Blake, Tapper, McLeod on show at Ostrava Golden Spike
Published:Tuesday | May 31, 2022 | 12:47 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
As the road to the 2022 World Athletics Championships continues, 2011 World 100 metres champion Yohan Blake headlines a small field of Jamaicans who will look to improve their season’s best times at today’s 61st Ostrava Golden Spike Meet in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
The fifth event of the World Athletics Continental Tour campaign will see Blake line up in the second group of the men’s 100m, where he will be facing Great Britain’s Zharnel Hughes, as well as African champion Akani Simbine of South Africa at 10:35 a.m. Jamaica time. Blake is coming off his Diamond League season debut in Birmingham on May 21, where he finished second in 10.18 seconds. With the National Trials set to take place in late June, the meet is a part of his continued pursuit back to the top of men’s sprinting. Blake said after the Birmingham meet that he feels that he can challenge the strong pool of American sprinters this season.
“I am looking forward to the Trials and getting back to my best and challenging the top American sprinters. I have done it before and can do it again,” Blake said. “I want to stay hard to beat and move from being second-fastest in the world to be the fastest. I have been here before and I am used to the pressure.” Blake is coming off a second-place 200m finish in the Poznan Grand Prix last Friday in Poland.
Olympic 4x400m bronze medallist Candice McLeod will line up in the women’s 400m, starting at 10:45 a.m. Jamaica time, coming off her victory in the second event of the Jubilee Series on May 21 in Kingston. She clocked a season’s best time of 50.38 in that event. This will be McLeod’s third race outside of Jamaica, having competed in the Diamond League season opener in Doha on May 13, finishing fifth, and the Bermuda Games on April 9 where she placed second.
Tokyo Olympic 100m hurdles bronze medallist Megan Tapper will have a strong field to contend with in the women’s 100m hurdles, scheduled for 11:45 a.m. Jamaica time, as she faces Tokyo Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn and 2019 World champion Nia Ali. Tapper hopes to bounce back from her last race, where she did not finish the 100m hurdles final at the Liese Proko Memorial Meet in Austria on Thursday. Tapper had won her opening heat in that race in 13.02. Tapper currently has a season’s best time of 12.80.