News12 May 2011


Ashmeade joins New York 100m field - Samsung Diamond League

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Nickel Ashmeade of Jamaica (391) brings home the 200m gold in Havana (© Javier Clavelo Robinson)

Nickel Ashmeade, the 21yearold Jamaican who last weekend stunned a world class 200m field at the JN Jamaica International Invitational, has joined the 100m field at the adidas Grand Prix on 11 June, the sixth stop of the 14-meeting Samsung Diamond League series.
 
Ashmeade, the former St. Jago High School star who won his first senior title in 2009 when he became the Central American and Caribbean Champion at 200m, has long been a rising star. Also in 2009, he won gold at 200m in the Pan-Am Junior Championships, after earning silver medals at both the 2008 IAAF World Junior Championships at 200m and the 2007 IAAF World Youth Championships at 100m. Since January of 2010, he has been training in Clermont, Fla., with US 100m Record holder Tyson Gay under coach Lance Brauman. Gay has previously been announced as headlining the 100m field in New York.
 
In winning the race last Saturday in Kingston, Ashmeade – who turned 21 just last month – ran a world-leading time of 19.95 seconds, demolishing his personal best by 0.45 seconds and handily defeating a field that included former 100m World Record holder Asafa Powell and Wallace Spearmon, a three-time World Championships 200m medallist.
 
“I was really amazed,” Ashmeade said. “My mom, she was amazed because Sunday was Mother’s Day, as you all know, and that was part of her gift.”

In addition to Gay, Ashmeade joins previously announced stars such as Blanka Vlašic, Jeremy Wariner, Jessica Ennis, Allyson Felix, Sherone Simpson, Kerron Clement, Bershawn Jackson and Abubaker Kaki, as well as four-time Paralympic gold medalist “Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius, as the fields for the 2011 edition of the adidas Grand Prix begin to take shape.

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