Seville feeling no pressure to match Bolt, Blake
JAMAICA’S 2022 World Athletics Championships 100m finalist Oblique Seville says he is feeling no pressure to live up to the standards set by his immediate sprinting predecessors such as treble world record holder Usain Bolt and 2011 World Championships 100m gold medallist Yohan Blake.
Minutes after he ran 9.99 seconds (-0.2m/s) to win the men’s 100m at the inaugural adidas Atlanta City Games in Atlanta, Georgia, on Saturday, on an elevated track at Centennial Park, Seville was asked if he felt the need to continue Jamaica’s male dominance in the short sprint.
“I don’t feel any pressure,” he said. “We all do what we can do.”
Seville, the only Jamaican winner at the event, just got to the finish line ahead of South Africa’s Akani Simbine who clocked 10.01 seconds, with Zharnel Hughes of Great Britain taking third and also clocking 10.01 seconds, a season’s best for him.
Jamaica’s Ryiem Forde was fourth in 10.07 seconds, his second personal best of the day after he ran 10.12 seconds (0.1m/s) in the preliminaries.
Forde came into the meet with a 10.18 seconds personal best set in Boston in 2021.
Seville had run 10.03 seconds (0.1m/s) in the first round.
Natoya Goule was second in the women’s 600m that was run on the road, clocking 1:28.18 minutes, behind American Ajee Wilson who won with 1:27.00 minutes. Rajay Hamilton was third in the men’s 600m in 1:17.94 minutes.
Ashanti Moore equalled her personal best 11.10 seconds (1.0m/s) in the preliminaries of the women’s 100m, and again in the final in which she was third place behind Americans Aleia Hobbs (10.99 seconds), and Mikiah Briscoe (11.01 seconds).
Antonio Watson was fourth in the men’s 150m straight, running 14.93 seconds (0.3m/s), while Remona Burchell was second in the women’s ‘B’ race in 16.73 seconds (0.1m/s).
Former 100m hurdles World Champion Danielle Williams and Crystal Morrison failed to get past the first round of that event; Williams ran 12.92 seconds (0.9m/s) for fourth in her race while Morrison ran 13.33 seconds (1.0m/s), also placing fourth.
Damion Thomas ran a season’s best 13.60 seconds (0.4m/s) in the 110m hurdles race for fifth in his heat and ninth overall.
