OBLIQUE Seville stunned a quality men’s 100m field to win on his first Diamond League outing while the Jamaican men’s 4x100m team put themselves in a good position to qualify for the World Athletics Championships in London, England, yesterday.

Seville backed up a prediction he made on Friday by running 9.86 seconds (-0.6m/s) to win, hours after he ran a brilliant second leg on the sprint relay team that won in a season’s best 37.80 seconds — third-best in the world this season — to move into a World Championships qualifying place.

On the eve of his Diamond League debut, as he was getting a pre-race hair cut, in a video he posted on social media Seville commented, “Dem dead, dem dead,” in reference to Saturday’s race, and delivered in style.

Leading from the start, Seville ran away from the field, saluting the crowd before he got to the finishing line while beating American Olympic Champion Noah Lyles, who ran 10.00 seconds in his first 100m of the season, with Zharnel Hughes of Great Britain third in 10.02 seconds.

Ackeem Blake, whom it was reported would not line up, was fourth in 10.08 seconds.

“I am proud of how I ran amongst a stacked field, and to win,” Seville, who was second to Kishane Thompson at the National Championships last month, said, “I was the only one to run under 10 seconds today. It is something special and phenomenal heading into a major championship later this year.”

He said he was pleased with his execution.

“Everything I have been practising in training, I delivered out there today. Coming out here and performing against these athletes makes me want to push a little harder. London is the place I wanted to run, so to get the Diamond League win here is very special to me.”

The men’s 4x100m relay team put itself in a good position by running its fastest time since 2023, and improved to 15th position in the World Athletics relay qualifying ranks.

The team of Rohan Watson, Seville, Kadrian Goldson, and Thompson beat Great Britain 1, which was anchored by Hughes and finished in 38.08 seconds, with the Netherlands third in 38.17 seconds.

“We are very grateful to get the job done,” Thompson said after the race. “I would not say they were the best exchanges but we got it around safely. We had to trust each other and get the baton around without any issues.”

Jamaica now trails only South Africa and the USA, and replaced the Netherlands while pushing Nigeria out of a qualifying spot, at least for now.

The top 14 teams already secured their places at the World Athletics Relays held in China in March, and the next two fastest teams at the end of the qualifying period, August 24, will fill out the field for the World Championships.

A Jamaican female 4x100m team finished second in 42.50 seconds, behind Great Britain 1 who ran a world-leading 41.69 seconds, with France taking third in 43.54 seconds.

Shericka Jackson led off the team, handing over to Jonielle Smith, with Tina Clayton running the third leg and Briana Williams anchoring.

Former Jamaican long jumper Wayne Pinnock, after winning the men’s long jump with 8.20m (0.2m/s), confirmed that he switched national allegiance to Turkiye. He edged World and Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece (8.19m (0.9m/s) while national champion Carey McLeod was third with 8.10m (0.2m/s), moving up from fifth on his final jump.

“I am really focusing on the Diamond League finals this year as I will not be in Tokyo because I have changed allegiance to Turkiye,” Pinnock said. “So, I will go back home and fix what needs fixing and come back stronger.” Pinnock is one of four Jamaican athletes, including fellow jumper Jaydon Hibbert, and throwers Roje Stona, and Rajindra Campbell, who made the switch earlier this year.

Former World Championships gold medallist Tajay Gayle, who was listed to compete, did not show.

Andrenette Knight was third in the women’s 400m hurdles, running 53.79 seconds, as Femke Bol won in 52.10 seconds while Jasmine Jones of the USA placed second in 53.79 seconds.

Janieve Russell was eighth in 1:00.55 minutes.

Lamara Distin was seventh in the women’s high jump with 1.85m, Natoya Goule-Toppin was eighth in the women’s 800m in 1:59.27 minutes, while Ashanti Moore ran 22.86 seconds (-0.6m/s) in the women’s 200m. That race was won by Julien Alfred in a St Lucian national record, world-leading and meet record time of 21.71 seconds.

First-placed Oblique Seville (centre) celebrates as he crosses the finishing line past second-placed Noah Lyles (left) and third-placed Zharnel Hughes, to win the men’s 100m during the World Athletics Diamond League meeting at the London Stadium in London, England, on Saturday. (Photo: AFP)