Ryan Bachoo
ryan.bachoo@CNC3.co.tt
T&T athletes Kyle Greaux and Michelle-Lee Ahye finished down the field at the Diamond League in Shanghai, China on Saturday.
Running in the Men’s 200m event, Greaux got out of the starting blocks quickly but fell behind as the race progressed. Canadians Aaron Brown and Andre de Grasse led the field and set the pace throughout the race. Brown clocked a season-best time of 20.07 seconds to win the race while his countryman de Grasse finished second .14 seconds slower. South Africa’s Clarence Munyai nicked the bronze medal from Greaux, who finished fourth with a time of 20.40 seconds. The T&T sprinter has had better days this season, stopping the clock at 20.15 seconds at one point.
Three races later, reigning Commonwealth Games Women’s 100m gold medalist, Ahye, stepped in lane seven for the same event. There was a strong field for the race with Olympic champion Elaine Thompson running out of lane three while Nigeria’s 2008 Olympic silver medalist, Blessing Okagbare, was also in the mix. However, all eyes were on 23-year-old American sprint star Aleia Hobbs, who was making her Diamond League debut, and she did not disappoint.
While Ahye had a strong start to the race, she couldn’t quite carry it all the way through. Hobbs, on the other hand, kicked into another gear shortly after bursting out of the starting blocks. Ahye fell further behind as the race neared its end, finishing in the seventh position with a season-best time of 11.23 seconds. Hobbs also ran her season-best, winning in 11.03 seconds while Okagbare won silver .40 seconds behind. Thompson took third in 11.14 seconds.
In all, seven of the nine sprinters in the race ran season-best times.
<Gayle and McLeod cop gold>
Meanhile, Jamaicans Tajay Gayle and Omar McLeod both won their respective events, while sprint champion Elaine Thompson had to settle for bronze at the Shanghai Diamond League here Saturday morning.
Gayle claimed gold in the long jump while McLeod captured the men’s 110-metre hurdles.
Gayle’s winning leap was measured at 8.24 metres, with China’s Jianan Wang finishing second with a jump of 8.16 and Ruswahl Samaii of South Africa third with a leap of 8.14.
McLeod, the Olympic and World champion in the 110m hurdles, stormed to victory in 13.12 seconds ahead of hometown boy Wenjun Xie in 13.17 and Russia’s 2017 World Championship silver medal winner Sergey Shubenkov, who crossed the line in 13.28 seconds.
The news wasn’t as good for Thompson, the double Olympic sprint champion, who was competing in her first 100 metres race for the season.
Her time of 11.14 seconds was third fastest behind winner American Aleia Hobbs’ 11.03, and Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria who finished second in 11.07.
In other results, Stephenie-Ann McPherson ran fourth in the women’s 400 metres in a time of 51.39 seconds, while Nathon Allen’s time of 45.73 seconds was also good enough for fourth in the male equivalent.
Tyquendo Tracey struggled in the men’s 100m, clocking 10.18 for ninth place in the event, which was won by American Noah Lyles in a world-leading 9.86 seconds.
(CMC)