media_artricles :: 2018

Richards happy to duck under 20-seconds

T&T's international sprinting sensation Jereem 'The Dream" Richards recorded a season's best 19.99 seconds to finish second in the men's 200 metres run on debut at the 2018 edition of the IAAF Diamond League meeting which fired off in Doha, Qatar, yesterday.

The race was won by American Noah Lyles, the 20-year-old waited until the field entered the top of the stretch before deciding to pounce, forging ahead to finish unthreatened in 19.83 seconds, another meeting record. It was also a lifetime best, eclipsing the 19.90 he ran in Shanghai one year ago.

Richards, the reigning Commonwealth Games champion over the same distance produced a good finish to hold off world champion Ramil Guliyev of Turkey came in third in 20.11 seconds.

Speaking to Guardian Media Sports after the race Richards said, "I felt really good, I'm not that satisfied with the results, but I'm definitely proud and glad to go under twenty seconds. This is the second time that I have done it legally. I know that there are some things that I need to work on like getting out on the turn because the 100 metres guys are not making it easy for me. I definitely have a lot of work to do coming home, but it's a really good start. I think I am ahead of where I was at this time last year, and I finished healthy. All praise to God because he gave me the talent to go out there and perform, so I'm definitely thankful for this first experience on the Diamond League circuit."

New NR, MR as Gardiner wins in style

Meanwhile, World Championship silver medallist Steven Gardiner opened the 2018 Diamond League season in style, resetting the Bahamas national record and posting a new record, to win the men's 400 metres.

The 22-year-old clocked a world-leading 43.87 seconds to win the event, with Qatar's Abdalleleh Haroun trailing in second in 44.50 and Botswana's Isaac Makwala third in 44.92.

Gardiner's time also represented a personal best and it shaved 200th of a second off his own national record set last year at the London World Championships when he was second to South African wonder kid Wayde van Niekerk.

With van Niekerk missing, the stage was set for Gardiner to dominate and he obliged. Running out of lane five, he tracked Haroun and Makwala for perhaps the first 300 metres before bursting through the final turn to dismiss his challengers in the stretch.

Reigning Olympic champion, Elaine Thompson, meanwhile also failed to make an impact in the women's 100 metres, coming home third in 10.93 seconds as Marie-Josée Ta Lou of Côte d'Ivoire took the win in 10.95 seconds.

Nigeria's Blessing Okagbare was second in 10.90. (CMC)

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