World champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won the Jamaican women’s 100 metre title on Friday and qualified for the Tokyo Olympics.
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World champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won the Jamaican women’s 100 metre title on Friday. She clocked 10.71 seconds to confirm her spot on the team headed to the Tokyo Olympics in August.
Fraser-Pryce set a world leading 10.63 seconds earlier this month. She shook off a semi-final loss to double Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson-Herah with a masterclass of sprinting.
She got out to her customary bullet start and holding off a quality field that had six of eight women running under 11.00 seconds this year.
It was Fraser-Pryce’s fourth 100m national title and sixth overall.
Shericka Jackson, who had run a personal best 10.77 seconds in the semi-finals, was second with 10.82 seconds and Thompson-Herah third in 10.84 seconds.
Tyquendo Tracey was a surprise winner in the men’s final, running a season-best 10.00 seconds to beat Yohan Blake at 10.01 seconds.
Oblique Seville took third with a personal best 10.04 seconds. Tracey had won the national title in 2018.
Commonwealth Games champion and World and Olympic finalist Janieve Russell won her third national 400m hurdles championships, running a season’s best 54.07 seconds, fourth best in the world.
Ronda Whyte was second with 54.94 seconds and Leah Nugent third in 54.98 seconds.
Two-time world under-20 champion Jaheel Hyde ran a personal best 48.18 seconds, under his previous 48.52 seconds set 2017, to win his first national senior title in the men’s 400m hurdles.
Fraser-Pryce clocked 10.63 sec in the 100m at the Olympic Destiny meeting in Kingston to become the second fastest women in history.
“Honestly no… I never expected I would run 10.6 and think it’s a good thing because there was no pressure,” Fraser-Pryce told reporters even as she screamed with excitement.
“I just wanted to get one run in before the (June 24-27) national championships and that’s what I was really looking forward to.”
The 2008 and 2012 olympic champion also beat Carmelita Jeter’s 10.64sec set in 2009 to become the fastest woman alive.
Fraser-Pryce hac won the title at the 2019 world championship held in Doha. At the time, she was setting her sights on the Tokyo Olympics, for which she has now qualified.
“I’m lost for words because 10.6 has been a dream, a goal, I’ve been working so hard, being so patient to see it finally unfold. I’m so ecstatic,” added the 34-year-old.
“If I’m able to run 10.6 now, I’m just looking forward to what the process will bring. I’m continuing the work because I did say that this year I wanted nothing more than to break the 10.7 barrier and I did it.
“But now the focus is on making the national team then taking it from there. This is just one part of the puzzle, so you can’t get too complacent and comfortable.”
