By Noel Francis
Tokyo, Japan – When the men’s 200m heats got underway on the fifth day of the World Athletics Championships, all eyes were on the usual suspects such as Noah Lyles, Letsile Tebogo and Kenneth Bednarek. However, the most impressive sprinting exhibition came from Jamaica’s twenty-one-year-old Bryan Levell. Competing in the penultimate heat, the Jamaican set tongues wagging after jogging to victory in 19.84 seconds in a minus point one headwind.
Levell told reporters that he was surprised by the fast time as he stopped running in the homestraight. “It was a controlled run,” said Levell. “I just wanted to execute a good bend and not have much to do in the straight,” he reasoned.
Levell was coy when asked about his medal prospects. “Honestly, I don’t think about myself as a medal favourite, I just run and enjoy myself. I don’t put limits on myself.”