- Five medals in one day! This is a three-in-one, so I’m going to break it up into sections.
- Jamaican men can fly! Many Jamaican fans were nervous as we headed into day five with only three medals and none of them were gold, so we were hoping for some divine intervention as our male long jumpers got the action underway. Wayne Pinnock, the national champion, had jumped a massive 8.54m world lead the previous day to enter the finals as the man to chase, and for the first time ever, we had three finalists in the event. Talk to we nice! Wayne’s WL was not bettered even in the finals. He had one hand on the gold until Greece’s Olympic champion, Miltialdis Tentoglou, overhauled their joint best of 8.50m with a leap of 8.52m in the very last round and he was unable to match it. (I am now taking Greece off my list of places to visit out of spite! 🤣)
What was even nicer is that we also had Carey McLeod in the bronze medal spot with 8.27m until Tajay Gayle, the 2019 champion from Doha, equalled the mark in his final jump. Having had a better secondary mark in a previous round, he copped the bronze. So in the end, we finished second, third and fourth. Amazing! - Bare bitin’ Ants! We were energised and inspired by these performances and with NCAA champ Ackera Nugent and 2015 champion Danielle Williams coming up in the women’s 100m hurdles, we were hoping the magic would continue. Personally, I had Ackera down for the upset because I saw how she handled the pressure of world record holder, Tobi Amusan, right beside her in the semis, but it was Danielle whose experience prevailed as she ran a near perfect race out of lane one, leading from gun to tape, to turn over everybody’s applecart and take the gold in a season’s best 12.43 seconds. It sounds weird to say it was an upset when she has already won this title, but she had a difficult season and was the clear underdog in a lineup that included the world record holder (Amusan), the fastest woman of the year (Keni Harrison), the previous fastest woman of the year (2019 champ, Nia Ali, who had the worst race of her career just beside her) and Olympic champion, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn. Nobody saw her coming. She wasn’t even in the camera frame because everyone was focused on the big three in the middle. It was a sweet, sweet victory for the woman who is otherwise known as Ants. How appropriate, since ants love sweet things!
- Watson ends our 400m medal drought. Just when we glad bag buss and we were all about to pass out from sheer euphoria, the men’s 400m finals got underway. We were jumping and screaming as our lone finalist, Antonio Watson, perfectly bided his time for a late kick to grab our second gold medal of the day in 44.22 seconds. The 21-year-old ran a well-executed race to give Jamaica its second title in the event 40 whole years after Bertland Cameron won gold at the inaugural World Champs in Helsinki, Finland. The last Jamaican to medal in this event was Michael Blackwood, who took bronze at the 2003 games in Saint-Denis, France. I had put him down for a medal following his 44.13 PB run in the semis and the unfortunate injury to Bahamas’ Steven Gardiner, the pre-games favourite, but I was not expecting gold! I’m blown away by this youngster who didn’t look too sharp at National Trials but has used this opportunity to remind all of us that he’s not new to this, having won the 400m title at the 2017 World Youth Championships in Nairobi, Kenya.
- Rushell finds it again! Rushell Clayton capped off the day for Team Jamaica as she grabbed the bronze medal in the women’s 400m hurdles final. She came in as one of three Jamaicans in the finals, along with national champ Janieve Russell and Andrenette Knight. This was another first for Jamaica, with all our entrants making it to the big moment. The race was Femke Bol’s to lose and we knew that was not gonna happen barring disaster, so I was hoping for another second and third place finish from our girls. Janieve and Andrenette faded but Rushell, who had run a new PB in the semis, stuck in there and ran the US’s Shamier Little all the way to the line to cop her second bronze medal in the event (she had medalled in Doha) in a brand new PB of 52.81 seconds. This was her first time breaking 53 seconds and if she had gone to the Veronica Campbell-Brown School of Dipping and Leaning at the Line, she definitely could have snatched the silver. It’s a lesson to learn for next time.
- Shericka shell dung di place! Although she tried to play it off, we know Shericka Jackson was disappointed that she didn’t win the 100m gold, so we knew she was coming with blood inna her yie for that 200m crown. We were expecting fireworks from the minute we saw her take off the burgundy wig she wore during the 100m rounds and put her natural hair up into an Afro puff. Goodie was on the warpath and meant business, honey! There was no smile to di dolly face when the women lined up for the finals, so we knew she was going to angle and triangle dat, barring a mishap of some kind. The gun went off and Shericka launched out like her name is Sister Rocket. The race was over from the shout because she opened up a massive gap, separating herself from a quality field to leave everybody in her dust as she crossed the line in a new champs record of 21.41 seconds, bettering the 21.45 she ran in Eugene last year.
