Olympic men's 4x400m relay bronze medallist Jarrin Solomon sped to gold in the men's 400m at the Gylulai Istvan Memorial Grand Prix in Budapest, Hungary on Monday. Solomon crossed the line in 45.48, the second best of his career, 0.17 second behind his personal best set earlier this year. The 26-year-old quartermiler's victory was more rewarding as he got revenge on Rabah Yousif of Sudan, who beat him for the gold in Diamond League GN Galan meet in Stockholm Sweden on Friday. This time around Yousif took the runners-up spot in 45.86 ahead of Richard Buck (Great Britain) 46.02. Cleopatra Borel rebounded from her sixth place in Stockholm to take second in the women's shot with a throw of 18.58 behind American thrower Michelle Carter (18.84) with Natalya Mikhnevich of Belarus in third (18.58). Olympic champions Krisztian Pars, Christian Taylor an Sanya Richards-Ross all recorded victories. Pars of Hungary landed the men's hammer (79.74) while American Taylor secured the men's triple jump (17.30). London 400m gold medallist Richard-Ross sped to the 200m crown in Hungary (22.70). Jamaican Shericka Williams took the women's 400m (50.34) while Jamaica Andrew Riley finished second in the men's 110m hurdles ( 13.39).
Keston Bledman missed out on gold in the men's 100m at the Third Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in Warsaw, Poland on Sunday. The two-time Olympic sprint relay medallist clocked 10.28 into a 1.6m/s head wind as Jamaican Kemar Bailey-Cole took the top spot (10.24) with Kim Collins (St Kitts/Nevis) taking third in 10.29. The Caribbean had more successes at the Gugl Games in Linz, Austria as World and Olympic champion Kirani James of Grenada was one of four winners from the region. James took his pet event, the men's 400m, in 44.46 while two-time World and Olympic Felix Sanchez (Dominican Republic) ran away from the field in the men's 400m hurdles (48.13). Nickel Ashmeade led a Jamaican sweep in the men's 100m winning in 10.03 ahead of Olympic relay gold medalist Michael Frater (10.13) and Jason Young (10.15). Another Jamaican Samantha Henry-Robinson emerged champion in the women's 100m (11.15). The London sprint relay silver medallist was also third in the 200m (22.85)
Thomas to campaign for Abilene Christian
World Championships sprint relay finalist Reyare Thomas will take up a two-year athletic scholarship with Abilene Christian University (ACU) in Texas starting in September. Thomas, who was a member of T&T's Olympic 4x100 metres relay team in London, England, completed a successful two-year stint at Iowa Central Community College where she won the National Junior Colleges Outdoor 100m and 200m crowns in May running a personal best in the shorter sprint of 11.30. The 2009 CAC Senior Championships 200m bronze medallist was fifth in the women's 100m at this year's National Championships to earn her debut Olympic team. The 24-year-old will join compatriot Karla Hope and Osei Alleyne-Forte at Abilene. The trio is among several T&T athletes who competed for ACU. National men's 400m record holder Ian Morris, Julian Raeburn, Niconnor Alexander, Robert Guy and Wanda Hutson were all past students. The Neon Trackers sprinter has personal bests of 7.37(60m indoor), 23.36 (200m-outdoor) and 24.23 (200m-indoor). Fellow first Olympians Sparkle McKnight and Janiel Bellille will also take up scholarships in the new school semester. McKnight will run for Arkansas and Bellille, Texas A&M. The duo, like Thomas, spent two years coming in the Junior College Division both for South Plains.