8 months ago
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Raymond Richards headlined Jamaica’s performance on day one of the World Athletics Indoor Championships as he won the country’s first medal at the event, clearing the bar at 2.28 metres to secure bronze in the men’s high jump final.
Richards was Jamaica’s only medallist of the day across four finals as he finished behind Sanghyeok Woo of South Korea, 2.31, and New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr, 2.28.
Romaine Beckford, Jamaica’s other competitor, finished ninth overall with his best effort of 2.14.
Richards narrowly missed out on the silver medal as despite clearing the same height as Kerr, he had taken two attempts to clear the 2.28 barrier compared to Kerr’s single attempt.
The podium finish signalled Richards’ first senior international medal as the former Buff Bay High stand-out was making his senior debut for Jamaica.
Richards, the 2019 national champion, had a great start to his series, clearing his first three heights; 2.14, 2.20 and 2.24, without fail.
He would register a single foul at 2.28 before clearing on his second attempt, but could not get beyond the winning mark of 2.31.
Jordan Scott was Jamaica’s next best-performer on the day as he just missed out on medalling in the men’s triple jump final, placing fourth.
His best mark of 17.10m was just five centimetres short of a podium finish as Italy’s Andy Diaz took home the title in a staggering world lead of 17.80m.
The silver medal went to host nation China’s Yaming Zhu, 17.33, and Burkina Faso’s Hugues Zango took home the bronze in 17.15.
Scott had one hand on the medal as he went into the final two jumps of the series on the podium before he was pipped by Zango with his penultimate jump.
Lloydricia Cameron was also in action in the women’s shot put final where she placed 13th overall with her best throw of 17.43m.
ON THE TRACK
In the men’s 60m final, Rohan Watson was Jamaica’s only competitor as he raced to a time of 6.59 seconds to finish fifth as Great Britain’s Jeremiah Azu took the title in a personal 6.49.
Nishion Ebanks had missed out on qualification as his time of 6.70 saw him finishing third in his heat.
It was bitter disappointment for both genders in the 400m event as Leah Anderson, Joanne Reid and Rusheen McDonald all missed out on qualifying for the finals.
In the women’s section, Anderson’s best time of 52.86 seconds saw her placing fourth in her heats while Reid did not start.
McDonald’s time of 46.72 in the heats saw him advancing to the men’s 400m semifinal, but he was just shy of making the final, placing fifth in his semi-final race, stopping the clock at 47.22.
English (US) ·