Jamaican trio registers wins at Swiss meet
A trio of Jamaicans — led by two-time Olympic Games sprint double gold medallist Elaine Thompson-Herah, who ran her first sub-11:00 seconds 100m of the season — was winners at Monday’s Gala dei Castelli-Bellinzona at Stadio Comunale in Switzeralnd, a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting.
Men’s 4x100m relay bronze medallist Oblique Seville won the men’s 100m, and Natoya Goule-Toppin ran a season’s best and meet record 1:57.53 minutes to win the women’s 800m.
There were also podium finishes for sprinter Shashalee Forbes, hurdler Orlando Bennett and discus thrower Fedrick Dacres.
Thompson-Herah, who had run 11.00 seconds at the Zurich Diamond League meeting on Thursday, ran 10.92 seconds (0.0m/s) to win the women’s 100m, beating Imani Lansiquot of Great Britain who ran a personal best 10.99 seconds, while Gina Bass of Gambia was third with 11.12 seconds.
Jamaican Forbes finished sixth with 11.20 seconds in the 100m, but was second in the 200m in a season’s best 22.74 seconds (0.2m/s), her third-best mark over the distance.
American Tamara Clarke won the event with 22.64 seconds while Italy’s World Championships semi-finalist Dalia Kaddari was third in 22.86 seconds.
Seville, who was running for the first time since the men’s 4x100m relays at the World Championships, won the men’s 100m in 10.01 seconds (-0.1m/s), beating Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala who ran 10.04 seconds, while Holland’s Taymir Burnet just missed his lifetime best of 10.11 while winning the first section with 10.12 seconds (0.0m/s).
Ryiem Forde, a member of the Jamaican bronze medal-winning men’s 4x100m relay team, was ninth in 10.28 seconds.
Goule-Toppin ran a meet record and season’s best 1:57.53 seconds to top the women’s 800m, her seventh-best time ever, to beat American Addison Wiley who ran 1:57.64 for second and Switzerland’s Audrey Werro, who was third with 1:58.13s, both personal best efforts.
Bennett was third in the 110m hurdles with 13.40 seconds (0.2m/s) as Switzerland’s Jason Joseph won with 13.18 seconds and Senegal’s Louis Francois Mendy third in 13.29 seconds.
Dacres, who was fifth at the World Championships, finished third in the men’s discus throw with 66.19m, Sweden’s World Championships gold medallist Daniel Stahl won with 67.24m, while Slovenia’s world leader and World Championships silver medallist Kristjan Ceh was second with 67.15m.