…establishes new national record
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, (CMC) – A lifetime-best dash from Richard Thompson made the men’s 100 metres at this year’s World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, even more mouth-watering. The 26-year-old sprinter Thompson raised eyebrows, when he scorched 9.85 seconds on the first day of the Trinidad & Tobago national championships on Saturday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.

Thompson, silver medallist over the distance at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, showed his class, finishing ahead of Keston Bledman (10.06 secs) and Aaron Armstrong (10.07) in a high-quality field that also included Marc Burns, Emmanuel Callender, Darrel Brown, and Rondel Sorrillo.

The result meant that Thompson, also known as “Torpedo”, established a new national record in the 100, eclipsing Ato Boldon’s 13-year-old mark of 9.86, as well as a new meet and stadium record.

“The national record was not the goal coming into the race today, but I’m very glad I was able to achieve it,” said Thompson, whose victory comes against the backdrop of the National Association of Athletics Administrations turning down his request to skip the meet.

“This is just a bonus. Sometimes in life, when you’re trying too hard, you’re not able to accomplish it. That was the case in the past.”

“I was trying too hard to get under 10 seconds, and this weekend, when I was most relaxed, I was able to achieve it. I’m just thankful to God, family, friends, and fans for coming out to support. I was able to feed off the energy from the crowd.”

Before a crowd of 6,000-plus, Thompson benefitted from a sound start, and had the race wrapped up at the 60-metre mark
“I knew coming into the race, Bledman was going to be my main competition,” he said. “When I reached 60, and I was ahead of him, I knew I had him.

“God does everything for a reason. If I didn’t come home this weekend, I would not have gotten the national record this weekend. I’m thankful for the 9.85, and most of all, coming out injury free, and qualifying for Daegu.”

In comparison, the rest of the evening was quite pedestrian, with American collegiate stand-out Semoy Hackett, clocking a wind-assisted 11 seconds flat to capture the women’s 100. Teenagers Kai Selvon (11.19) and Michelle-Lee Ahye (11.20) finished second and third, respectively.

Renny Quow, bronze medallist at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, Germany, underlined his superiority, when he comfortably won the men’s 400 final with a time of 45.89.

Elsewhere, Puerto Rico’s Miguel Lopez (10.31) and Tameka Williams of St. Kitts & Nevis (11.52) won the invitational 100 metres.
Oral Thompson of Jamaica clocked 46.17 to take the invitational men’s 400, and compatriot Richard Phillips ran 13.61 in the 110 hurdles.

Carlos Morgan of the Cayman Islands won the long jump with a leap of 7.54 metres, and Barbadian Justin Cummins hurled 68.69m in the javelin.
The T&T national championships, which concluded yesterday, is preparation for this year’s World Championships that take place from August 27 to September 4.