RAPIDLY improving Jamaican female sprinter Krystal Sloley was in a state of shock after glancing at the clock inside the National Stadium as she crossed the finishing line in the women’s 100m at the Racers Grand Prix on Saturday.

The clock showed her finishing second in a massive personal-best effort of 10.99 seconds. This was the first time that Sloley, who is coached by Stephen “Franno” Francis at MVP, dipped under the 11-second barrier in her young career.

“This is crazy for me and it is going to take a long time to process this,” said Sloley. “It is a really good feeling because this was my aim for the season, and I told Franno that: ‘Coach, I am really aiming for the sub-11,’ and I can’t believe I did it.”

“I am lost for words because it is a sub-11 time that we are talking about now that I just ran,” Sloley added.

Saturday’s race was won by St Lucia’s Julien Alfred in a meet record time of 10.75 seconds.

The 22-year-old Sloley, a former Campion College standout, has been running well this season. She lowered her personal-best time from 11.25 to 11.09 at last month’s Jamaica Athletics Invitational, which was also held at the National Stadium, finishing second in that race behind Ivorian Marie-Josée Ta Lou-Smith who won in a time of 10.91.

The soft-spoken Sloley admitted that her transition from being a junior athlete to the senior ranks has been slow over the past few years, but she has decided to put in a lot more hard work into training this year and trust in her coaches this season, and is thrilled to see it now paying off.

“I have been putting in a lot more because this year I feel that I have been a lot more self-disciplined because sometimes I kind of miss reps and slack off in a way, but this year I had to be my biggest cheerleader,” she said. “I would tell myself, ‘Come on, Krystal, don’t skip this one; just do this one set,’ and this is where it has got me. Every time I run, I lower my time, and so I am feeling very confident in myself at the moment,” Sloley said.

She highlighted that there is a lot more to come from her this season because she has now set her sights on securing a spot on Jamaica’s team for this year’s Olympic Games in Paris.

“I am feeling very confident ahead of the Trials — and this is not something that Krystal Sloley last month would have said — but I am feeling very confident. I saw this tweet on Twitter [now X] that said: ‘In Franno we trust,’ so that is what I am doing right now,” she said.

“I am trusting Franno and I am trusting myself, and just trusting the programme and just trusting him. Making the Olympic team will be a dream for me and so, whatever comes, I will be ready for it and beyond because I am taking it head on,” Sloley declared.

She also mentioned that she is confident she will again lower her personal time before this season is over.

“I am not a prophet but I feel that I can do that. Closer to the Trials, the times will prove it and training will present that and allow me to go faster so just watch and see,” Sloley said.