Kemarley Brown enters sub-10-sec club
FORMER St Elizabeth Technical sprinter Kemarley Brown is the 13th Jamaican member of the sub-10-second club after he clocked an eye-popping 9.93 seconds to defend his California Community College Athletic Association title on Saturday evening at Mt San Antonio College.
Brown, who competes for Merritt College of Oakland, California, is now tied eighth all-time on the Jamaican list with Kemar Bailey-Cole. He shattered the American National Junior College and Community College records and held the world-leading time for less than 24 hours.
He was pushed by a legal wind of 1.8 metres per second, less than the allowable maximum 2.0 metres per second.
On Sunday, American Justin Gatlin clocked 9.92 seconds to take the world lead, winning at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Shanghai, China, then four days later he went faster, clocking 9.87 seconds at the Beijing Grand Prix.
Brown broke the record for the Junior Colleges of 10.05 seconds set by American Ryan Bailey, formerly of Rend Lake Community College in Illinois, on May 22, 2009.
The 21-year-old, who will head to Texas Christian University next year after completing his Junior College career, was quoted as saying he has been able to run faster after he got over injuries that delayed his progress.
Usain Bolt leads the list with his world record 9.58 seconds set at the IAAF World Championships in Berlin in 2009 and owns the top three times ever run, 9.63 seconds set at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, and 9.69 seconds done in 2008 while winning his first Olympic Games title.
Yohan Blake’s 9.69 seconds set in Lausanne in 2012 makes him the joint second best ever with American Tyson Gay, while Asafa Powell’s best of 9.72 seconds makes him the fourth best ever.
Nesta Carter is the next best Jamaican with 9.87 seconds set in Madrid last year and is fifth on the all-time list.
Michael Frater’s 9.88 seconds set in Monaco in 2011 is next on the Jamaican list followed by Steve Mullings’ 9.89 seconds, also set in 2011 in Claremont, Florida, with Nickel Ashmeade’s 9.90 seconds set at the World Championships in Moscow last year.
Four other Jamaicans have gone under 10 seconds — Mario Forsyth, best known for his 200m exploits ran 9.95 seconds in Rietti, Italy in 2010; Raymond Stewart’s 9.96 seconds set in Tokyo in 1991 was the national record for a long time; Percival Spencer ran 9.98 seconds in Kingston in 1997, while Commonwealth Games champion Lerone Clarke ran 9.99 seconds twice, the latest coming in 2009.
