'A very good feeling'

"It's a very good feeling running sub-44 seconds. I knew I would run fast, but I never imagined it would be this fast. All I can say is I'm happy and God deserves all the glory," Akeem Bloomfield said after his second-place finish on Friday night at the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division 1 Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Bloomfield became the second fastest Jamaican ever in the event, just missing Rusheen McDonald's National record of 43.93 seconds set in 2015, after his 43.94 clocking. The former Kingston College man is now ranked number three in the world in the event.

Fastest-ever race

The race was also the fastest ever in college history as the top three all got personal best times. America Michael Norman, representing the University of Southern California, won in an impressive 43.61 for the fastest time in collegiate history, breaking a one-year-old mark of 43.70 set by Fred Kerley. Bloomfield's teammate and fellow Jamaican, Nathon Allen, clocked 44.13 for third.

"My race plan was to go out fast and try to end strong as I still have some issues with my finish that need to be worked on. I ran a hard 250m and that produced a wonderful time for me," Bloomfield said when asked about his race strategy.

Several weeks before the Championships, there were doubts surrounding Bloomfield's participation in the NCAA Division 1 meet as he was pulled from the SEC final, but he stated that the move was a precautionary one by his handlers.

"I was having hamstring spasms at SEC, so they pulled me from the final. They didn't want it to develop into something worse," Bloomfield added.