Hudson proved himself at NACAC

When Andrew Hudson crossed the line the victor over 200 metres at last weekend’s North American Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Championships in the Bahamas, his time of 19.87 seconds provided evidence that he would have been a factor at the recent World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. However, Hudson isn’t crying about spilt milk. Instead, he has a chance to prove himself against men who did run at the Worlds when he lines up to run in Switzerland at the Lausanne Diamond League meet today.

“It means a lot to come out here and win,” he told Jamaican track and field journalist Anthony Foster. “It’s my first time with Jamaica. I know I had goals for myself. Like I told you yesterday, I wanted to prove something to myself, and hopefully, with proving something to myself, I could prove something to my country Jamaica that I’m here to compete,” said a happy Hudson.

Competing for the USA, he placed sixth in the 2018 NACAC 200m. His time for Jamaica in The Bahamas made him the ninth fastest Jamaican of all time and he logged a personal best for the fifth season in a row, following times of 20.43 in 2017, 20.38 in 2018, 20.04 in 2019, and 20.02 seconds last year.

Those who saw him win the Nationals in Kingston in 20.10 seconds or in Memphis on July 30, where he dashed 20.03 seconds, might not have been so surprised.

“I skipped 19.9. I went straight to 19.8 like I wanted to do. I told my coach a couple of weeks ago after I went 20.03 fairly easy, I wasn’t going to run 19.9. I wanted to run faster, and I did,” he told Foster.

Asked if the 19.87 was a perfect race, the 25 year-old Hudson replied: “It really didn’t feel that fast. I was just trying to win because, you know, the wind was a little shifty. My goal was to win. I won, and with executing the race like my coach told me, a good time came out of it.”

Born to a Jamaican father in San Antonio, Texas, he applied to run for Jamaica this year, but his eligibility came through too late for Eugene and Birmingham.

Hudson will face World Champion Noah Lyles and four other Eugene finalists, including runner-up Erriyon Knighton and Commonwealth Games winner Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago.

Richards won the Commonwealth Games 200m in 19.80 seconds, with England’s Zharnel Hughes second in 20.12. In the Eugene final, five men broke 20 seconds.