KINGSTON, JAMAICA (AFP) – World-leading performances from world champion Shericka Jackson and Commonwealth Games record-holder Rasheed Broadbell highlighted Jamaica’s strength on the track in Sunday’s final day of the national championships.
Jackson, the reigning 200 metres (m) world champion, completed a superb sprint double after she ran what was briefly a 2023 world best of 21.71 seconds (-0.5m/s) to win the 200, her second world lead of the weekend after she ran a personal best 10.65 seconds to win the 100 on Friday.
Jackson took charge of the race off the curve and powered her way home, beating her previous season’s best of 21.98 seconds.
She passed the 21.86 set by Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Gabby Thomas in the women’s 200m semi-finals at the US athletics championships earlier on Sunday.
Thomas answered the challenge later on Sunday in the US meet’s women’s 200 final, blazing to victory in 21.60 to reclaim the year’s fastest global time in the event and setting the stage for a showdown with Jackson at next month’s World Championships in Budapest.
Before Sunday, the old mark for the year in the women’s 200 was by St Lucia’s Julien Alfred at 21.91.
Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce, three-time Olympic gold medal winner, ran a season-best 22.26 seconds, beating the 22.39 seconds she ran in Saturday’s semi-finals, while Lanae-tava Thomas was third in 22.55.
Broadbell produced a personal best and world-leading 12.94 seconds (0.7m/s) to win the 110m hurdles in a close contest with Olympic champion Hansle Parchment.
Broadbell took over the world lead from American Cordell Tinch’s 12.96 seconds and broke his previous personal best of 12.99 set last year.
Parchment was second with 13.12 seconds and Orlando Bennett third in 13.19, both season-best runs.
Andrew Hudson retained his men’s 200m title, running a season-best 20.11 seconds (-0.2m/s), beating Rasheed Dwyer- 20.26 seconds and Tyquendo Tracey was third with a season’s best 20.48 seconds.
Yohan Blake, the second fastest man over the distance of all time, was fourth in 20.51 seconds and will miss the World Championships.
Olympic Games bronze medallist Megan Tapper produced a superb display of hurdling as she got off to a flying start and held off NCAA champion Ackera Nugent.
Tapper who had run a life time best 12.44 seconds in Saturday’s semi-finals, won with 12.64 seconds (-1.9m/s), Nugent clocked 12.67 seconds and former World Champion Danielle Williams grabbed the third spot at 12.82.
World leader 18-year-old Jaydon Hibbert retained his men’s triple jump title with a mark of 17.68m (1.4m/s). Jordan Scott was second with a wind-aided 16.73m (3.0m/s) with Ryan Brown third with a wind-aided 16.03m (2.5m/s).
Hibbert, the NCAA indoor and outdoor champion, also had a wind-aided 17.65m jump (3.2m/s).
