On the Hunt!
SANTIAGO, Chile — Jamaica took its fourth bronze medal of the Pan American Games, in wrestling, on Wednesday.
Aaron Johnson, competing in the men’s freestyle 125kg class, defeated the Dominican Republic’s Elison Adames by a 5-1 scoreline.
Both men ended the first round at 1-1 but then Johnson took control of the second round with a 4-0 scoreline to take the match and the medal.
Johnson joins cyclist Dahlia Palmer, and discus throwers Samantha Hall and Fedrick Dacres as Jamaica’s medallists so far at the games.
Jaheel Hyde could join them as medallists today when he takes part in the men’s 400m hurdles final.
Hyde finished his heat in 49.72 seconds, ahead of Mexico’s Guillermo Campos (50.82), and Brazil’s Marcio Soares (51.20). While Hyde ran a controlled race, he said it was made difficult by cold, rainy conditions in the afternoon.
“Up to now, I still can’t feel the bottom of my legs,” Hyde said, moments after leaving the track. “It’s really brutal out there, trust me. Those conditions aren’t for running, but we are professionals and we have to come out and get the job done. I literally could not feel my legs. I just knew that I was turning over and running, and by the time I got to the fifth hurdle, I was just in cruise control. I didn’t try to press; I didn’t try to do anything extra.”
Hyde, who was a semi-finalist at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in August, is one of the few athletes at that event, who decided to extend their season into October to aid Jamaica’s push for medals here.
“I didn’t get to go to the last Pan Am [Games] in 2019, but this one, especially seeing that it’s in November, it really took a lot of motivation to come,” he said. “But given the fact that I didn’t have the season that I wanted earlier, I thought I would just give myself another shot at winning a medal here.
“Winning a medal here means a lot. A lot of people may think otherwise, but for me, it comes with a lot and I value every medal because you still have to put your blood, sweat, and tears in it.”
While his colleagues have already ended their season to recover and prepare for the next, which includes the Olympic Games next summer, Hyde instead views this as getting next year’s season started early, to get ready for his campaign to Paris.
“There are many ways to skin a cat,” he said. “Other athletes may say they ended their season early to prepare for next season, which is fine, that’s good also – that’s what I was going to do, but you running this long into the season makes your background training a little bit better in terms of your fitness so you won’t be that out of shape.”
Hyde says he feels fatigue, especially when trying to sleep at night, but says, having spent 13 months training on the track, he is now trying to stay off his feet as much as possible.
The men’s 400m hurdles final takes place at 5:45 pm local time, 3:45 pm Jamaica time.
Jamaica’s men’s 200m sprinters Andre Dacres and Michael Sharp competed in the semi-finals yesterday but neither made the final.
Dacres finished fourth in heat one, clocking 21.38 behind the Dominica Republic’s Jose Alnardo Gonzalez (20.81), St Kitts and Nevis’ Nadale Buntin (20.97), and Guyana’s Emanuel Archibald (21.08), who trains at the Swept Track Club in Kingston. Gonzales and Buntin advanced automatically while Archibald was a non-automatic qualifier.
Sharp, running out of heat three, finished third in 21.31 behind Brazil’s Renan Correa (20.39), and Panama’s Alonso Edward (21.04).
Six other Jamaicans will be involved in three events today.
Lloydricia Cameron takes part in the women’s shot put final at 6:15 pm local time, 4:15 pm Jamaica time.
Jamaica’s team of Sharp, Dacres, Odaine McPherson, and Jevaughn Whyte, running in that order, will contest heat two of the men’s 4x100m relay semi-final at 6:35 pm (4:35 pm), then Aisha Praught competes in the women’s 5,000m final at 7:25 pm (5:25 pm).