National champion Clayton to miss 400m hurdles in London

WORLD Championships-bound Rushell Clayton will not be in the line-up for the women’s 400-metre hurdles when the event gets under way at today’s NOVUNA London Diamond League inside the London Stadium as she has made a late withdrawal.

There has been no official explanation for the withdrawal but Clayton sustained an injury earlier this season at the Grand Slam Track series in Kingston. She won the national title in 53.81 seconds.

Former national champion Janieve Russell and Andrenette Knight (second at the National Championships in 54.52) will be in the field. Russell failed to make the team for the Tokyo World Championships after finishing seventh in the final at the National Senior Championships in 59.67. Both will face a tough field. World champion Femke Bol of the Netherlands, who has a season’s best 51.95 and remains unbeaten so far this season, headlines the event.

After winning her first senior title by capturing the women’s 200m in 22.66, Ashanti Moore will be hoping to attain the Tokyo World Championships qualifying mark of 22.57 when she contests a very competitive half-lap event today. St Lucia’s Julien Alfred will be the top athlete in the field, as she is the world leader with 21.88. Others in the field include Jael Bestue of Spain, who has a season’s best 22.19, along with Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita.

Speaking at a pre-race press conference yesterday, Alfred stated that training alongside Asher-Smith has made her very competitive.

“I am very competitive, as every time I touch the track I want to win, and training with Dina is very competitive – it forces me to be at my very best every time,” she said.

Following his season-opening win in the men’s 200m a week ago in Monaco – where he turned back Olympic silver medallist Letsile Tebogo of Botswana to win in 19.88 – Noah Lyles of the United States will contest the men’s 100m today.

Lyles, the Olympic champion in the event, will be hoping to make it back-to-back wins here after success a year ago. He will face a strong field, including Jamaica’s Oblique Seville, the second-fastest man in the event this year with a season’s best 9.83. Akani Simbine of South Africa (9.90), Zharnel Hughes of Great Britain (9.91), and Tebogo (10.03) are also in the line-up and will be looking to make their presence felt.

Lyles enjoys competing inside the London Stadium.

“My road to defending my world titles in Tokyo in September goes through London. I’ve had great experiences competing here,” said Lyles ahead of today’s race.

In the field events, Jamaica’s Roje Stona will be involved in a heavyweight clash in the men’s discus. Stona, the surprise Olympic champion with a record throw of 70.00m in Paris, will go up against world champion Daniel Stahl of Sweden, world record holder Mykolas Alekna of Lithuania, Kristjan Čeh of Slovenia, and British record holder Lawrence Okoye.

There is also a big clash in the men’s long jump, which will involve three Jamaicans – former world champion Tajay Gayle, Olympic silver medallist Wayne Pinnock, and Carey McLeod. They will face Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece who is also the world leader, Mattia Furlani of Italy, Simon Ehammer of Switzerland, and Liam Adcock of Australia.

Two other Jamaicans, Natoya Goule-Toppin in the women’s 800m and Lamara Distin in the women’s high jump, will also be in action.

Both the men’s and women’s 4x100m relay teams will be in early action today with all eyes on the men’s team as they will be hoping to attain the automatic qualifying mark of 38.20 for the Tokyo World Championships. The team is expected to be Kishane Thompson, Ackeem Blake, Rohan Watson and Oblique Seville with Kadrian Thompson, the alternate here.

The first Jamaicans in action will be the long jumpers at 6:53 a.m. (Jamaica time).