‘I AM FINDING IT’

IT TOOK a meet-record-tying time for Kishane Thompson to stay ahead of Noah Lyles and keep his win streak going ahead of the World Championships at the Silesia Kamila Skolimowska Memorial Wanda Diamond Leage in Poland yesterday.

It was also a good day for 200-metre world champion, Shericka Jackson, who won the half-lap event.

In a rematch of the Olympic Games men’s 100-metre final, Thompson, the world leader in the event, clocked 9.87 seconds (+0.3mps) to equal the meet record set by the United States’ Fred Kerley in 2024. Lyles finished second in a season’s best 9.90, with his countryman, Kenneth Bednarek, third in 9.96. Jamaica’s Ackeem Blake was eighth in 10.11.

Thompson, who looked a bit rusty in a win earlier in the week in Budapest, appeared much sharper yesterday, getting out of the blocks quickly to take control of the race early. Lyles, slow out of the blocks and competing in just his third 100m race of the season, finished strongly to take second.

“My race today was not so good and not so bad. I enjoyed competing against Noah today. It is all about execution. I had problems with that, but I am finding it. The key is to find the momentum in the race and maintain it to the end. Nobody is perfect, but I am working on my execution,” he said.

“Last year was a big disappointment, but I am learning from Paris as it was a big learning factor. It is me against myself – no disrespect to my rivals – but once you execute well, anything is possible,” he concluded.

Jackson, competing in her third 200m race of the season and coming off a third-place finish in the 100m in Budapest four days earlier, showed her best form of the year.

In a very close race where the top athletes were bunched together for most of the event, Jackson, who led early held on for the win in a season’s best 22.17 (-0.3mps), improving significantly on her previous best of 22.53 from mid-June. Brittany Brown of the United States was second in 22.21, with Nigeria’s Favour Ofili, third in 22.25.

“We are back. It has been a while and it has been a journey. Getting here was a roller coaster with a missed flight, but I made it. I have not run a curve this hard since 2023. Last year was a disappointment, but now I am here and I am ready,” she said in a post-race interview.

Jefferson-Wooden still unbeaten

The United States’ Melissa Jefferson-Wooden continued her unbeaten run in the women’s 100m, dominating the field with her trademark fast start to clock 10.66 (+0.1mps), equalling Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s 2022 meet record. Competing in her first race since a hamstring injury at the Jamaica National Senior Championships in June, Tia Clayton showed no rust, finishing second in a personal best 10.82. Veteran Marie-Josée Ta Lou Smith was third in a season’s best 10.86, with Tina Clayton fourth in 10.87.

After her long break from competition, Tia, an Olympic Games finalist in the event, was pleased with her run:

“I feel good. This was my first race since Nationals and my hamstring injury. I tried my best to work on my start, but I did not execute it so well.”

Tia’s time now ranks as the fourth fastest in the world this year and the second fastest by a Jamaican woman, just behind her sister Tina, who has run 10.81.

Two-time world champion Danielle Williams showed she is peaking at the right time, finishing the 100m hurdles fourth in a personal best 12.31. Countrywomen Ackera Nugent (12.43) and Megan Tapper (12.46) were seventh and ninth, respectively. Masai Russell of the United States won in a Diamond League and meet record 12.19. Tonea Marshall (USA) was second in a personal best 12.24, with Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan, third in 12.25.

In the women’s 400m hurdles, Shiann Salmon placed fourth in a season’s best 54.56.

World champion Femke Bol remained untouchable this season, winning in 51.91 – a new world lead and meet record, bettering her previous season’s best of 51.95. Emma Zepletalova of Slovakia was second in a national record 53.58, with Jasmine Jones of the United States third in 53.64.

In the women’s long jump, Ackelia Smith could only manage seventh with 6.52 metres. Jasmine Moore of the United States won with a meet record 6.85.

Jamaican men had a tough day in the 110m and 400m hurdles. In the 110m hurdles, national champion Orlando Bennett was fifth in 13.25, with Hansle Parchment, sixth in 13.27. World leader Cordell Tinch of the United States won in 13.03, equalling the meet record.

Roshawn Clarke finished sixth in the men’s 400m hurdles in 48.81. World champion Karsten Warholm was superb, winning in 46.28 – a new world lead, Diamond League, and meet record.

Nigeria’s Ezekiel Nathaniel was second in a national record 47.31, with Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba, third in 47.34.

Romaine Beckford was fourth in the men’s high jump with 2.24 metres, while Rajindra Campbell was sixth in the men’s shot put with 21.58m.