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Following an impressive season-best run over 400m at the second JAAA/SDF Jubilee Saturday night, Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Candice McLeod revealed that she has been working on a new race plan that she believes could make even faster than she was in 2021.
Inside the National Stadium in Kingston, the well-chiselled McLeod exploded at the 250m mark and pulled away from the field to win handsomely in 50.58. In her devastating wake were the Sprintec pair of Tiffany James and Ashley Williams, who ran 52.10 and 53.40 for second and third, respectively.
McLeod’s winning time was the third-fastest by a Jamaican woman behind Charokee Young (49.87) and Stacey-Ann Williams (50.21).
Surprisingly, she was pleased but not overly impressed with the performance.
“I feel okay but I feel like I have a little more (to give). I feel like I was just working on what we have been working on in training,” she said following the victory.
The new race plan that she and coach Fitz Coleman has been putting together is intended to take her to the next level because despite running a massive personal best of 49.51 at the Olympics last summer, McLeod feels as if she needs to suffer to get the best out of her body.
“Honestly, even when I ran 49.5, I never felt like I gave it my all. I didn’t feel the leg pain, the headaches and whatever so I feel like I didn’t do enough,” she explained.
“I have always wanted to feel at my maximum regardless of what it feels like. I want to feel like I am dying so I felt like I needed to switch it up a bit to get that dying feeling. Today wasn’t bad, it still wasn’t there but it’s getting there.”
That plan has been coming together since the outdoor season began earlier this year when she opened with 51.78 at the MVP Velocity Fest meet in Kingston on April 2 before flying off to Bermuda where in extremely windy conditions on April 9, she clocked a solid 51.57. She was second in both races to the 2019 World Championship 400m bronze medallist Shericka Jackson.
The University of the West Indies accounting graduate followed up on April 23 with what was then a season-best 51.20 in Kingston.
However, just over a week ago, on May 13, the 25-year-old Olympic finalist ran her worst race of the season clocking 52.37 in a fifth place finish at the Doha Diamond League meeting. Despite the poor showing, McLeod said that race was important to her plans for this season even if things didn’t work out as planned.
“I needed Doha because after the 51.2 here, I needed to see if I could get it (the race plan) in play but, unfortunately, I didn’t do what I wanted to, so I came today even though it wasn’t part of the schedule to run,” she said while explaining what went wrong in Doha.
“It was the wind. It was bad execution by me too. Bad judgement of the wind and as for recovery, I am not too keen or known to recover well after travel but I am working on that. It takes time.”
She expressed confidence that most, if not everything, will fall into place by the time Jamaica’s National Championships roll around in late June when she believes a new lifetime best is probable as she heads into the World Championships in Oregon just over two weeks later.
“With practise comes improvement,” she said. “Everybody wants to be better than they were before so if I get that (below 49.51) then, wow. If I get 49.5, then wow again, but I am working towards just bettering myself,” said McLeod who is relishing the prospect of going up against the best that Jamaica has to offer, namely Young, Williams and defending national champion, Stephenie-Ann McPherson.
“I am very confident in my preparation, my conditioning and everything. I love competition. It’s all fun for me because I love what I do, so regardless, competition or not, I am here for it,” she said.
Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.
Lyston through to 100m final at SEC Outdoors; Pryce becomes eighth-fastest Jamaican ever to advance to 400m final
Brianna Lyston secured a chance at the sprint double at the SEC Outdoor Championships in Gainesville, Florida after booking her spot in the final of the women’s 100m.
The LSU sophomore, who ran 22.31 on Thursday to secure her spot in the 200m final, came back a day later to run 11.09 to be the joint-fastest qualifier for Saturday’s final alongside collegiate leader Jacious Sears of Tennessee.
Bahamian Florida junior Wanya McCoy and Jamaican Georgia freshman Jehlani Gordon advanced to the men’s 100m final as the second and ninth fastest qualifiers with 10.09 and 10.17, respectively.
The women’s 400m prelims saw Arkansas senior Nickisha Pryce become the eighth-fastest Jamaican ever in the event.
Pryce, who is Jamaica’s reigning national champion, ran a personal best and collegiate leading 49.72 to advance to the final as the fastest qualifier ahead of teammate Kaylyn Brown who ran 49.86.
LSU sophomore Jahiem Stern produced 13.45 to advance to the final of the 110m hurdles.
In the field, the Jamaican Arkansas pair of Romaine Beckford and Wayne Pinnock won gold in the high jump and long jump, respectively.
Beckford had a best clearance of 2.22m to win ahead of LSU’s Kuda Chadenga (2.19m) and Ole Miss’s Arvesta Troupe (2.14m).
Pinnock, a sliver medalist at last year’s World Championships in Budapest, jumped 8.09m to successfully defend his SEC title.
