Jamaica’s Stacey-Ann Williams and Trinidad & Tobago’s Jereem Richards were the standout Caribbean athletes at Tuesday’s Spitzen Leichtathletik Meet, both securing victories in their respective events.
Williams claimed victory in the women’s 400 meters, clocking 50.58 seconds, her second-fastest time this season. She narrowly edged out Dutch athlete Lisanne de Witte and Switzerland’s Annina Fahr, who finished in 51.99 and 52.08 seconds, respectively. Williams’ performance follows her impressive 50.56 seconds at Jamaica’s National Championships in June, where she finished second.
Richards, the 2017 World Championship bronze medalist and two-time Commonwealth Games Champion in the 200 meters won the men’s 200 meters with a time of 20.19 seconds. He outpaced Zimbabwe’s Makanakaishe Charamba (20.42) and Tapiwanashe Makarawu (20.48). The 30-year-old Trinidadian is also set to compete in the 400 meters in Paris, having won gold in the distance at the World Indoor Championships in 2022.
Other notable performances
In other notable performances, Jamaican Olympian Lanae-Tava Thomas narrowly missed victory in the women’s 200 meters, finishing second to the Ivory Coast’s Jessika Gbai, who clocked 22.57 seconds. Thomas finished in 22.60 seconds, just ahead of Switzerland’s Mujinga Kambundji, who took third in 22.61 seconds.
Kemba Nelson of Jamaica secured third place in the women’s 100 meters with a time of 11.21 seconds, behind New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs (11.17) and Kambundji (11.20).
Meanwhile, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce withdrew from the event during warm-ups, citing a concern she felt and choosing not to risk injury.
Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn
Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, the defending Olympic champion in the women’s 100-meter hurdles, won her event with a time of 12.41 seconds. Ecuador’s Maribel Caicedo finished second in 12.64 seconds, and Cyrena Samba-Mayela of France took third in 12.85 seconds.
In the women’s long jump, Jamaican national champion Ackelia Smith finished fourth with a distance of 6.61 meters.
In the men’s events, Michael Campbell placed fifth in the men’s ‘B’ 100 meters with a time of 10.37 seconds, while last year’s national champion Rohan Watson finished seventh in the ‘A’ race with 10.32 seconds. Gary Card was seventh in the men’s 200 meters with a time of 21.32 seconds, and national 400-meter record holder Rusheen McDonald finished eighth with 47.41 seconds, continuing a difficult season.
