28 October 2021

Recap: The Final of the men's 110m Hurdles, Tokyo 2020 Olympics

By Henley Taylor

The final of the men's 110m Hurdles went against the pundits' script and the expectations of most track and field enthusiasts. Certainly, Grant Holloway of the United States, the 2019 Doha World Champion, was the "red hot" favorite. At the US trials, Grant Holloway posted 12.81 in the semifinals, to establish a world-leading time that was only one hundredth of a second outside the 12.80 seconds world record that was posted by his countryman, Aries Merritt in 2012. Holloway favored to Win The final was comprised of the US pair of Grant Holloway and Devon Allen in lanes 4 and 6, the Jamaican duo of Ronald Levy and Hansle Parchment in lanes 5 and 7, Great Britain's Andrew Pozzi in lane 3, Asier Martinez of Spain in lane 2 and the French pair of Pascal Martinot Lagarde and Aurel Munga in lanes 8 and 9. Even without the defending champion, Omar McLeod of Jamaica, the final promised much and delivered same.

28 October 2021

Who Will Be the World Male and Female Athletes For 2021?

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By Henley Taylor

It is that time again for the annual world male and female awards and recognition. The question on everyone mind is who will be crowned the 2021 World Male and Female Athletes of the Year. The Covid-19 pandemic had delayed the 2020 Tokyo Games until the summer of 2021 but this did not diminish the athletes’ performances as evidence by demolishing of several world records. Indeed, 2021can be remembered as one for the record books. Impressive performance from Karsten Warholm, Ryan Crouser, Elaine Thompson-Herah, Sydney McLaughlin, Athing Mu, Yulimar Rojas and Hassan make this year selection extremely difficult. Let the debate begins. Warholm and Crouser for Male AOY On the men's side, it basically comes down to two individuals, the Norwegian Karsten Warholm and the American Ryan Crouser. Personally, I don't think anyone could honestly deny the impressive performances of the Norwegian, Karsten Warholm, who b....

31 August 2021

Recap the Tokyo Men's 400m hurdles race - Warholm WR 45.94

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By Henley Taylor (Ben Nyah)

The backdrop and context At the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, Kevin Young decimated fellow American Edwin Moses's 400m hurdles World Record of 47.02 and in the process, rewrote the history books with a new World Record of 46.78. Indeed, Moses was dominant for a decade, winning 122 consecutive races, including 107 finals. Kevin Young was the first athlete to run sub-47 seconds in the 400m hurdles, a World Record that would last for all of 29 years. Young’s decades-old record of 46.78 was never threatened until the arrival of the Norwegian Karsten Warholm, American Rai Benjamin, Brazilian Allison Dos Santos and Abderrahman Samba of Qatar. Indeed, these are the four fastest men in history of the 400m hurdles. And these men have been showing great form since 2018. At the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar, the intention of these men was made abundantly clear. In that final, Karsten Warholm won the gold medal in 47.42. Next was Rai....

20 August 2021

Contextualizing Thompson-Herah's 100m Olympic Record

Olympics

By Henley Taylor (Ben Nyah)

Thompson-Herah ran an Olympic Record of 10.61 to retain her title and in the process, bettered Florence' Griffith-Joyner's (Flo-Jo) 33-year-old Olympic Record of 10.62 that she did in the quarterfinals of the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Incidentally, Thompson-Herah's 10.61 was ran in a negative wind of -0.3 m/s. Flo-Jo’s 10.62 was done with a positive wind or tailwind of 1.2m/s. This underscores just how awesome Thompson-Herah's record run was. It is quite conceivable that had Thompson-Herah had a 1.2 m/s tailwind and with an improved start, she would have broken Flo-Jo’s dubious 10.49 World Record. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce time of 10.74s in the 100m in Tokyo was the fastest time she has ever ran at the Olympic Games since debuting at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In 2008 at age 21 years, Fraser-Pryce ran 10.78, to win gold. At London 2012 at age 25 years, she ran 10.75 to win gold. At Rio ....

08 June 2021

Sachin Dennis, one for the future

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By Henley Taylor

Coming hot on the heels of his 10.53 (seconds) performance against a negative 2.3 m/s windspeed at the 2021 edition of the ISSA Grace Kennedy Boy's and Girl's Championship (Champs), Sachin Dennis continues to impress. The 18-year-old from St. Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) lowered his previous personal best of 10.20 to 10.15 at the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) Destiny Challenge Meet that was held at the National Stadium on May 22, 2021. Promising athlete Dennis has indeed shown great promise earlier in his track and field career. At the tender age of 15 and competing as a class 2 (under-16) athlete, he ran an amazing 10.20 in the 100m, to showcase his sprinting prowess and stamped his dominance over his peers and rivals. Indeed, when Dennis ran 10.20 in 2018, only a handful of class 1 (under-19) boys had ever gone faster. These included national record-holder, Christopher Taylor (10.11) and Champs rec....

