Fri | May 3, 2024

300 not out

Published:Saturday | July 8, 2023 | 12:14 AMHubert Lawrence/Gleaner Writer
Kadrian Goldson of G.C. Foster College wins heat three of the men’s 100 metres preliminaries at the JAAA National Senior and Junior Championships on Thursday. Goldson clocked 9.94 seconds.
Kenyon Hemans
Kadrian Goldson of G.C. Foster College wins heat three of the men’s 100 metres preliminaries at the JAAA National Senior and Junior Championships on Thursday. Goldson clocked 9.94 seconds.

As the sun rose on Thursday, July 6, Jamaica’s male sprinters had logged 298 sub-10 second 100-metre times. Before the clock ticked past 10 p.m., that precious total reached 300 after some monumental races in the first round of the men’s 100 metres at the National Championships.

Generations after Raymond Stewart took the Jamaican record under 10 seconds in 1989, powerful Kishane Thompson of the MVP Track Club exploded from lane eight to stun patrons with a personal best of 9.91 seconds. Moments later, it appeared that Oblique Seville, the fourth-place finisher from last year’s World Championships, had broken 10 seconds, too, but his official time was 10.00.

The honour fell to Kadrian Goldson of the G.C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sport who showed an improved start and his usual strong finish to zoom 9.94 seconds. Not far behind with the 301st Jamaican sub-10 was another MVP surprise package Rohan Watson at 9.98 seconds.

Goldson is riding a wave of good form. The former Maggotty High School Boys’ Champs athlete was in last year’s National 100m final and has tumbled his personal best from 11.17 seconds in 2017 each year to 10.08 earlier this season. At the Penn Relays, he played a key role as G.C. Foster College won the Championship of America 4x200me relay after a runner-up finish in the 4x100m.

Not long after that triumph, speaking in reference to work on the training ground supervised by coach Maurice Wilson, he said: “We’ve been working on my start from early season, working, working, working, increasing my power, increasing my strength, working on the start. So, once I get the first 30 metres right, the rest will come along just fine.”

Everything was ‘just fine’ as Goldson made history on July 6.

Three giants from the Golden Age of Jamaican sprinting – 2005-2016 – have contributed mightily to the milestone. Asafa Powell compiled 97 sub-10s in a career in which he twice set new world records and in which he twice won bronze medals at the World Championships. The incomparable Usain Bolt scored below the 10-second barrier 52 times, and 2011 World Champion Yohan Blake damaged the so-called barrier in 46 different races.

The only nation with more sub-10 races than Jamaica is the United States of America.