Fireworks expected in women’s 400m hurdles
Three years ago Rushell Clayton stunned the audience at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, when she won the bronze medal in the women’s 400m hurdles, one of the big surprises for the Jamaican team which won 12 medals.
Clayton will be the fourth-ranked Jamaican going into today’s first day of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) National Championships’ four-day event being held at the National Stadium.
Only three athletes can be named on the Jamaican team to the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, and the competition promises to be fierce from the first round today to the final on Friday afternoon.
Shiann Salmon, who had won the silver medal at the World Under 20 Championships in Finland in 2018, and Ronda Whyte who was part of the Jamaican contingent in Doha, will also be in the field that is being led by Andrenette Knight who ran a personal best 53.39 seconds earlier this month, fifth-best of all time by a Jamaican.
Knight’s time is the third-best in the world and she ran it chasing American Sydney McLaughlin’s world-leading 51.61 seconds at a meet in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 5.
Janieve Russell, the fourth-fastest Jamaican of all time with a personal best 53.08 seconds; Kimisha Chambers; college students Garriel White and Abigail Schaaffe; and multiple Olympic and World Championships finalist Kaliese Spencer-Carter, who is making a comeback, will add to the quality on the field.
— Paul Reid