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Mixed results for Jamaicans in Ostrava
June 01, 2022
Former world 100 metres champion Yohan Blake and Tokyo Olympics 4x400m bronze medallist Candice McLeod had top-three finishes and season's best times as they continued their World Athletics Championship preparations at the 61st Ostrava Golden Spike Meet in Ostrava, Czech Republic, yesterday.
Blake clocked 10.05 seconds to finish second in the men's 100m. His previous best for 2022 was 10.11 at the Velocity Fest meet on April 23. The event was won by Great Britain's Reece Prescod who clocked a personal best of 9.93. Prescod's compatriot Zharnel Hughes finished third, clocked the same time as Blake but was edged out of the second-place position. Blake is yet to clock a sub-10 seconds time in the 100m this season after doing it four times last season. Meanwhile, McLeod continued her improvement in the 400m, finishing second in a season's best time of 50.38 seconds behind winner Natalia Kaczmarek of Poland, who clocked a personal best 50.16. McLeod had a slim lead in the final stages of the race but Kaczmarek closed her down to take the win. It is McLeod's third second-place finish this season and the second consecutive meet that she is setting a season's best with weeks to go before the National Trials later this month. She has two wins so far this season, all coming in Jamaica.
Tokyo Olympics 100m hurdles bronze medallist Megan Tapper finished sixth in the women's 100m hurdles, in a race that saw her go head to head with Tokyo Olympics champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico, who won the event in 12.56. Pia Skrzyszowska of Poland finished second in a personal best time of 12.65 while 2019 World Champion Nia Ali of the United States finished third in 12.69. Tapper's season's best is 12.80, which she set in her season opener on April 23. She failed to finish in the final of her last meet in Austria on May 26 after placing first in her heat in 13.02.
Highlight of the meet was a world record run by Femke Bol of the Netherlands in the 300 metres hurdles. Bol clocked 36.86 seconds to smash the 38.16 mark set by Czech Republic's Zuzana Hejnova in 2013.
