’s, Grenada, in April this year.

Scott threw a personal best and new CARIFTA record 52.53m to win gold in the Under-17 section while Stubbs threw 50.94m to win the Under-20 section.

Those marks are among some of the best in the world for the age-group.

Scott is tied for fourth on World Athletics’ Top Performance List for under-18 girls in the 500-gram javelin event, and Stubbs is sixth in that same division, but in the 600-gram javelin event.

They will both look to emulate the success of Nebraska standout Rhema Otabor, a Bahamian NCAA champion in the women’s javelin who will be looking to defend her title as a collegiate senior at this year’s National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

The Nebraska senior is currently the NCAA leader in the event this season with 59.12m done at the Drake Relays on April 24.

She took silver at the 2023 Pan Am Games in Chile with a personal best 60.54m.

Bahamian Olympic champion Steven Gardiner produced his best run of the season to hold off a fast finishing Alexander Doom and take top spot in the 400m at the 63rd Ostrava Golden Spike in the Czech Republic on Tuesday.

Gardiner’s time of 44.39 was just ahead of the Belgian’s personal best 44.44 in second. Reigning Jamaican national champion Sean Bailey was third in a season’s best 44.93.

Jamaican 2023 World Championship finalists Ryiem Forde and Andrew Hudson finished second in the 100m and 200m, respectively.

Forde’s time in second was 10.17 while Hudson ran 20.56. Both races were won by Canadian Olympic champion Andre De Grasse. He ran 10.10 in the 100m before returning to the track to run a season’s best 20.09 in the 200m.

Olympic champion Lamont Jacobs ran 10.19 for third in the 100m while Great Britain's Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake ran 20.63 for third in the 200m.

In the field, two-time World champion Anderson Peters was third in the javelin.

The Grenadian battled windy conditions to produce a best throw of 78.60m, far behind Germany’s Julian Weber and the Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch who produced 87.26m and 86.06m for first and second, respectively.

Bahamian Steven Gardiner is among three individual men’s Olympic sprint champions set to compete at the Golden Spike, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting in Ostrava on Tuesday.

Italy’s Marcell Jacobs and Canada’s Andre De Grasse, the Olympic gold medallists over 100m and 200m respectively, will clash over the shorter distance, then De Grasse will double up by contesting his specialist event.

Gardiner, meanwhile, will take on world indoor champion Alexander Doom over one lap of the track.

The Bahamian, who has a season’s best of 44.45, could be pushed by the Belgian, who won in Marrakesh last week with a lifetime best of 44.51.

Not including the few races where he has pulled up injured, Gardiner has been undefeated over 400m since the 2017 World Championships.

Elsewhere, Jacobs has had just two individual outings this year, the latest being a 10.07 season’s best to win in Rome last weekend.

That makes the Italian the fastest of the Ostrava field this year on season’s bests, though he’s also one of four men in the line-up with a sub-10-second PB.

De Grasse, meanwhile, has a best this year of 10.11 and recently finished second at the Diamond League meeting in Marrakesh.

Britain’s Reece Prescod, who set his PB of 9.93 in Ostrava when winning in the Czech city two years ago, will be one to watch, as will Jamaica’s Ryiem Forde.

Later in the evening, De Grasse will take on Jamaica’s Andrew Hudson and Britain's Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake in the 200m.

In the men’s javelin, home favourite Jakub Vadlejch will take on European champion Julian Weber and two-time world champion Anderson Peters.

Four-time global medallist Vadlejch recently won in Doha with 88.38m, which puts him just one centimeter ahead of Weber on this year’s world list. Peters is close behind with a best of 86.62m.

 

Bahamian Auburn University Tigers sophomore Keyshawn Strachan produced a best throw of 74.63m in the men’s javelin competition of the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round competition at the University of Kentucky Track & Field Complex in Lexington, Kentucky, on Wednesday.

With the throw, the CARIFTA Under-20 record holder advanced to the NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Track and Field Championships for the first time.

The 20-year-old finished third in the Wednesday’s competition, with all three of his throws (70.54m, 71.37m, 74.63m) surpassing 70m.

His personal best and Bahamian national record 84.27m was done at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in 2023 at the Mike A. Myers Stadium.

Wanya McCoy, a junior for the University of Florida Gators, moved on to the quarterfinals of the men’s 100 and 200m, winning his heats in 10.29 seconds and 20.34 seconds respectively.

Wanya McCoy made it through to the quarterfinals in both the 100m and 200m.

He finished tied with the sixth fastest time going into the quarters in both events, and will have to finish among the top 12 to move on to the NCAA Championships.

McCoy was a runner-up in both the 100m and 200m at the SEC Outdoor Championships in Gainesville earlier this month.

