Hudson considers shortest sprint for National Trials

ANDREW HUDSON is definitely a 200-metre specialist.

At 19.87 seconds, he is the joint ninth fastest Jamaican of all time and he has twice won the National Championships 200-metre title. However, you might just see him in the 100 at next year’s nationals.

Early in 2023, the 27-year-old Hudson lowered his 100-metre personal best from 10.13 seconds to 10.12 and then after a barely wind-aided 10.05, the rangy Jamaican recorded 10.07 seconds in Miramar, Florida, on April 6.

Asked recently if a sub-10 clocking might tempt him to try the 100 at the 2024 nationals, he replied, “every 100 I raced in, personal best. The way racing was going and training was going, I expected myself to go sub-10 for the first time in my career.”

Then he added, “I never saw myself as a 100-metre runner, so the fact that I was up there with the likes of Oblique Seville and PB, I definitely thought I could break 10 seconds last year.”

Seville won the heat in 9.95 seconds, ahead of American Ronnie Baker and Hudson.

However, a setback changed his outlook. “It’s unfortunate what happened with my injury,” said Hudson.

“But if I do run sub-10, then I’ll definitely take a shot at it at the Trials to at least attempt to be on the relay team.”

The setback was a grade two quadriceps strain that wiped out his training and racing for most of April, all of May and June. He returned to racing in July by repeating his 2022 win at the nationals over 200 metres.

Ironically, both victories came in 20.11 seconds, with Yohan Blake the runner-up in 2022 and Rasheed Dwyer second in 2023.

In 2022, his national transfer from the United States to Jamaica, the land of his father, came through too late for him to contest the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. He, instead, represented Jamaica for the first time at the NACAC Open Championships in Freeport, Bahamas, and won the 200 in an impressive 19.87 seconds, a personal benchmark.

In 2023, he did run at the World Championships, moving easily into the semis. However, on his way to the semi, the golf cart transporter he was in crashed. “We saw a cart coming quickly to the left of us and at the last second, I realised it was going to hit us. The front of the golf cart windshield, regular glass or plexi grass, splintered everywhere,” he said.

“The main part was the glass hitting my face and into my eyes,” the sprinter recounted.

He ran bravely to fifth place in the Budapest semi and was advanced to the final where he finished eighth. Understandably, he sought treatment quickly. “Came back to the US and went to a specialist and blessed that everything checked out and I’m well and fine.”