2011 World Champion Yohan Blake clocked his fastest time this year after winning the men’s 100m at Friday’s American Track League in Atlanta, Georgia.
The 31-year-old got a solid start before putting away the field to finish in a time of 9.95. The Jamaican was the only athlete in the field to dip below 10 seconds.
American Elijah Hall was second in 10.08 and his compatriot Kyree King third in 10.12. Another Caribbean athlete in the race, St. Kitts and Nevis’ Jason Rodgers was fifth in 10.26. Another Jamaican, Javoy Tucker finished eighth in 10.35.
Blake finished in second position at his country’s national trials two weeks ago but has vowed to leave the Olympic Games later this month with a medal. The sprinter, who has the second-fastest time recorded over both the 100m and 200m was excited by his performance with the Olympics just a few weeks away.
“I am very excited about the time; give God thanks,” said Blake.
“This is going to be my last Olympic, and I am looking forward to it. Definitely, I am not leaving that stadium (Tokyo 2020) without a medal.”
Jackson imparts knowlege, motivation to young Dominican sensation Etienne
If ever rising Dominican sprint sensation Kerelle Etienne required an extra bit of motivation to keep pushing in her budding career, she would have received it during a recent sit down with Jamaica's World and Olympic medallist Shericka Jackson.
Jackson, one of the world's most prominent athletes, took the time to mentor Etienne, a 15-year-old talent hailing from Bagatele, who attends Edwin Allen High School, situated in central Jamaica.
Currently the fifth fastest woman of all time over 100 metres, and the fastest woman alive and second fastest woman in history over 200m, the decorated Jackson shared insight and encouragement with Etienne, as she motivated the young sensation to continue striving for greatness.
Etienne, who is supported by a scholarship from the school, as well as the Dominica Olympic Committee and Cheryl Rolle, boasts big dreams, and has already put her immense potential on display when she secured a fourth-place finish in a brisk11.85 seconds, as the recent 51st Carifta Games in Grenada.
Prior to that, Etienne contributed valuable points to Edwin Allen's tally which saw them reclaim the girls' title at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys' and Girls' Athletics Championship at Jamaica's National Stadium.
While pointing out that training in Jamaica is more difficult than it is in Dominica, Etienne has adapted well under the guidance of Michael Dyke.
"The training here in Jamaica is much harder than in my country, but I am coping well with it as I really want to make my friends and family proud back home," Etienne said in a recent interview.
"It feels so good competing on this (synthetic) type of track as all our competition back home is done on grass. Edwin Allen High has been my dream school in Jamaica. I kept in touch with their performances on YouTube and I am really happy to be a member of the team now," she added.
Olympic champion Yulimar Rojas suffers Achilles injury in training; out of Paris Games
Olympic triple jump champion Yulimar Rojas has been ruled out of Paris 2024 with an Achilles tendon injury. The Venezuelan superstar jumper sustained the injury during a training session in Spain and has since undergone surgery in Madrid.
She shared the devastating news to her more than one million followers on Instagram on Friday.
"To my Venezuela, to the family of the Olympic and Sports Movement, especially to my followers; I want to inform you that I will not be able to participate in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. With great pain and sadness I want to tell you that while training, by falling downhill from a jump, I was in intense pain that was diagnosed with an injury to my left Achilles tendon. My heart is broken and I want to say sorry that I will not be able to take part in Paris 2024," the 28-year-old said in a statement on her Instagram account.
“Today, I feel very emotionally affected by not being able to represent the team. The desire to defend my Olympic title excited me enormously but today I have to stop, understand this, recover and come back with a lot of strength to continue flying together,” she added.
Easily the most dominant female triple jumper in history, Rojas, is the current indoor and outdoor triple jump world record holder. She won gold at the Tokyo Olympics Games and is a four-time world champion, the last coming in dramatic fashion in Budapest last year. Her absence opens the door up to a number of contenders who will be gunning for their first Olympic title. Chief among them will be Jamaica's Shanieka Ricketts, Thea LaFond from Dominica as well as well as Cuba's Leyanis Perez Hernandez and the Ukraine's Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk.
Rojas expressed her anguish at not being able to defend her Olympic title.
"Today I feel emotionally affected by not being able to represent them, the desire to defend my Olympic title excited me enormously but today I have to stop, understand this, recover and come back with a lot of strength to continue flying together."
She wished the athletes representing Venezuela the best of fortunes in Paris this summer.
Young Reggae Boyz drawn in tough Group A for Concacaf U-20 Champs
Jamaica’s young Reggae Boyz will have powerhouse teams United States and Costa Rica, along with Caribbean neighbours Cuba to contend with in the group stages of this summer’s Concacaf Men’s Under-20 Championships in Mexico.
Those teams will contest Group A of the tournament scheduled for July 19 to August 4. Honduras, Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Canada will contest Group B, while host Mexico, Panama, Guatemala and Haiti will lock horns in Group C.
The groups were revealed during a live draw on Thursday.
Jamaica's young Reggae Boyz, who topped Group F on their way to the Championships, will now be guided by Jerome Waite, who is looking forward to the challenge of possibly qualifying the country to its first Under-20 Men's World Cup since the Argentina feat in 2001.
To achieve the feat, Waite, who took the reins from John Wall after the Caribbean qualifiers, will have to first secure a top two spot from the Group, as only the top two finishers from each group, along with the two best-third-place teams, will advance to the quarterfinals.
From there, the four semi-finalists will secure qualification as Concacaf’s representatives at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup next year.
Waite, who is no stranger to high pressure situations, was at the helm when the young Reggae Boyz went into the 2018 tournament without much preparation or expectation, but surprised the entire nation when they finished level on 13 points from five games with Concacaf kingpins, Mexico, at the top of the group.
However, Mexico qualified for the second round by virtue of a better goal difference than the Jamaicans, as only the group winner advanced.
Since then, Jamaica's closest run to FIFA Under-20 World Cup qualification was when they made the quarterfinals of the 2022 tournament in Honduras.
"Qualification will not be easy, but it is something that can be accomplished," Waite said.
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