There were fireworks in the sprints on Saturday during the Jamaican JAAA/SDF Jubilee Series at the National Stadium, as both men’s and women’s 100 meters saw blistering times from a couple of Tokyo Olympians – Oblique Seville among them.
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The highlight was Oblique Seville, finally breaking the 10-second barrier in dominant fashion. The Calabar alum shocked the crowd with a 9.86 clocking, lowering his personal best by 0.14 from the 10.00 flat set earlier this season. This makes Seville the world’s second fastest man this season, behind only Ferdinand Omanyala of Kenya (9.85). He is also the 6th fastest Jamaican man ever, at just 21.
What is more impressive is that the Racers Track Club sprinter accomplished this in a -0.2 headwind, leaving many to speculate if he could be the next man to run in the 9.7s if conditions were more cooperative. This especially holds true after his self-admitted less-than-perfect execution. “I never expected the time,” Seville told reporters afterward. “It definitely wasn’t a perfect race. My start was not great.”
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Oblique Seville finished the race a clear two meters ahead of Conroy Jones (10.14) and Guyanese sprinter Emmanuel Archibald (10.20), with veteran sprinters like Kemar Bailey Cole not even getting to compete after false starting.
Elaine Thompson-Herah, fresh off opting out of her Diamond League season debut in Birmingham in favor of a meet closer to home, won her event easily in 10.94. This was nearly two tenths faster than the winning time of the race she skipped in the UK, as Dina Asher Smith narrowly edged out Shericka Jackson 11.11 to 11.12 seconds. She also took the 200m final in 22.55.
With Jamaican trials just around the corner on June 23, two strong statements were definitely made.
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