Blake targets rarefied air
Takes on bid to drop more than a second from 800m time
Published:Thursday | April 21, 2022 | 12:12 AMRobert Bailey/Gleaner Writer
JAMAICA’S OUTSTANDING middle-distance junior runner J’Voughnn Blake says he will be using the current break to give his body some much-needed rest as he set his sights on breaking the one minute and 46-second mark in the 800 metres this year.
Blake, who has been having an outstanding season, won the coveted 1500 and 800-metre double at the Carifta Games at the National Stadium just this weekend, a week after achieving the same feat at ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships.
Despite those heady exploits, Blake, a student at Jamaica College (JC), is yet to achieve the major goal he set for himself this season: 1:46.00. The 19-year-old’s season and personal best time over the distance is 1:47.62.
Blake said that he tried his best at the Carifta Games to achieve 1:46.00, but his body would not hold up.
“I am very disappointed with it actually. I guess my body is tired and it is hard to carry the pace on my own,” said Blake.
“I am still pleased having gone through Champs last week and this week again. I think I just need to rest and recover,” he said.
Blake’s time has ranked him fourth in the world this year among the juniors, behind the world leader Emmanuel Wanyonyi from Kenya, who has run 1:45.56 this season.
He pointed out that he is hoping that he will be able to hit the 1:46 mark before or at the National Trials this year.
Jamaica will be holding junior trials with a bid to having a team represent the country at the World Junior Championships in Cali, Colombia, in August.
“I am definitely trying to hit that target of 1:46 by then, and I have time to do it,” Blake said.
“I believe in my coach, but I should have been able to get it by now, but I will wait patiently, so I should be in tip-top shape by then,” he said.
“That first lap (Carifta Games) was too slow - it should have been 52 flat – but I am not worrying about hitting that target before the World Juniors.
“I just need to keep doing what I am doing now, getting a little bit more rest, and then I should be fine,” Blake said.