Track Ledger

16 January 2023

The 2023 Track and Field Season, women short sprints, a look ahead

By Henley Taylor

The 2023 track and field season promises much fireworks in the women short sprints, the marquee event being the 2023 World Championship scheduled for Budapest, Hungary from August 19-27. And, given the high quality of the Jamaican female performances over the last two seasons, naturally there are great expectations for this season. But there are many questions that will be answered such as which of the three Jamaican sprinters will dominate the sprints in 2023? Let us look back at how we got here. Recapping Thompson-Herah 2021 exploits In 2021, Elaine Thompson-Herah was at her imperious best, winning a total of three Olympic gold medals in Tokyo, to include an Olympic Record of 10.61 in the 100m, and a Personal Best of 21.53 in the 200m, which were National Records at the time. Two weeks later, in Eugene, Oregon, the global superstar would go on, to lower her Personal Best in the 100m, to 10.54, sending shock waves throughout t....

15 January 2023

Confirmed Track and Field Meets for 2023

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By Henley Taylor

Local As we look ahead with great anticipation, to the McCook/Gibson Relays, the ISSA Boys and Girls Championship (Champs) and the World Championship in Budapest, Hungary, later this year, several local, regional and international preparatory and qualifying meets will take place over the month of January and February, commencing this weekend. There are several scheduled approved JAAA meets that will signal the start of what should be a very exciting and interesting track and field season for both junior and senior athletes. These Meets include, but are not limited to the following: OnDiRun/JC 200m Sprint Fest#1 On Di Run/JC 200m Sprint Fest#1 will take place on Friday, January 6. 2023, at the Jamaica College, Ashenheim Stadium, at 189 Old Hope Road, Kingston, Jamaica. The meet will feature athletes over the half lap event (200m). The Purewater/Jamaica College/R. Danny Williams Meet T....

13 August 2022

Tobi Amusan world record 12.12 performance in the 100 hurdles

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By Henley Taylor

The final of the women's 100m Hurdles was a truly stellar and salivating event. Unfortunately, the American defending World Champion, Nia Ali, literally crashed out in the semifinals, having clattered a couple of hurdles towards the ending of the race. The semifinals It is instructive to note that the semifinal round was extraordinary in so many ways, with a World Record, several National Records and Personal Bests. In semifinal 1, Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan, having ran 12.40 in the heats, erased Kendra Harrison's six-year-old World Record of 12.20, to set an eye-popping 12.12 World Record. Kendra Harrison and Danielle Williams were second and third, in season's bests of 12.27 and 12.41, respectively. Cindy Sember of Great Britain was fourth in a National Record of 12.50. All four women from this semifinal, advanced to the final. Semifinal 2 produced two finalists in Alia Armstrong of the US and Devynne Charlton of the Baha....

13 August 2022

Michael Norman victorious in Men’s 400m

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By Henley Taylor

The men’s 400m final at the 2022 Oregon World Championship had assembled the best quarter-milers across the globe. Notably absent was the reigning Olympic Champion and defending World Champion, Steven Gardiner of the Bahamas, who suffered Achilles Tendinitis prior to the start of the championship. Consequently, the final was not as intensely competitive as it could have been with Gardiner’s exclusion, but it was exciting just the same. Loaded Final The finalists were Michael Norman and Champion Allison of the US, Kirani James of Grenada, Mathew Hudson-Smith of Great Britain, Wayde Van Neikerk of the Republic of South Africa, Byapo Ndori of Botswana, Christopher Taylor of Jamaica, and Johnathan Jones of Barbados. Semifinals There were three semifinals from which the finalists emerged. Semifinal 1 produced the two fastest automatic qualifiers in Michael Norman (44.30) and Mathew Hudson-Smith (4....

02 August 2022

Leave Yohan Blake alone!

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By Henley Taylor

We have the temerity and the erratic tendency to show our ingratitude and spew vitriol at Yohan Blake simply because he is not consistently and dominantly performing at the level of former years before he got injured. However, it is grossly insensitive and unfair to do so. We need to remember that Yohan Blake is the youngest ever male World Champion at twenty-one years old. Indeed, after Usain Bolt false started in the 100m final at the 2011 Daegu World Championship, Blake went on to win the 100m title in 9.92. One year later at the 2012 London Olympics, Blake won two individual silver medals in the 100m and 200m in times of 9.75 and 19.44, respectively. It would take an Olympic Record of 9.63 by Bolt to deny Yohan Blake victory in the 100m. Also, Bolt had to produce his third best time of 19.32, to deny Blake victory in the 200m. Blake is the second best ever Based on times at the Olympic Games, Blake's 9.75 and 19.44 combo is the seco....

