Stars set to shine at 4th Racers Adidas Grand Prix today
The National Stadium will be abuzz with excitement today as a constellation of stars converge for the fourth staging of the Racers Adidas Grand Prix which is set to begin at 6:50 pm.
It should be three hours of enthralling athletics as most of the athletes fine-tune their preparations for their national championships and by extension the IAAF World Championships set for September.
Following double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson’s superb 10.89 seconds clocking in Rome on Thursday, most eyes will be fixed on her training partner, Jamaica’s two-time Olympic 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who will contest the women’s 100m scheduled for 8:10 pm.
Fraser-Pryce is the darling of Jamaica’s athletics and has bounced back impressively after giving birth and looked to be back in the kind of shape that brought her Olympic 100m glory in 2008 and 2012.
On May 25 Fraser-Pryce cruised to 10.97 seconds and was quickest on the day as Thompson won her heat in 11.09 seconds. Thompson has since lowered her time to a world-leading 10.89, hence all eyes will be on her MVP teammate to see what she has in store.
Michelle-Lee Ahye of Trinidad and Tobago, Jodie Williams of Great Britain, Destiny Smith-Barrett of the USA and Jamaicans Gayon Evans, Natasha Morrison, Jonelle Smith and Samantha Henry-Robinson should keep her honest.
The men’s 100m is another interesting event, as former world record holder Asafa Powell hunts another sub-10 clocking; Yohan Blake tries to rediscover his best form; Kemar Bailey-Cole on the comeback from injury, and Zharnel Hughes looks to consolidate his position as arguably the best sprinter training in the island while defending the Racers title he won last year in 9.9 seconds ahead of Noah Lyles.
Jamaica’s Sportsman of the year Fedrick Dacres also hunts his first discus victory at Racers Grand Prix, as he tries to dethrone American Reggie Jagers, who won last year. Calabar High schoolboy Kai Chang steps up to the senior level and it will be left to see how the 2018 Under-20 World champion performs.
The men’s 400m will be hot with inform Machel Cedenio of Trinidad and Tobago fresh from his 4×400 exploits at the World Relays in Japan, taking on Americans Fred Kerley and Nathan Strother, Bralon Taplin of Grenada and Jamaica’s quartet of Javon Francis, national record holder Rusheen McDonald, Nathan Allen and Demish Gaye.
The women’s 400m puts together the 2016 Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo of The Bahamas against America’s 2017 World champion Phyllis Francis. Miller-Uibo has the world-leading time of 49.05 seconds and Francis the fifth best with 50.86 seconds. Jamaica’s Chrisann Gordon, with the third best time this year of 50.66 seconds, will make her presence felt, as could Christine Day.
The promising Akeem Bloomfield, with a personal best of 19.81 seconds, is favoured to win the men’s 200m in a field that includes Brendon Rodney of Canada, Delano Williams of Great Britain, Jamaica’s Commonwealth Games champion Rasheed Dwyer, Warren Weir, the 2012 Olympic bronze medallist, Julian Forte and Cuba’s Roberto Skyers.
The women’s triple jump is a top class field including the top three jumpers in the world this year headed by Jamaica’s Commonwealth Games silver medallist Shaneika Ricketts with a world-leading 14.76m. Cuba’s Liadagmis Povea is ranked second with 14.69m and American Keturah Orji third with 14.66m.
Jamaica’s shot put Commonwealth Games champion Danniel Thomas-Dodd should defend her Racers title as she enters the event with the third best throw in the world of 19.48m, which is Jamaica’s national record achieved in April. Thomas-Dodd broke the 19.36m mark she set while winning the Commonwealth Games title in Australia last year. Jessica Ramsey of the US with 19.23m is ranked fifth this year and will give Thomas-Dodd most to think about.
