GLASGOW, Scotland, CMC – Sprinter Ackeem Blake grabbed the Caribbean’s first World Indoor Athletics Championships medal when he captured bronze for Jamaica in the men’s 60-meter dash on Friday.
The 22-year-old sprinter clocked 6.46 seconds to finish third behind two Americans, world record-holder Christian Coleman and reigning outdoor double sprint champion Noah Lyles, in one of four finals contested on the opening day of competition at the Commonwealth Arena.
Coleman clocked a world-leading time of 6.41 secs, and Lyle was unable to add to his expanding list of global sprint titles, crossing the line in 6.44 for the silver medal ahead of Blake, the first Jamaican man since Asafa Powell to win a medal at the World Indoor Championships.
Blake, who was a semi-finalist in the 100 at the outdoor World Championships two years ago in the American city of Eugene in the state of Oregon, earlier won the seventh heat in the first round with a time of 6.55, and he clocked 6.51 to win the second heat in the semi-finals.
There will be Caribbean interest in the men’s 400 on Saturday’s second day of competition when Rusheen McDonald faces the starter.
The 31-year-old ran two personal bests of 46.95 in the first round and 46.02 in the semi-finals to reach the last six, and he will enter the final with the fourth fastest time.
Defending champion Jereem Richards of Trinidad & Tobago bowed out at the semi-final stage when he finished fourth in the first heat with a season’s best time of 46.64.
Alexander Doom of Belgium will lead the field into the final with a personal best time of 45.69, and Olympic and outdoor world 400 hurdles champion Karsten Warholm justified his late decision to run in his first competition of the season, reaching the final with the second fastest time of 45.86 in the semi-finals.
The men’s 400 final field is completed by João Coelho of Portugal, whose 45.98 in the semis was a national record; Attila Molnãr of Hungary with a national record of 46.08; and Matěj Krsek of the Czech Republic, whose time was 46.48 in the semis.
On the women’s side, Stacy Ann Williams of Jamaica failed to reach the final, finishing fourth in the first heat of the semi-finals with a sluggish time of 52.72, after she was the only Caribbean competitor to make it out of the first round.
Natoya Goule-Toppin of Jamaica reached the semi-finals of the women’s 800 meters after she finished second in the first heat of the first round with a season’s best time of two minutes, 00.83 seconds, finishing 0.33 behind Habitam Alemu of Ethiopia.
Goule-Toppin finished with the sixth fastest time overall. She will need to bring her time down to under two minutes to have any clear chance of a medal after Jemma Reekie of Great Britain led the way in the first round with 1 min, 59.45 secs to win the third heat from Eloisa Coiro of Italy, whose 1:59.76 was a personal best.
On the second day, Julien Alfred has the chance to become the first athlete from St Lucia to win a world indoor medal when she faces the starter for the women’s 60m.
The 22-year-old is the only woman in the world this year to have dipped under seven ticks, thanks to her time of 6.99 at the Millrose Games.
Her national record of 6.94 set last year is the joint second on the all-time list alongside Aleia Hobbs of the United States – among her rivals in Glasgow – and Ewa Swoboda of Poland with the second fast time for the year of 7.01.
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