Card not surprised by national junior record
GARY Card said his training had prepared him for a breakthrough performance, after running a Jamaican junior men’s 100m record 9.93 seconds to finish second in the senior men’s final at the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA)/Puma National Junior & Senior Championships at the National Stadium on Friday.
The 19-year-old became the third-fastest under-20 athlete in history after finishing behind Oblique Seville’s world-leading 9.82 seconds, and said his daily training environment had given him confidence that a fast time was coming.
“Based on training times and how I felt overall, I knew that I could go where I’ve never gone before — and I was excited to do so,” Card said after lowering the personal best 10.03 seconds he ran at the Penn Relays in April.
Card’s 9.93 seconds broke the previous Jamaican junior record of 9.99 seconds set by Bouwahjgie Nkrumie in 2023 and moved him to the top of this year’s World Under-20 rankings, ahead of Australia’s Gout Gout and Nigeria’s John Caleb, who have both run 10.00 seconds.
Only Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, who set the World Under-20 record of 9.91 seconds in 2022, and American Maurice Gleaton, who ran 9.92 seconds earlier this year, have gone faster as juniors. Card is joint third on the all-time list alongside American Christian Miller.
Card, who skipped the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships this season to enrol at the University of Technology, Jamaica, and join the MVP Track and Field Club, said he was not intimidated lining up against more experienced athletes.
“It’s not unusual to me because I train with the fastest man in the world. Every day I get beat up at training, so it just shows that it’s worth something,” said Card, a training partner of Olympic and World Championships medallist Kishane Thompson.
Card said he would be ready to compete wherever he is selected later this season, whether at the Commonwealth Games in Scotland or the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
The Commonwealth Games end only days before the start of the World Under-20 Championships, but Card said he has no preference.
“I don’t have a preference. As long as I do the best I can anywhere, it’s really anything for me so I just have to run, to be honest,” Card said.