25 May 2021

The 2021 ISSA Boy's and Girl's Champs Review

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By Henley Taylor

The 2021 edition of The ISSA Boys and Girl's Championship is now history. The organizers did an excellent job in this COVID-19 pandemic. The athletes acquitted themselves very well. Notwithstanding the fact that this year's Boy's and Girl's Championship was spectator-free, there was much interest and enthusiasm among track and field fans and keen competition among the athletes. Girls On the girls’ side, Edwin Allen scored a massive 340 points in defense of their title to make it seven titles in a row. Next was St. Jago High, with an impressive 309.5 points and Hydel third, with 301.5 points. Indeed, Edwin Allen led for all five days to highlight their depth and dominance. However, St. Jago and Hydel made the girl's champion worked hard to defend their title. Boys On the boys’ side, Jamaica College (JC) amassed a whopping 328.5 points to dethrone the defending champions, K....

13 May 2021

2021 Champs Day 1 Review

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By Henley Taylor

A total of sixteen finals were contested on day one of the 2021 ISSA Boy's and Girl's Championship. The Championship is being held from May 11-15 at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica. There were six finals on the boy's side and ten finals on the girl's side. Boys Kingston College (KC) won the 2000m steeplechase, via Kirk Dawkins, in a smart time of 5:52.74 seconds. He got the better of Rivaldo Marshall of Calabar and Mathew Gordon of Jamaica College (JC), who stopped the clock in 5:53.74 and 6:06.80, respectively. Akeel Hanchard of Kingston College won the Javelin open for boys with a respectable distance of 62.81m. Andre Raymond of St. Jago was second with a throw of 61.97m while Christopher Young of Edwin Allen secured third spot with 61.60m. Even with mishaps in both the class 1 and class 3 boy's 110mH, Kingston College was still able to secure victories through Tajae Francis and Dan....

06 May 2021

A strange twist of fate for Shaunae Miller-Uibo

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By Henley Taylor

There is a strange twist of fate to Shaunae Miller-Uibo's surprising decision to contest only the 200m at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games. Miller-Uibo is the 400m champion who will not be defending her title at the upcoming Tokyo Games. But why would the 400m defending champion not seek to defend the title she won five years ago at the 2016 Olympics? This would be the first time that a defending Champion has chosen not to defend her title. Miller-Uibo has the opportunity to defend her 400m title like Marie Jose Perec of France, who won the title at the 1992 Barcelona Games and successfully defended it at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Why is she hellbent on squandering this glorious opportunity to become only the second woman in history to achieve this feat? Miller-Uibo Versatility The 1.85m Bahamian athlete has personal bests of 48.37 seconds over the 400m and 21.74 seconds over the 200m. Based on times, there is no doubt that Miller-Uibo is an e....

06 May 2021

Sha'Carri Richardson and the women's 100m at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics

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By Henley Taylor

With the arrival of new sprint sensation Sha'Carri Richardson, the women's 100m at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics has gotten a much-needed shot in the arm to excite the talent pool. The young and talented American first registered on the radar in 2019, running a blinding 10.75 seconds over the short sprint. However, at the US trials, she did not progress beyond the preliminary round, and so did not represent the US at the 2019 World Championship in Doha, Qatar. Two years later, in 2021, Sha'Carri Richardson resurfaced to record an even more impressive 10.72 seconds over the 100m, a personal best for her and a world leading time. This magnificent run places Richardson just below Elaine Thompson-Herah's and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce's times of 10.70. In effect, Sha'Carri Richardson's time of 10.72 seconds makes her the fifth fastest woman in history over the 100m. Questions The big questions to be answered are these:

04 May 2021

Looking ahead to the ISSA Boy's and Girl's Championship

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By Henley Taylor

As a consequent of the global COVID-19 pandemic, track and field competition was suspended or curtailed at all levels, with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics being the major casualty since the advent of the pandemic. However, after much agitation by ISSA and major track and field stakeholders in Jamaica, the track and field season was tentatively restarted with several high school track meets and JAAA qualifying meets. Some of the high school track meets included the Excelsior Track Meet, the JC Track meet, the Calabar Track Meet, and the St. Elizabeth High Track Meet. Nevertheless, even with these track meets and the promise and heightened expectations they generated, the annual staple of the track season, The Gibson-McCook Relays, was forced to cancel, as there were no provisions made by the Government of Jamaica to accommodate the safe staging of the relays. Indeed, this was considered a major blow to the track and field season, given the fact that the shutdown had become pro....