The whole stadium was SHOOKETH and so were those of us watching. I jumped and screamed so much my chest started to hurt and I felt dizzy (I also hadn’t eaten lunch yet because how could I focus on food when history was on the cards?!). Gabby Thomas’ jaw was on the floor because WHAT DID WE ALL JUST WITNESS?! Sis came in as the fastest woman in the world and met real speed for the first time in her life and just couldn’t hang. And our nemesis but Shericka’s new BBF, Sha’Carri Richardson, was screaming what sounded like, “I told you!” as she went to hug her on the track. It was truly spectacular, especially as we learned later that she has been under the weather the whole time due to sinus issues! Can you imagine?! If she had been at 100%, the brand new National Athletics Centre would have been in shambles because Flo Jo’s controversial 21.34 WR would have been outta there. Shericka definitely wants that WR and she can certainly get it, so I know she’s going after it again before the season is over. I look forward to the day that happens. - Roshawn breaks the 400m hurdles national record. Despite what we witnessed earlier in the men’s 4x400m relay where his inexperience showed as he got boxed in on his leg, Roshawn Clarke is a preternaturally talented young man who is here to reset expectations of what’s possible for us in the 400m hurdles. At just 19 years old, he cleared the field at our Trials to become the national champ and although he didn’t end up on the podium, he more than proved his mettle hanging with the big boys in the finals to place fourth in 48.07 seconds. Ahead of that, he smashed his world junior record and the national record in the semis, clocking 47.34 seconds to qualify for the big race. There was no way he was going to be in the race with world record holder, Karsten Warholm, and not do something special. Roshawn did his best to go with the Viking and in the process, lowered the world junior record from the 47.85 he had run at Trials to tie Sean Burrell’s mark set in 2021. He also dismantled the longstanding national record of 47.60 set by Winthrop Graham* in 1993—11 years before he was even born.
- Our 4x400m women almost had it! It was the final race. There was no USA as their team was disqualified for passing outside the zone in yesterday’s heats. Could the Jamaican quartet of Candice McLeod, Janieve Russell, national champ Nikisha Pryce and Stacey Ann Williams replicate the gold medal from Beijing 2015? The answer seemed to be yes for 99% of the race, but Femke came through in the very last couple of metres to kick weh we foot and mash up we medz. Candice gave us a stellar opening leg and handed off to Janieve ahead of the pack. “Jellybean” held her own for about 350m before being bested by Lieke Klaver, but she handed over to Nickisha who reestablished our lead on the third leg. Stacey got the baton ahead of the field and took off. We held our collective breath as the finish line loomed, only to see Femke breeze by. She was on a mission and would not be denied, but we have to give our ladies credit for an awesome showing, especially as Stacey admitted in the post-race interview that she had stomach pains ahead of the finals. Thanks for going out there and doing your thing same way, Stacey!
- Adelle smiles her way into the Jamaican history books. This post wouldn’t be complete without a special mention for Adelle Tracey, our 800m and 1500m runner who has had the championships of her life, despite leaving without a medal. The woman who seems to smile her way through these gruelling middle-distance events ran 3:58.77 in the 1500m semis to finish just outside the qualifiers for the finals based on placement. In the process, she shattered the old national record of 4:01.84 set by Yvonne Mai-Graham* 28 years ago in Monaco. Turning her attention to the 800m, she set a new PB of 1:58.99 in the semis to book her spot in the finals. Although she could only manage a seventh-place finish, she shaved her PB down to 1:58.41. That’s definitely something to smile about!
So, there you have it—some of my favourite moments from the recently concluded Budapest World Champs. While I applaud these moments, I can’t say I’m sad the games are over. My nervous system can recalibrate, and my blood pressure can normalise. Until Paris Olympics next year, because I’m clearly a glutton for punishment. 🙃
* Fun fact: Winthrop Graham and Yvonne Mai-Graham have been married since 1993, which means Roshawn and Adelle’s exploits have removed two national records from the Graham household. Yvonne still holds the NRs for the mile and 3000m events.
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Written by Tracey 