Kishane Thompson could surprise Diamond League finalists

WHILE THE attention will be focused on the American duo of world champion Noah Lyles and Christian Coleman, as well as Botwana’s Letsile Tebogo in this Saturday’s men’s 100 metres at the Diamond League final in Eugene, Oregon, Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson is threatening to surprise.

Lyles, who ran an impressive 9.83 seconds to tie the world lead and win the event in Budapest, is favourite. The fast-starting Coleman, who finished a disappointing fifth after a blistering start, will be coming to recoup losses.

In his last Diamond League run in Xiamen, China, Coleman got another blinding start but just did enough to hold off the fast-finishing Thompson, who clocked a personal best 9.85 seconds. The time makes him the fastest Jamaican this season.

In Xiamen, there were also Fred Kerley of the United States and Jamaica’s trio of Ackeem Blake, Yohan Blake, and Rohan Watson well beaten.

At this stage of his career, the 22-year-old Thompson, the most improved male sprinter in the country, seems to relish a one-off run. He showed this at the National Senior Championships in June when he clocked a then personal best 9.91 seconds to win in his preliminary round of the event but did not show for the next round as a precaution against injury.

If Thompson can improve on his relatively slow start in Oregon, he could pull off a major coup to claim what would be his first major success.