An emotional Yohan Blake has dedicated his latest 100m National title to his ailing father who suffered a cerebrovascular accident (stroke) a few days prior.
Blake, the second-fastest man in history with 9.69 seconds behind the legendary Usain Bolt’s world record 9.58 seconds, turned back the hands of time when he clocked 9.85 seconds to defeat rising stars Oblique Seville (9.88 seconds) and Ackeem Blake (9.93 seconds) in Friday night’s blue-ribbon event at Kingston’s National Stadium.
It was the 2011 World Champion’s fastest time over the distance since 2011.
Speaking to the press post-race, an emotional Blake was quick to dedicate the victory and his obvious return to top form to the senior Blake.
“It really means a lot, my father got a stroke a couple of days ago and I just came out here to do it for him,” Blake noted.
“I have been in disarray all week, but I have been keeping strong,” he continued, before admitting that it has been “tough” on his family, but he had to hold it together and put it behind just run for his father.
So victory and return to form were God-send for him and family.
“Definitely, they have been waiting for this moment and I just want to thank God.”
The man known as “The Beast” explained that his new coaches Gregory Little and Olympian Michael Frater have tweaked his training regime, prioritizing the backend of his races, which seems to be bearing fruits.
“Gregory Little and Michael Frater have kept on working on the last part (of my races), finishing, doing some 110m and running the last part really hard and it has been paying off. We just come out, cut our European circuit short and come back and work on the last 40m of my race.”
Meanwhile, Yohan Blake is now convinced that Jamaica’s men’s sprinting is on an upward trajectory. “The 4×1 (relay) is looking great, the sprinting is up there again and we are looking to challenge the world again,” he said.
