Kemba Nelson
University of Oregon
Kemba Nelson has characterized her first season competing on the American collegiate circuit as ‘incredible’ after her fourth-place finish in the 100m at the NCAA Division I Outdoor season that concluded in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday.
Nelson, who turned 21, in February, spent her first two years of college at the University of Technology in Kingston, Jamaica, before making the move to the University of Oregon last December.
After a solid indoor season during which she was crowned national 60m champion, Nelson capped off her year with a 10.90s run that saw her finish behind Cambrea Sturgis 10.74, Twanisha Terry 10.79 and Tamara Clarke 10.88. The trailing wind was 2.2m/s but Nelson had run a wind-legal 10.98 in the preliminary rounds the week before.
One would have thought that finishing out of the top three would have been a disappointment for the young Jamaican, especially after she was involved in a mishap that ended up with a dropped baton in the 4x100m relay.
However, for Nelson, when one considers what she endured before ending up at Oregon, the just-concluded season was not such a bad one after all.
“A year ago, I left NACAC with a messed up Achilles and Pan Am in a wheelchair with a Grade 2 hamstring tear. Six months later, I strained my other hamstring and so I decided to leave my previous camp four months after this incident,” she said in her posts on social media on Sunday.
“Fast forward six months into my collegiate career. I broke the Indoor Collegiate Record, Meet Record, School Record, 5th Jamaican all-time over 60m, rank 2nd in the world over 60m. Outdoor season with dipping 4 times under 11 seconds. 4th fastest collegiate over 100m in the NCAA. And oh yeah, I’m all-American. Incredible season!”
Nelson will now rest up before flying to Jamaica to see if her year can get even better by earning a spot on Jamaica’s team to the Tokyo, Olympics in July.
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.
Paulino opens season with 50.08 to win 400m in Xiamen; Charlton narrowly beaten by Camacho-Quinn in 100m hurdles
The Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino kicked off her 2024 season with a comfortable win in the women’s 400m at the season’s opening Diamond League meet in Xiamen on Saturday.
Paulino, the reigning World champion, ran an easy 50.08 to take the win over Poland’s Natalia Kaczmarek (50.29) and the USA’s Britton Wilson (51.26). Barbadian two-time World Championship bronze medallist Sada Williams was fourth in 51.97.
Paulino, who is developing an impressive level of dominance in the event, last lost a 400m race on July 16 last year when she was third at the Silesia Diamond League.
Since then, the 27-year-old has won six races in a row. She was victorious in all three of her individual races at last year’s World Championships in Budapest before winning at both the 2023 Xiamen Diamond League and Prefontaine Classic, which also served as the 2023 Diamond League Final.
The women’s 100m hurdles saw Bahamian newly crowned World Indoor 60m hurdles champion and world record holder Devynne Charlton be narrowly beaten by reigning Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn.
Charlton, as is customary with someone strong in the 60m hurdles, got her usual bullet start but was unable to hold off the fast-finishing Camacho-Quinn in the end. The Puerto Rican’s winning time was a meet record 12.45 while Charlton’s time was 12.49 in second.
France’s Cyrena Samba-Mayela, who took silver behind Charlton at this year’s World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, ran a personal best and national record 12.55 in third.
Jamaican two-time World champion Danielle Williams was fourth in a season’s best 12.56.
The men’s sprint hurdles saw reigning Olympic champion Hansle Parchment and Orlando Bennett run 13.33 and 13.58 for sixth and eighth, respectively.
American Daniel Roberts took the win in 13.11 ahead of countryman Cordell Tinch (13.16) and Japan’s Shunsuke Izumiya (13.17).
In the meet’s final race, Jamaican World Indoor bronze medallist Ackeem Blake ran a season’s best 10.20 for third in the men’s 100m. American 2019 World champion Christian Coleman took the win in 10.13 while countryman Fred Kerley, the 2022 World champion, ran 10.17 for second. Jamaica's reigning national champion Rohan Watson ran a season's best 10.27 in fourth.
Tamirat Tola aims to follow New York success with victory in London Marathon
Tamirat Tola feels a carefully planned build-up will give him every chance of adding the London Marathon title to his success in New York.
