Yohan Blake continued his meteor rise in world class sprinting with an impressive 9.89 secs (-0.4 m/s) personal best (PB) performance in the 100m at the London Diamond League meet yesterday. Blake, the 20-year-old 2006 IAAF World Juniors 100m bronze medalist, came from behind the pack to finish second place to a red-hot Tyson Gay of the US, who took the event in a season best, meet record and world-leading 9.78. Trinidad & Tobago’s Richard Thompson was third in 10.05.
This is Blake’s second PB in three weeks, having run a 200m personal best of 19.86 secs on July 22 at the Monaco Diamond League, again behind Tyson Gay. Living up to his potential, Blake has positioned himself to have the upper hand in his highly anticipated 200m battle against USA’s Walter Dix, who defeated Gay in the half-lap event at the Prefontaine Classic, July 3 in Eugene Oregon.
In the women’s 200m, Bahamas’s Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie finished in second place in 22.88 behind winner USA’s Allyson Felix 22.37. Jamaica’s Sherone Simpson (23.04) was 3rd, Cayman Island’s Cydonie Mothersill (23.27) in 4th place and the returning Jamaican Kerron Stewart 5th in 23.28.
USA Bershawn Jackson took the men’s 400m in 48.12 secs ahead of Puerto Rico’s Javier Culson (48.17) with Great Britain’s David Green in 3rd in 49.09 second. Jehue Gordon, the 18-year-old World Juniors champion from Trinidad and Tobago, finished 6th in 50.07 and Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic, 7th in 50.22.
The Cubans continue to perform well in the field events with Yarelis Barrios capturing the women’s discus with a throw of 65.62m and Alexis Copello taking 3rd place in the men’s triple jump, leaping 17.02m behind winner Sweden’s Christian Olsson (17.41m).