01 August 2022

A Special Tribute to Dr., the Honorable Usain St. Leo Bolt, the Greatest of All

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By Henley Taylor

Dr., the Honorable Usain St. Leo Bolt, is undoubtedly the greatest track athlete of all times (G.O.A.T). Indeed, he is the ultimate speedster and the standard against which all sprinters are measured and validated. Bolt is credited with an unbelievable and unrivaled thirteen individual global gold medals; that is, six Olympic gold, and seven World Championship gold, an achievement that has no equal on the track. Bolt is still King The sprint King, as he is commonly called, is the World Record Holder in the 100m and 200m at 9.58 and 19.19, respectively. He is also the Olympic Record Holder in both the 100m and 200m at 9.63 and 19.30. Bolt also holds the World Championship Record in both events, mirroring the said World Records. The sprint Legend, who to my mind, is the unquestionable G.O.A.T., has broken the 100m World Record on three occasions within a twelve-month timeline and the 200m twice within same. These feats were achieved at 2....

01 August 2022

Noah Lyles record breaking 200m performance 19.31

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By O'Neil A Reid

After having somewhat of an average season and being overshadowed by fellow American Erriyon Knighton, Noah Lyles used the 200m finals at the Oregon World Championship as his own coming out party. The twenty-five-year-old who was heralded as the next great American 200m specialist following the exploits of Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, clocked a scintillating 19.31 seconds to win the men’s 200m finals on home soil. Lyles’s 19.31 performance now places him in third place on the all-time list behind the Jamaican duo of Bolt (19.19) and Yohan Blake (19.26). Loaded field Facing a loaded field that included teen sensation Erriyon Knighton, Kenny Bednarek, Liberia’s Joseph Fahnbulleh, Dominica Republic Alexander Ogando, Trinidad and Tobago’s Jeremey Richards, Canada’s Arron Brown, and South Africa’s Lobolo Adams, Lyles entered the final with a lifetime best 19.50 which he established in 2019 and a season best 19.61 th....

01 August 2022

The 2022 Oregon World Championship - Men's 200m final.

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By Henley Taylor

Even without the presence of 100m World Champion Fred Kerley in the final of the men's 200m, due to cramps he suffered in the semifinal round, conventional wisdom was that the US would sweep the event just the same. And swept it did, with near consummate ease. The line up The US sent its three juggernauts to the men's 200m final. The defending World Champion and Olympic bronze medalist, Noah Lyles, ran from lane 6 while the Olympic silver medalist Kenny Bednarek ran from lane 5 and the Olympic fourth place finisher Erriyon Knighton ran from lane 3. Alexander Ogando of the Dominican Republic ran from lane 4 while Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago ran from lane 2. Joseph Fahnbulleh of Liberia ran from lane 7; Aaron Brown of Canada ran from lane 8 and Luxolo Adams of the Republic of South Africa ran from lane 1. Lyles erased Michael Johnson American record The race was faster than many had ant....

29 July 2022

Jamaica named 47-member team to 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games

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By O'Neil A Reid

Jamaica named a strong contingent of athletes to the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games that will take place from July 28 to August 7. However, the track and field portion will be contested from August 2 to 7. The team is led by the sensational Shericka Jackson, who posted a scintillating and world leading 21.45 performance in the 200m at the recently concluded Oregon World Championship. Double-double Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson-Herah will also face the starter. So too is Kemba Nelson and Remona Burchell. Chance for Redemption The Games will offer a chance for redemption for hurdlers Danielle Williams and Hansle Parchment. Williams made the 100m hurdles final in Oregon but failed to make the podium and had to watched Britany Anderson erased her national record. Parchment, the reigning Olympic champion in the men’s 110m hurdles failed to medal in Oregon as he made the final but had to withdraw due to discomfort during warmups.

28 July 2022

McLaughlin blazes to 400m hurdles victory in world record 50.68

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By Henley Taylor

The results of the women's 400m hurdles final confirmed what many experts and track and field enthusiasts have long known. Indeed, the American and Olympic Champion Sydney McLaughlin was the overwhelming favorite going into the 2022 Oregon World Championship and would be crowned the World Champion in that event. In essence, for the other competitors, the race was on for the silver and bronze medals. Afterall, the writing was on the wall when McLaughlin ran 51.41 on June 27, 2022 to break her previous World Record of 51.46, done at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics that was staged last year, 2021. McLaughlin one of four Americans The final was a well-stacked field that included four Americans in McLaughlin; the defending World Champion in Dalilah Mohammad; Shamier Little and Britton Wilson. Femke Bol of the Netherlands, the Jamaican and former World Championship bronze medalist Rushell Clayton, Gianna Woodruff of Panama and Anna Ryzhykova of Ukraine co....