The 32-year-old Ethiopian – world champion from 2022 in Oregon – clocked a new course record of two hours, four minutes and 58 seconds when he won in Manhattan during November last year.
Tola hopes his meticulous preparations will allow him to again hit top form as he aims to be the first over the finish line on the Mall on Sunday afternoon, having come third last year.
“(Winning in) London is not easy, but I worked hard to win New York and my training has all been OK since then, so I am ready,” said Tola, who also took the 2023 Great North Run title.
“Everything is good with what my coaches have prepared for me to win, so we can hope for a good result on Sunday.”
The late Kelvin Kiptum, who was killed in a car accident in February at the age of 24, set a new London Marathon record with victory last year.
While that mark of 2hrs 1min and 25secs is unlikely to be tested on Sunday, Tola is still confident of a swift pace.
“If we go together to help each other, then we will run with a better time,” Tola said.
“It depends on a pacemaker, but it is OK for me to go fast, and if it is a normal (pace) then that is also OK for me.”
Emile Cairess will lead Britain’s hopes in the elite men’s race, having finished sixth on his debut last year.
Cairess is aiming to better the Olympic qualifying mark to join training partner Phil Sesemann in the Team GB squad for Paris.
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The 26-year-old, though, also has one eye on a long-term target of breaking Sir Mo Farah’s six-year-old British marathon record, which was set in Chicago.
“I have a time in my head. I will be trying to run maybe about three-minute kilometres,” Cairess said.
“Mo’s British record is something I definitely want to beat in the near future, but I am not looking at that this weekend.”
Scottish marathon record-holder Callum Hawkins will make his return in London following a number of injury setbacks, which included ankle surgery after the Tokyo Olympics.
Marc Scott, winner of the Great North Run in 2021, is set for a marathon debut, along with Mahamed Mahamed.
In the elite women’s race, world record holder Tigst Assefa hopes to produce a new women’s-only best time.
“I was very happy in breaking the world record. Also I got a lot of praise and encouragement from people around me afterwards, that was very important for me,” said Assefa, who will compete in her first London Marathon.
“My training has gone really well and I have done all the training that has been set by my coach. I feel I am ready for the race on Sunday.”
British athletes Becky Briggs and Alice Wright will also be in the elite field, along with Anya Culling, Rachel Hodgkinson, Helen Gaunt, Mhairi Maclennan and Lucy Reid.
David Weir will make his 25th consecutive London Marathon appearance, which he last won in 2018, with Switzerland’s Marcel Hug again the man to beat in the elite men’s wheelchair race.
Weir, 44, changed to a carbon fibre chair this winter, and finished third at the Boston Marathon on April 15.
“Hopefully I can get another one (London Marathon victory). Maybe not on Sunday, we will see,” he said. “It depends on that machine down there to be honest.”
Ta Lou, Coleman, Blake and Watson confirmed for Jamaica Athletic Invitational on May 11
The excitement for the inaugural Jamaica Athletics Invitational on May 11 continues to build as standout Ivory Coast sprinter Marie-José Ta Lou has been confirmed to join the star-studded lineup for this prestigious event in Kingston.
Alongside Ta Lou, other renowned athletes such as Christian Coleman, Antonio Watson, and Akeem Blake will grace the track, promising a thrilling mix of elite track and field competition and entertainment. Marvin Anderson, the Athletes Liaison, is curating an impressive list of participants that he believes will meet the high expectations for this exciting sporting event.
The Jamaica Athletics Invitational will feature a lineup of 10 track events and four field events, showcasing the talents of top athletes from around the globe. Fans can anticipate high-stakes competition and exceptional performances as athletes vie for victory on the track and in the field.
Tickets for this highly anticipated event will go on sale online starting April 22. Attendees will have the option to choose from two categories of grandstand tickets priced at $3,000 and $2,500, while entry to the bleachers will be free of charge.
The stage is set for an electrifying evening of athletics at the Jamaica Athletics Invitational, and fans are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to witness world-class athletes in action at the National Stadium in Kingston.
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