Former world record holder Donovan Bailey says he’s impressed with the level of growth by Jamaican sprint star Kishane Thompson and expects better execution from him at the Tokyo World Championships in September.

A week after claiming his second consecutive national 100m title in a personal best 9.75 seconds, Olympic silver medallist Thompson beat a stacked field at the Eugene Diamond League on Saturday, clocking an impressive 9.85. He got the better of Racers Track Club’s Zharnel Hughes (9.91) and American Trayvon Bromell (9.94).

Despite the win, there were concerns around the 23-year-old’s execution in the final 30 metres of the race.

“I think he executed probably the first and second half of his race amazingly,” Jamaican-born Bailey highlighted.

“But what I like is that he’s telling us that he’s working on execution, he’s tweaking and working on races and you’re doing all of that to take him off race rust and doing it against the very best people out there. He definitely needs some work, he got tight at probably 75, 80 metres, shoulders went high, he started decelerating faster than he should at the velocity that he actually owns and controls,” he said.

Thompson acknowledged that it wasn’t a perfect race but believes it’s part of the learning process.

“It proves that flat speed wise is not really a problem [for me] but a new level of speed, I have to put it together,” he said. “It was a fierce competition, they ran me to the line and I’m really appreciative of it because it will help me to get better step by step and vice versa for everyone.”

Bailey, who won 100m gold for Canada at the 1995 World Championships and 1996 Olympic Games, said he isn’t worried about Thompson’s execution and is eager to see the changes he’ll make ahead of the World Championships.

“He could have run much faster but at the end of the day, they’re not handing out gold medals in July so, overall, I liked his race,” said Bailey.

“He’s got a phenomenal coach so, at the end of the day, I see that this is also a work in progress and what these guys are doing is tweaking in the middle of the Diamond League season — I did that as an athlete. We didn’t care about winning, or time for that matter, during the season — we were always preparing for the finals for the world championships. All of this is a work in progress but you have to give the guy respect, coming off running a personal best [in June], knowing that your body goes flat when it goes fastest and on his flat week, he runs 9.8. He’s in great shape,” he added.

Under the watchful eye of MVP Track Club head coach Stephen Francis, Thompson said he’ll continue to make adjustments as he aims to become a world champion in Japan.

“I’m the only one that can stop me. I don’t say that to brag, but to be honest, once I better my execution, amazing things are going to happen,” Thompson said.

“It’s not just [about] one component, it’s putting all of them together, from the start to the finish. Because I can work on one component, but if I can’t put them together it doesn’t make sense. It [takes] a lot of stuff to run fast and accomplish certain accolades, it’s not just getting up and snapping your fingers. It’s work — mental and physical. You got to trust yourself, trust the process, trust the team, trust the coach, and so forth.”

Thompson’s 9.85 run on Saturday is the sixth-fastest time of the year. Impressively, he’s registered four of the world’s top 10 times this season, two of which came at the national senior championships at the National Stadium in June.

From left: Zharnel Hughes, Trayvon Bromell, Kishane Thompson, Christian Coleman and Ackeem Blake compete in the men’s 100m race during the Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field in Eugene, United States, on July 5, 2025. (Photo: AFP)