Campbell smashes national record, Shelly stays consistent in Madrid
Published:Sunday | July 23, 2023 | 12:12 AMDaniel Wheeler - Staff Reporter
WHILE FIVE-TIME world 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce showed consistency in winning her second 100m race of the season, it was national shot put champion Rajindra Campbell who made headlines in a record-breaking performance at the Meeting De Madrid in Madrid, Spain, yesterday.
Campbell won that men’s shot put in a national and meet record-breaking performance of 22.22 metres, becoming the first Jamaican to throw 22m in history.
Campbell’s record broke O’Dayne Richards’s 21.96, set in 2017.
The United States’ Roger Steen was second with 21.33, while Nigeria’s Chunkwuebuka Enekwechi was third with a put of 21.30. Campbell’s previous personal best was 21.31, done two months ago.
In the process, Campbell also secured his place at next month’s World Championships having surpassed the World Championship qualifying standard of 21.40. His 22.22 mark is the 22nd-best throw of all time.
Meanwhile, two days after opening her 100m season with a 10.82-second win in Switzerland, Fraser-Pryce hit the tape first again, clocking 10.83 for victory. Jael Bestue of Spain was second in 11.10 and Sashalee Forbes was third in 11.11.
While acknowledging that she is not at full strength because of the knee injury suffered in May, Fraser-Pryce said it is about being able to maximise her opportunities as she prepares to defend her title at the World Championships.
“It is not 100 per cent but it is what it is. There are so many athletes that are dealing with different things. So for me, it is just to mentally prepare myself to stand on the line and give it 100 per cent. I can’t focus on the things I can’t control right now. I just focus on what I can do and maximise on those things,” Fraser-Pryce said in the post-race interview.
In the men’s 200m, Julian Forte was second in a season’s best effort of 20.35, behind winner Luxolo Adams of South Africa. Nigel Ellis was fifth in 20.79. Tyler Mason was fourth in the men’s 110m hurdles in 13.41 with Orlando Bennett, fifth in 13.43. Switzerland’s Jason Joseph won in a personal best effort of 13.10.
Olympic bronze medallist Megan Tapper was victorious in the women’s 100m hurdles, clocking 12.69 for victory. Tonea Marshall of the United States was second in 12.74 while Liberia’s Ebony Morrison was third in a season’s best effort of 12.81.
In the field, two-time Commonwealth Games champion Kimberly Williams was eighth in the women’s triple jump in 13.71.