Also advancing in the 100m were Caymanian two-time Carifta U-20 gold medallist Davonte Howell of Tennessee (10.35), Jamaica’s Jehlani Gordon of Georgia (10.41) and T&T’s Omari Lewis on Liberty (10.39).

Jamaican Florida State Seminoles sophomore Jordan Turner also advanced to the NCAA Championships after jumping 7.74m to finish fourth in the men’s long jump.

Jordan Turner advanced in the long jump.
 

American Championship Conference (ACC) outdoor shot-put champion Courtney Lawrence of Clemson also booked his spot at the NCAA Championships with a throw of 19.61m to finish sixth.

Jamaican LSU sophomore, Jahiem Stern, ran 13.38 to lead all qualifiers to the quarterfinals in the men’s sprint hurdles set for Friday.

Clemson senior and ACC Outdoor champion Tarees Rhoden made it through to the quarterfinals in the men’s 800m with 1:47.89 to win his preliminary.

Jamaica’s Jevaughn Powell of Florida (45.85), D’Andre Anderson of Clemson (45.87), Reheem Hayles of Florida (45.99) made it through to the quarters in the men’s 400m.

The men’s 400m hurdles saw Bajan Tennessee senior Rasheeme Griffith (50.40) and Jamaican South Florida sophomore Devontie Archer (51.13) make progress.

The 2024 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships is set for June 5-8 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

 

Jamaican Louisiana State University (LSU) sophomore Briana Lyston produced 22.46 for third overall in the women’s 200m invite on Friday’s first day of the 2024 Tom Jones Memorial at the Percy Beard Track in Gainesville, Florida.

Lyston, who became the SEC and NCAA Indoor 60m champion earlier this season, won the third heat on Friday but her time was aided by a 3.1 m/s trailing wind.

Ole Miss’s McKenzie Long and South Carolina’s JaMeesia Ford finished first and second overall with times of 22.18 and 22.41, respectively, which they both did in the first heat aided by a 4.1m/s wind.

The women’s college 200m saw Mississippi State senior Rosealee Cooper run a personal best 23.60 to take the win ahead of Baylor’s Kayla Hunt (23.76) and Ohio State’s Columba Effiong (23.82).

In the men’s javelin, Bahamian Auburn sophomore Keyshawn Strachan threw a season’s best 76.25m for third behind Georgia’s Marc Minichello (81.03m) and Baylor’s Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi (78.90m).

Jamaican Florida State sophomore Jordan Turner jumped 7.87m for third in the men’s long jump invite behind Marquis Dendy (8.05m) and Cameron Crump (7.91m).

The Bahamas had an excellent start to Monday's day three of the 51st Carifta Games at the Kirani James Stadium in Grenada thanks to a dominant showing in the Under-17 Girls javelin throw.

Dior-Rae Scott, who won gold in Kingston in 2022 and silver last year in Nassau, returned to the top of the podium with an excellent new personal best and Carifta record 52.53m with her third-round effort.

Her teammate, Kamera Strachan, had a best throw of 47.61m for silver while Jamaica’s Zoelle Jamel was third with 45.00m.

The Girls Under-20 high jump also saw a quinella, with Jamaica enjoying their own 1-2 finish this time around.

Rasheda Samuels secured gold with a third-time clearance of 1.78m while her teammate Dejanea Bruce took silver with a best clearance of 1.76m.

Trinidad & Tobago’s Keneisha Shelbourne was third with 1.70m.

In the Under-20 Girls long jump, Trinidad & Tobago’s reigning NACAC U-18 champion Janae De Gannes produced one of the performances of the meet with a massive personal best 6.50m to win gold.

De Gannes only produced two legal jumps throughout her series, 6.50m in the first round and 6.40m in the second round.

Her mark also broke the Carifta U-20 record of 6.48m done in 2016 by Guadeloupe’s Yanis David.

Jamaica’s Rohanna Sudlow was second with 6.30m while Bahamian Lanaisha Lubin was third with 5.90m.

Antigua & Barbuda’s Maliek Francis is the first record-breaker at the 51st Carifta Games after producing a dominant performance on the way to gold in the Under-17 Boys Javelin at the Kirani James Stadium in Grenada on Saturday.

Francis had fairly moderate throws of 54.06m and 58.70m in the first two rounds before unleashing a record-breaking 68.84m in the third round.

He produced a second throw north of 60m, 62.39m to be exact, in round five on the way to a comfortable victory on day one of the meet.

St. Kitts & Nevis’ Jaheem Clarke threw 56.09m for silver while Grenada’s Delorn John threw 54.70m for bronze.

The previous record 64.31 was done by Bahamian KeyShawn Strachan in 2019.

The Carifta Games are being broadcast live on SportsMax and the SportsMax App.

