Home Articles Strong winds and creditable performances highlight USATF Bermuda Grand Prix

Articles

Strong winds and creditable performances highlight USATF Bermuda Grand Prix

April 28, 2024

Bermuda Grand Prix Ready for Budapest 23 ... Jaydon Hibbert of Jamaica is the winner of the men's triple jump at the Cali22 World Athletics U20 Championships. He won with a championship record of 17.27m — Jaydon Hibbert

DEVONSHIRE, Bermuda – The USATF Bermuda Grand Prix on Sunday, 28 April 2024, witnessed a few established and rising stars kick off their Paris Olympic campaigns with morale-boosting performances in breezy conditions at the Flora Duffy South Field Stadium.

ALSO READ: Sha’Carri Richardson Falls Short Again in Shanghai/Suzhou Diamond League

Multiple world champion Noah Lyles led the way, producing a commanding run to burst the tape at 9.96 seconds (+3.0m/s) to bring the curtains down in the men’s 100m. Lyles took his time to separate from the field but gradually asserted his dominance midway through the race. Canada’s Aaron Brown (10.09) finished second, just ahead of American Pjai Austin at 10.10.

American Tamari Davis, one of the five women to dip below 11 seconds this season, dispatched the field with consummate ease in the women’s 100m. Davis, a 4x100m sprint relay gold medallist at last year’s Budapest World Championships, won the event by daylight in 11.04 seconds (+2.2 m/s). It was a photo finish to determine second through fourth, with the American Kortnei Johnson (11.27) edging the Jamaican pair Alana Reid (11.29) and Kemba Nelson (11.30).

Earlier in the day, Jamaica’s wunderkind Jaydon Hibbert, using an eight-step run-up, bounded to a wind-assisted 17.33m (+4.3 m/s) on his first attempt in the men’s triple jump. The mark was enough to win the competition. Hibbert, competing for the first time since his injury at the Budapest World Championships, decided to forego the second, fourth, and fifth rounds to give his body sufficient time to rest.

Jamaica’s Shiann Salmon, competing in her first 400m hurdles race this season, found another gear after clearing the 10^th and final hurdle to power away from American Cassandra Tate to win in 56.59 seconds. Tate registered 57.04 to claim second.

Jamaica’s 4x400m relay specialist, Stacey-Ann Williams, produced a commanding run to win the women’s 400m in 51.71 seconds. Kirani James had a similarly wide margin of victory in the men’s equivalent. James registered 46 seconds flat, with his nearest competitor, Alonzo Russell of the Bahamas, more than a second behind in 47.05.

Two-time Commonwealth Games champion Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago prevailed in a fiercely contested men’s 200m race with American Matthew Boling. A massive tailwind of 4.9 m/s pushed both Richards (20.39) and Boling (20.42).

The talented Abby Steiner appeared cautious in her first 200m of the season, winning in 22.71 seconds (+3.0 m/s). Steiner, who missed out on making the American team to last year’s world championships, seems on a mission of redemption.

Elsewhere, American Monae’ Nichols cut the sand at 6.91m (+4.0 m/s) to win the women’s long jump. Jamaica’s Chanice Porter claimed second with 6.62m (3.9 m/s).