Elaine Thompson on her way to victory in Kingston (© AFP / Getty Images)
Double Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson flew to a marginally wind-assisted 10.75 in her first 100m race of the season at the UTech Classic in Kingston on Saturday (15).
The Jamaican looked sharp as she blasted out of the blocks and opened up a significant lead over Jura Levy and Olympic finalist Christania Williams. Despite easing up a few metres before the finish line, Thompson stopped the clock at 10.75 (2.2m/s), the fifth-fastest time of her career under any conditions. Levy was second in 11.19 with Williams taking third in 11.30.
World and Olympic 400m bronze medallist Shericka Jackson stepped down in distance to win the 200m in a PB of 22.57 (0.5m/s). Training partner and fellow 400m specialist Stephenie Ann McPherson was a distant second in 23.19.
There was a pair of British victories in the men’s sprints. Miguel Francis had the edge over Rasheed Dwyer on the finish line to win the 200m by one hundredth of a second in 20.44 (1.7m/s). The wind was just over the allowable legal limit for Zharnel Hughes when he won the 100m in 10.08 (2.3m/s).
Elsewhere, Ronald Levy convincingly beat world silver medallist Hansle Parchment to win the 110m hurdles, 13.15 to 13.29. Had it not been for the wind of 2.2m/s, Levy would have smashed his personal best by 0.35. Megan Simmonds won the women’s equivalent in 12.83 (1.7m/s), while discus specialist Fedrick Dacres handed world bronze medallist O'Dayne Richards a rare domestic defeat in the shot put, winning with a big PB of 20.46m.
Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF
