Jereem Richards exploded to a new lifetime best of 19.83 seconds to win the men’s 200 meters at the 2022 Trinidad and Tobago National Championships last Friday (24) at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain.
Despite the heavy rain and wet track, Jereem Richards wasn’t prepared to slow down as he blasted his way to the third sub-20 seconds clocking of his career en route to lowering the Championship record. The time improved the 19.98 secs previous meeting record that Aaron Armstrong set in 2005.
“I was not concerned about the weather,” Jereem Richards, also known as “The Dream,” said in Newsday. “I was just ready to run fast.”
The World Indoor 400m champion in Serbia, this past March, was breaking 20 seconds for the first time since running 19.99 secs in 2018, while the time also improved on his previous personal best of 19.97.
Kyle Greaux secured second place in 20.56 secs, with NCAA star Dwight St Hillaire collecting third in 20.68.
“To dip under 20 seconds is a great feat for me today,” Richards said after his win. “I finished healthy, my body is feeling very good and I’m excited for what the season has in store.”
The 2017 world bronze medalist will enter the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon, next month as a strong medal contender and he believes he’s starting to find his best form at the right time.
“To run a personal best three weeks out, right now, its just to go back to the drawing board, keep this current form and most importantly, stay healthy, keep training and everything will go well in the next few weeks,” he noted.
Richard is the joint fifth-fastest man in the world in 2022, having posted the same time as American Michael Norman and Liberian Olympic finalist Joe Fahnbulleh, the reigning NCAA champion with the University of Florida.
Elsewhere at the 2022 Trinidad and Tobago National Championships, Eric Harrison Jr., who represented Ohio State on the collegiate circuit, set a personal best with 10.05 seconds (+0.6 m/s) to win the men’s 100m, with fellow collegiate star Kion Benjamin (10.18 PB) and Jerod Elcock (10.19) finishing second and third, respectively.
Another notable winner at the championships was national record holder Tyra Gittens of the University of Texas who secured the victory in the women’s long jump with a mark of 6.27m.
2022 Trinidad and Tobago National Championships Selected Results
Men’s 100m
Final 1, Wind: +0.6
PLACE NAME MARK
1 Eric HARRISON JR. 10.08
2 Kion BENJAMIN 10.18
3 Jerod ELCOCK 10.19
4 Akanni HISLOP 10.34
5 Devin AUGUSTINE 10.38
6 Omari LEWIS 10.48
7 Revell WEBSTER 10.61
Kyle GREAUX DNF
Men’s 200m
Final 1, Wind: +0.3
PLACE NAME MARK
1 Jereem RICHARDS 19.83
2 Kyle GREAUX 20.56
3 Dwight ST. HILLAIRE 20.68
4 Omari LEWIS 21.37
5 Elijah JOSEPH 21.48
6 Cyrus CHARLES 21.95
7 Marcus PURCELL 21.96
Final
PLACE NAME MARK
1 Dwight ST. HILLAIRE 45.46
2 Asa GUEVARA 46.16
3 Shakeem MC KAY 46.74
4 Kashief KING 46.79
5 Che LARA 47.16
6 Kengel CHRISTOPHER 49.42
Joshua ST. CLAIR DNF
Renny QUOW DNF
Men’s Long Jump
Final
PLACE NAME MARK WIND
1 Andwuelle WRIGHT 8.08 1.1
2 Kyle SINGUINEAU 6.86 1.5
3 Lorenzo LUCES 6.76 2.7
Lorenzo LUCES 6.66 2
Full results can be found here
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