Georgia’s Micah Larry produced 7.80m for second while Florida’s Caleb Foster was third with the same distance.
Lawrence produces personal best to win shot put at ACC Outdoor Championships
Jamaican Clemson junior Courtney Lawrence produced a personal best 19.75 to win shot put gold at the ACC Outdoor Championships in Atlanta on Friday.
The former Petersfield High standout and 2021 NACAC Under-23 champion produced three throws over 19m throughout his series to take the title ahead of Notre Dame’s Michael Schoaf (19.38m) and Wake Forest’s Thomas Kitchell (19.16m).
Jamaican Florida State sophomore Jordan Turner jumped 7.90m for second in the men’s long jump behind teammate Jeremiah Davis who jumped 7.97m for the win. Miami’s Russell Robinson was third with 7.82m.
Moving to the track where Lawrence’s schoolmate, Oneka Wilson, produced a personal best 13.00 to advance to the final of the women’s 100m hurdles as the fastest qualifier.
Another Jamaican Clemson standout, senior Tarees Rhoden, made it through to the final of the men's 800m with a 1:49.17 effort to finish second in his heat.
Bahamian Gardiner, Ja's McLeod register wins as Grenada's Peters cops third in men's javelin throw in Doha
Bahamian 400m Olympic Champion Steven Gardiner, and Jamaica’s World Championships long jump finalist Carey McLeod, stood out among the Caribbean performances as they topped their respective events at the Wanda Diamond League in Doha, Qatar on Friday.
McLeod, who was fourth at the Xiamen meet, displayed mark improvement on this occasion to top the event with a wind-aided leap of 8.52m. He recovered from a failed attempt at the start to cut the sand at 8.14m, before achieving the winning leap on his fourth attempt in a positive 5.2 metres per second wind reading.
The 26-year-old topped a stacked field which included Greece’s Olympic and World champion Miltiadis Tentoglou, who had to settle for second on this occasion with a season’s best leap of 8.36m. Switzerland’s Simon Ehammer (8.30m), was third, while Jamaica’s 2019 World champion Tajay Gayle (8.01m) was fifth, and Bahamian LaQuan Nairn (7.59m) eighth.
For Gardiner, it was a case of picking up where he left off, as he continued his rich early season form in the 400m with another classy display. He went out hard from lane five and quickly covered rivals on the outside at the 250m mark, before pulling away in the latter stages to win in 44.76s.
Zambia’s Muzala Samukonga, closed fast for second in a season’s best 45.07s, while Botswana’s Leungo Scotch (45.29s) was third.
Also in the field, Grenada’s two-time World champion Anderson Peters placed third in an intriguing men’s javelin throw, which saw India’s World and Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra beaten into second.
Czech Republic’s Olympic silver medallist and last year’s Diamond League winner Jakub Vadlejch (88.38m) outlasted his Indian rival, who fell just short with a throw of 88.36m, while Peters’ best mark of 86.62m came on his final attempt. All three men hit season’s best marks.
Meanwhile, in arguably the performance of the night, Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos romped the men’s 400m hurdles event in a breathtaking World Lead and Meet Record 46.86s. He bettered his previous Meet Record of 47.24s set in 2022, while reaffirming his status as one of only five men to break the 47-second barrier in the event.
Elsewhere on the track, Jamaican Natoya Goule-Toppin attempted a late rally in the women’s 800m, but she had to settle for sixth in a season’s best 1:59.74.
The event was won by Kenya’s world champion and 2022 Diamond League winner Mary Moraa, who kicked off 2024 campaign with a season’s best 1:57.91, just lowering the 1:57.96 she clocked a few weeks ago at the Kip Keino Classic on home soil.
Britain’s world indoor silver medallist Jemma Reekie (1:58.42) was second, while Benin’s Noelie Yarigo, the indoor bronze medallist, placed third in a season’s best 1:58.70.
In the men’s 200m, Jamaican Oshane Hudson clocked a season’s best 20.53s, which was only good enough for seventh, as American Olympic silver medallist Kenny Bednarek threw down the gauntlet where his Olympic title ambitions are concerned.
Bednarek clocked a personal best and World Leading 19.67s to win the half-lap event in a positive 1.7 metres per second wind reading, and also smashed Noah Lyles’ previous Meet Record of 19.83, set in 2018. His compatriots Courtney Lindsey (20.01s), the previous world leader, and Kyree King (20.21s) were the runners-up.
The women’s 100m was won by Britain’s Daryll Neita, who followed up her 200m in Suzhou with another strong performance on her seasonal bow in the event. She closed fast to win in a season’s best 10.98s, ahead of the American pair of Tamari Davis (10.99s) and Celera Barnes (11.02s) in a blanket finish.
Jamaica’s Natasha Morrison was seventh in a season’s best 11.37s.
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