The Wanda Diamond League has released a detailed summary of which disciplines will be staged at which meetings during the 2024 season.

In 2024, the world’s best athletes will once again take the stage in athletics’ premier one-day series, competing at 15 meetings across four different continents.

Athletes will compete for points in their chosen discipline at the 14 series meetings between April and September, with the most successful qualifying for the Wanda Diamond League Final in Brussels on September 13th-14th.

The season begins in Xiamen on April 20th, with the men’s 100m, women’s 200m and a 100/110m hurdles double bill among the headline events. Each discipline will then be staged at least four and up to eight times on the Road to the Final, giving athletes from across the globe enough opportunities to earn points.

Two meetings will be held at a different location in 2024 due to stadium renovation works in their usual locations. The Meeting International Mohammed VI will move from Rabat to Marrakech, while the Wanda Diamond League Shanghai will take place in Suzhou.

The 14 series meetings will each take place in a two-hour TV world programme and will all stage at least 14 Diamond Disciplines. The Wanda Diamond League Final in Brussels will be the only meeting to feature every single discipline, with all 32 Diamond League champions crowned over the course of two days.

The season calendar and the allocation of disciplines remain subject to change.

A list of disciplines for each meeting will also be available under the 'programme and results' page on each individual meeting website.

As well as the Diamond Disciplines, each meeting may also include additional disciplines in their programme, in which athletes will not earn points on the Road to the Final.

The disciplines are as follows: 100m (M,W), 200m (M,W), 400m (M,W), 800m (M,W), 1500m/Mile (M,W), 3000m/5000m (M,W), 3000m Steeplechase (M,W), 110m Hurdles (M), 100m Hurdles (W), 400m Hurdles (M,W), High Jump (M,W), Pole Vault (M,W), Long Jump (M,W), Triple Jump (M,W), Shot Put (M,W), Discus Throw (M,W), Javelin Throw (M,W).

Bahamian Rhema Otabor picked up her country’s second Athletics medal at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile when she claimed silver in the women’s javelin throw on Friday.

The 20-year-old produced a best distance of 60.54m, her first throw over 60m, to finish second behind Colombia’s Flor Denis Ruiz who threw 63.10m for gold.

The USA’s Madelyn Harris took bronze with 60.06m.

This continues an excellent season for the Nebraska Junior.

She also took top spot at the NCAA Championships in June with a 59.49m effort, the Bahamian national title with 59.75m in July and NACAC Under-23 title with 57.48m later that month.

Trinidad & Tobago’s Jereem Richards produced a stunning new personal best to claim 400m gold at the CAC Games in San Salvador on Thursday.

The two-time Commonwealth Games Champion in the 200m ran a brilliant 44.54 to win ahead of St. Lucia’s Michael Joseph (44.90) and Martinique’s Gilles Biron (45.06).

Richards, the reigning World Indoor Champion in the 400m, had a previous outdoor personal best of 44.79 done last year at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene.

Current world leader, Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic, dominated the field to take the women’s event in 49.95. Cuba’s Roxana Gomez was a distant second in 51.23 while Puerto Rico’s Gabriella Scott was third in 51.51.

Trinidad & Tobago took gold and silver in the men’s and women’s 4x100m relays, respectively.

The men produced a time of 38.30 to win gold ahead of the Dominican Republic (38.61) and Venezuela (39.13).

The women ran 43.43 to finish behind winners Cuba (43.17). The Dominican Republic ran 43.45 in third.

In the field, T&T’s 2012 Olympic Champion Keshorn Walcott, threw 83.60m to take gold in the men’s javelin ahead of Mexico’s David Carreon (78.03m) and Jamaica’s Elvis Graham (76.43m).

Jamaica’s Danielle Sloley threw 16.81m for silver in the women’s shot put behind the Dominican Republic’s Rosa Ramirez (17.89m). Cuba’s Leyselis Jimenez was third with 16.79m.

Bahamian javelin throw sensation Keyshawn Strachan broke his own national record to win gold at the 2023 Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays at the Michael A. Myers Stadium in Texas on Friday.

The 19-year-old Auburn freshman threw an NCAA and world leading 84.27m to win the event ahead of Baylor sophomore Chinecheren Prosper Nnamdi (79.98m) and Tracksmith’s Curtis Thompson (79.29m).

Strachan’s effort broke his own previous national record 79.89m which he set to win the Under-20 title at the CARIFTA Games in Kingston last year.

The Bahamian’s mark is also an Auburn school record, freshman record and the fourth furthest throw in NCAA history.

Elsewhere in the field, Jamaican Texas sophomore Ackelia Smith jumped 13.84m to take the Women’s triple jump ahead of Georgia’s Mikeisha Welcome (13.63m) and Titana Marsh (13.61m).

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