On the final day of athletics competition, the Jamaican women secured the nation’s last set of medals in the 4×100 and 4×400 meters relays to bring down the curtains at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
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The Jamaican quartet of Kemba Nelson, Natalliah Whyte, Remona Burchell and Elaine Thomspon-Herah overcame several imperfect baton passes to storm to a time of 43.08 to secure the bronze medal in the final of the women’s 4×100 meters relay.
It was the recently crowned sprint double champion, Thompson-Herah, who dug deep on the last changeover to chase down the anchor leg runner of Australia for the third place finish.
Tobi Amusan led Nigeria to victory in the women’s 4x100m relay
Tobi Amusan ran the lead-off leg for Nigeria in the 4x100m. She gave her team a strong start and handed over to 200m silver medallist Favour Ofili, who kept Nigeria level with England’s Imani Lansiquot. Rosemary Chukwuma than ran a storming third leg to give Nigeria a clear lead, then Grace Nwokocha anchored them to victory in 42.10, taking 0.12 off the African record they had set when finishing fourth at the recent World Championships.
The event was won by the Nigerian quartet, who bolted across the line in an African record and personal best time of 42.10, while England took home the silver medal in a season’s-best time of 42.41.
Meanwhile, in a scintillating sprint relay final, the Jamaican quartet of Shiann Salmon, Junelle Bromfield, Roneisha McGregor and Natoya Goule-Toppin were upgraded to the silver medal after the initial winner of the event, England, was disqualified for a lane infringement.
The Jamaicans recorded a time of 3:26.93 for silver, Canada finished in a time of 3:25.84 for gold, while Scotland were bumped up to the bronze medal with a season’s best clocking of 3:30.15.
In the men’s equivalent of the event, however, Jamaica’s Karayme Bartley, Nathon Allen, Javon Francis and Anthony Cox initially finished fourth in the final. They were later declared as disqualified in the event.
Jamaica finished the athletics program of the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games in fourth place on the medal standings with 13 medals — 6 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze.
Additional events contested at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games:
Women’s 100-meter hurdles: Tokyo Olympics bronze medal winner, Megan Tapper and her compatriot Danielle Williams, the 2015 Beijing world champion, finished fourth and sixth, respectively, in the final of the women’s 100 meters hurdles. Tapper clocked 12.67, while Williams recorded a time of 12.69. The gold medal went to the world record holder, Tobi Amusan of Nigeria, who soared to a new games record of 12.30 seconds. Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas ran a time of 12.58 for silver, while the bronze medal was won by Cindy Sember of England in 12.59.
Women’s 400 meters: Jamaica’s lone representative in the final of the women’s 400 meters, Junelle Bromfield, crossed the line in 51.45 to finish fifth in the event. The final was won by Sada Williams of Barbados in a championship record of 49.90. Williams became the first woman to record a sub-50 clocking in the history of the Commonwealth Games. The silver medal went to Victoria Ohuruogu of England, who ran a personal best time of 50.72, while Jodie Williams, also of England, secured the bronze medal in a season’s best time of 51.26 seconds.
Women’s Long Jump: National champion, Ackelia Smith, finished sixth in the final of the women’s long jump with a best mark of 6.55 meters. Nigeria’s Ese Brume leaped to gold in a games record of 7.00, while Brooke Buschkuehl of Australia (6.95) claimed the silver and Ghana’s Deborah Acquah finished third with a personal best of 6.94 meters.
Men’s 800 meters: Jamaica’s Navasky Anderson, who has a personal best of 1:45.02 in the event, could only manage a fifth-place finish in the final of the men’s 800 meters. Anderson recorded a time of 1:48.75. The 800 meters was won by Wyclife Kinyamal of Kenya (1:47.52), while the silver and bronze medals went to Peter Bol of Australia (1:47.66) and England’s Ben Pattison (1:48.25).
Men’s 400 meters: Anthony Cox (46.17) and Nathon Allen (48.00) had to settle for sixth and eighth place finishes respectively in the final of the men’s 400 meters. Meanwhile, Muzala Samukonga of Zambia stunned the Oregon World Championships bronze medalist, Matthew Hudson-Smith of England, for the gold medal in the event. Samukonga won the final in a personal-best time of 44.66, while Hudson-Smith claimed the silver medal in 44.81. Jonathan Jones of Barbados secured the bronze medal in 44.89 seconds.
Men’s Triple Jump: Jordan Scott, Jamaica’s lone competitor in the final of the men’s triple jump, leaped to a mark of 16.11 meters to place fifth in the event. The top three finishers in the final included the Indian pair of Eldhose Paul (17.03) and Abdulla Aboobacker Narangolintevid (17.02), while Bermuda’s Jah-Nhal Perinchief copped the bronze medal with a best jump of 16.92 meters
