Thompson-Herah, Parchment lead Jamaica charge in Zurich

OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS Elaine Thompson-Herah and Hansle Parchment lead a 12-strong contingent of Jamaicans into battle in Zurich, Switzerland, for the final Diamond League meet of the season, September 8 and 9.

The group includes Stephenie-Ann McPherson, who will contest her first Diamond League race since injuring herself in the Olympic 400-metre final last month.

Danniel Thomas-Dodd, the 2019 World silver medallist, will get the ball rolling in the shot put on September 8. After an early exit at the Olympics, Thomas-Dodd will want to excel here despite a modest season.

Thompson-Herah and Parchment go to Zurich after winning at the Paris Diamond League meeting on August 28. Thompson-Herah blitzed the 100 metres in 10.72 seconds in Paris, and Parchment sliced over the 110-metre hurdles in 13.03 seconds.

Incidentally, American female sprint star Evelyn Ashford set a world-record 10.76 seconds in the 100 metres in 1984, weeks after winning the Olympic gold medal in Los Angeles. Her US countrywoman, Florence Griffith Joyner, would lower that world record in 1988 with a 10.49-second clocking at the US Nationals.

Meet records

Ashford, Yohan Blake, Usain Bolt and Merlene Ottey hold the Zurich meet records in the sprints.

Some other Jamaicans down to compete for the season-ending Diamond jackpot are Olympic bronze medallists Megan Tapper, Ronald Levy and Shericka Jackson, Olympic finalists Shanieka Ricketts, Kimberly Williams, Natoya Goule and McPherson, and 2015 World champion Danielle Williams.

After winning in Poland on Sunday, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce pointed towards running again in Zurich tomorrow. However, up to yesterday her name was not entered in the women’s 100 metres start list.

McPherson, meanwhile, injured a hamstring in a fourth-place effort in Tokyo and returned to action in Italy on the weekend, clocking 50.78 seconds.

In 2019, Ricketts upset Venezuelan star Yulimar Rojas in the triple jump and grabbed the US$50,000 jackpot.

One of the hottest races of the meet will pit repeat Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon of Kenya against World champion Sifan Hassan of Holland over 1500 metres.

Parchment’s time in Paris was his fastest of the season and just 0.02 off the best by a Jamaican in 2021 - 13.01 seconds by 2016 Olympic champion Omar McLeod. The tall Port Morant native’s return to form comes as he sets foot inside a venue that has seen five world records in his event, including the first ever sub-13 clocking in 1981.

TOP ZURICH PERFORMANCES

TOP 5 MEN’S 100

9.76 +1.4 Yohan Blake 30/08/2012

9.77 +1.0 Asafa Powell 18/08/2006 - WR

9.81 ±0.0 Usain Bolt 28/08/2009

9.82 ±0.0 Yohan Blake 08/09/2011

9.84 +1.0 Tyson Gay 18/08/2006

TOP 5 WOMEN’S 100

10.76 +1.7 Evelyn Ashford 22/08/1984 WR

10.77 -0.9 Marion Jones 12/08/1998

10.83 -0.4 Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce 30/08/2012

10.84 +1.7 Marlies Göhr 22/08/1984

10.85 +0.4 Veronica Campbell-Brown 19/08/2005

TOP 5 MEN’S 200

19.66 ±0.0 Usain Bolt 30/08/2012

19.67 -0.2 Noah Lyles 30/08/2018

19.79 +0.4 Wallace Spearmon 19/08/2010

19.85 ±0.0 Nickel Ashmeade 30/08/2012

19.86 +0.4 Yohan Blake 19/08/2010

TOP 5 WOMEN’S 200

21.66 -1.0 Merlene Ottey 15/08/1990 NR

21.74 -0.4 Shaunae Miller-Uibo 29/08/2019 NR

21.76 -0.8 Marion Jones 13/08/1997

21.85 +0.2 Elaine Thompson-Herah 01/09/2016

21.86 +0.2 Dafne Schippers 01/09/2016

SPRINT HURDLES WORLD RECORDS IN ZURICH

13.2 Martin Lauer (FRG) 7 Jul 1959

13.2 Willie Davenport (USA) 4 Jul 1969

13.41 Rod Milburn (USA) 6 Jul 1973

12.93 Renaldo Nehemiah (USA) 19 Aug 1981

12.92 Roger Kingdom (USA) 16 Aug 1989