400m hurdler Knight looks to rebound at Racers Grand Prix
Jamaica’s Andrenette Knight could have some unfinished business when she lines up in the women’s 400m hurdles event at Racers Grand Prix to be held at the National Stadium on June 3.
Knight, the former Vere Technical and St Jago High standout who was second in the event at the NCAA Outdoors nationals in 2019, seems poised for a big 2022 season until a mishap at last year’s Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) National Senior Championships saw her season all but ruined.
With her spot on the Jamaican teams to both the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, almost a certainty, Knight came into the championships with a personal best 53.39 seconds and firmly in the top five in the world.
She, however, hit the eighth hurdle hard while comfortably leading the final and fell to the track.
The women’s intermediate hurdles at the Racers Grand Prix could be a crucial step in her path to the National Championships set for a month later and hopefully a place on the team to the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in August.
American Anna Cockrell, the two-time NCAA champion, World Under-20 and Pan-Am Under-20 and NACAC Under-23 champion, has the fastest time in the world so far of the athletes set to contest the event on June 3, 55.06 seconds set three weeks ago.
Commonwealth Games gold and silver medallists Janieve Russell and Shiann Solomon, both semi-finalists at the World Championships last year, will have their own plans, while American Olympic Games bronze medallist Ashley Spencer and Jamaica’s Ronda White will ensure a competitive event.