Clayton, Blake notch 60-metre wins at Gibson McCook
MVP Track Club's Tina Clayton and Titans’ Ackeem Blake registered wins on the track and earned hefty paydays in their 60-metre events at the Gibson McCook Relays this evening at the National Stadium.
In a reshuffled women's final, Clayton earned her purse by being the quickest over the course of two timed finals, clocking a wind-assisted 7.02 seconds, ahead of Sprintec's Sashalee Forbes, who stopped the clock in 7.03.
Forbes’ teammate, Remona Burchell, was third in 7.04.
The final had to be split after the blocks in the first heat were incorrectly placed at 70 metres. As a result, everybody from the first heat were sent to a final, with the top eight from another two heats, making up a second final.
Blake won the men's 60-metre title after edging out Racer's Oblique Seville. Both clocked 6.42 and could not be separated from a photo finish but Blake (.414) had a faster reaction time than Seville (.419). Blake’s time was quicker than his previous personal best of 6.61.
Zharnel Hughes, Blake's teammate, was third in 6.45.
Blake and Clayton earned $US10,000 ($1.514 million) for their respective victories as part of the improved prize money for the 60m events.
A total of $US50,000 ($7.7 million) was shared among the eight finalists in both events as part of the 50th-anniversary celebrations.
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