The third day of the World Athletics Championships delivered drama and heartbreak for Jamaica, as Danielle Williams’ marketing campaign for a 3rd world crown within the girls’s 100m hurdles led to disappointment.
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The defending champion’s bid unraveled virtually instantly when she clipped the second barrier, throwing off her rhythm and extinguishing hopes of one other golden end. Williams battled gamely to the road however might solely muster seventh in 12.53 seconds.
The gold went to Switzerland’s Ditaji Kambundji, who soared to a nationwide document 12.24 seconds. Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan, a former champion now coaching at Glen Mills’ Racers Observe Membership in Jamaica, claimed silver in 12.29 seconds, whereas American Grace Stark took bronze in 12.34 seconds.
Nugent falters, Charlton edges via
Earlier within the semi-finals, Williams had been left as the one Jamaican survivor after Ackera Nugent clipped the penultimate hurdle and pale to 3rd in 12.63 seconds—agonizingly wanting a last spot. The Bahamas’ Devynne Charlton edged her out with 12.51 and would go on to complete sixth within the last in a season-best 12.49 seconds.
Regardless of the hurdles setback, Jamaica discovered renewed optimism within the males’s lengthy leap. 2019 world champion Tajay Gayle appeared near his greatest, topping Group B with 8.28m. Compatriot Nikaoli Williams additionally impressed, leaping 8.17m for second in Group A.
Carey McLeod, nevertheless, couldn’t match their progress, ending twelfth in Group A with 7.86m—nicely adrift of the qualifying customary. Elsewhere, Guyana’s Emanuel Archibald bowed out with 7.62m, whereas Cuba’s Jorge Hodelin managed 7.50m.
Hurdlers make their mark
Jamaica confirmed depth within the males’s 110m hurdles, as all three entrants superior from the heats. Tyler Mason blazed to a season’s greatest 13.17 seconds, the quickest time of the spherical. Orlando Bennett (13.20) and Demario Prince (13.31) additionally secured their locations in Tuesday’s semi-finals, with eyes firmly fastened on the night last.
Within the males’s 400m hurdles, Malik James-King and Roshawn Clarke stored Jamaica in competition. James-King clocked a season’s greatest 48.27 seconds for fourth in his warmth, whereas Clarke (48.83) squeezed via as one of many quickest non-automatic qualifiers. Assinia Wilson, nevertheless, bowed out in 49.91 seconds.
The British Virgin Islands’ Kyron McMaster, a two-time Olympic medalist, additionally suffered an early exit with 49.89 seconds.
Ladies’s 400m hurdles: Easy crusing for Knight and Salmon
With Rushell Clayton withdrawing and Jamaica unable to activate reserve Sanique Walker, the nation’s problem rested on Andrenette Knight and Shiann Salmon. Each delivered with authority—Knight cruising to second in her warmth in 53.74 seconds, and Salmon clocking 54.21 seconds for an additional second-place end.
Barbados’ Tia-Adana Belle additionally progressed as a quickest loser in 55.27 seconds, however the journey ended for Michelle Smith of the US Virgin Islands (56.00) and Puerto Rico’s Grace Claxton (56.14).
What awaits on Day 4
Tuesday guarantees a packed slate with a number of medal prospects for Jamaica and the broader Caribbean. The lads’s 110m hurdles will command consideration, with semi-finals within the night and the ultimate later that evening.
Navasky Anderson enters the lads’s 800m heats, whereas St. Vincent’s Handal Roban contests warmth one. The ladies’s triple leap additionally begins, that includes Jamaica’s Shanieka Ricketts and Ackelia Smith, together with regional rivals Leyanis Hernández (Cuba) and Thea LaFond (Dominica).
Excessive leap finalist Romaine Beckford will carry Jamaican hopes within the males’s occasion, whereas the lads’s and girls’s 400m semi-finals promise Caribbean fireworks.
The ladies’s first semi-final brings collectively Sada Williams (Barbados), Marileidy Paulino (Dominican Republic), Wadeline Venlogh (Haiti), and Jamaica’s Dejanae Oakley. Semi-final two pits Stacey-Ann Williams (Jamaica) towards Printassia Johnson (Bahamas) and Roxana Gomez (Cuba), whereas Nickisha Pryce runs because the lone Caribbean contender within the third.
On the lads’s facet, Jamaica’s Bovel McPherson opens within the first semi-final, Rusheen McDonald and Trinidad’s Jereem Richards battle within the second, and Delano Kennedy squares off with Grenada’s Kirani James within the third.
The highway forward is crowded with prospects, however for Jamaica, Day Three was a reminder of athletics’ unpredictability—the place heartbreak and hope usually journey facet by facet.
