LIMA, Peru — Alana Reid extended Jamaica’s dominance in the women’s 100m at the World Athletics U20 Championships at Estadio Atletico de la Videna in Lima, Peru, on Wednesday evening when she won the event in 11.17 seconds (-0.0m/s) in cold conditions.

Reid, who went into the contest as the world Under-20 leader and title favourite, delivered Jamaica’s first medal of the championships and fourth-straight gold medal in the women’s 100m.

She extended the winning run that was started by Briana Williams in Tampere, Finland, in 2018 and Tina Clayton in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2021, and Cali, Colombia, in 2022.

It was a clean sweep of the medals for the Caribbean as Adaejah Hodge (11.27) of the British Virgin Islands and Kishaena Niles (11.37) of Barbados, who is based at MVP Track Club training camp in Jamaica, were second and third, respectively.

Reid, who won a bronze medal in the 200m final two years ago in Cali, Colombia, told journalists she was elated.

“It’s something that I’ve really been working towards since 2022. I came third in the 200m two years ago and I told myself this is my last world junior [championships], so I just want to leave with something that I can look back on,” she said post-race.

“I think I [am] very pleased with my performance, knowing that I’ve been training so hard for this moment, and it’s something that I really appreciate.”

Reid said the Jamaican perseverance shone through in less than ideal temperatures for sprinters, considering it is winter time in the southern hemisphere.

“I would say never to count us out, we all come out here and give of our best. Sometimes our best is not good enough for you, but nevertheless, we are hard-working, we are trying our best to put a smile on our faces and on you guys. And sometimes it’s hard for us, especially to come out here in this type of weather, but nevertheless we come out here and we give of our best,” she said.

Jamaica just missed a second medal after Deandre Daley was fourth in the men’s 100m in 10.33 (-0.9m/s) and Gary Card was fifth in 10.44.

South Africa’s Bayanda Walaza was a surprise winner with 10.19, the third-straight time an African was winning the title after back-to-back wins by Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo.

Thailand’s Puripol Boonson won the silver medal with 10.22 and another South African Bradley Nkoana was third with 10.26.

Daley blamed himself for not finishing on the podium.

“I started tying up around 70 metres, which is not like me at all,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Kemarrio Bygrave and Shanque Williams failed to get into the men’s and women’s 400m final, respectively.

Bygrave finished fourth in his semi-final race, running 47.56 after qualifying from the first round with 47.39, placing third in his first-round heat.

Jabari Matheson had failed to advance after he was fifth in his first-round race with 49.34.

Williams was seventh with 54.47 in her semi-final race after she had run 54.22 in the first round. Abrina Wright had failed to get past the first round after placing sixth with 54.63.

Three of the four intermediate hurdlers — Daniel Wright and Trevoy Smith in the men’s section and Kelly Ann Carr in the women’s — advanced to Friday’s semi-finals.

Wright, the winner at the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships and the national championships, won his heat in 51.42.

Wright, who is ranked sixth in the world coming into the championships, got off to a fast start and led up to the sixth hurdle before he was passed by China’s Jingwei Guo. He reasserted his control and got to the finish line first.

“I’m feeling good, apart from the weather being cold, I’m feeling pretty well,” Wright said afterwards. He said he would have a conversation with his coach to “see what his feedback on the race was”.

Smith advanced on time after he placed fourth in his heat in 52.15.

He had to run hard to get to the top four in his race that was won by South Africa’s Njabulo Mbatha in 51.42. Mbatha beat Denmark’s Joel Von De Ahe, who ran a national Under-20 record 51.80 and Mexico’s Maximilliano Nunez (52.09).

Smith admitted to “making too many mistakes” in the race and said he has the chance to make amends with a place in Friday’s semi-finals.

Carr did just enough to get past the first round, leading up to the eighth hurdle before she was caught. But she held on for second in 1:00.61, behind Australia’s Alesha Bennetts (59.04). Haiti’s Gloria Guerrier, who also advanced to Friday’s semi-finals, was third in 1:0065.

Deschanique Douglas, who hit the third hurdle and was not able to recover, finished at the back of the race in 1:05.43.

Douglas, who has a personal best 59.72 and who is taking up a scholarship at Lincoln University in Missouri after she leaves the championships, told the
Observer she had been unable to hurdle for two weeks going into the World U20s but gave it her best shot.

Jade Ann Dawkins qualified for Saturday’s final of the women’s triple jump by the slimmest of margins after Wednesday’s preliminaries .

Her 12.82m (1.2m/s) was 12th best, just ahead of Latvia’s Brenda Dziliana Apsite, who also had a 12.82m (0.2m/s). The Jamaican had the advantage with a better second jump of 12.64m to Apsite’s 12.63m.

Jaeda Robinson failed to make progress after she jumped 12.53m (1.6m/s) and finished in 21st position overall.