Ackeem Blake wins 60m bronze, breaks seven-year men’s sprint medal drought
KINGSTON, Jamaica— Ackeem Blake took the bronze medal in the men’s 60m final, running 6.46 seconds as Jamaica opened their medal count at the World Athletics Indoor Championships at the Glasgow Arena in Scotland on Friday.
The 22-year-old who finished behind two Americans Christian Coleman, who set a world leading 6.41 seconds and Noah Lyles- 6.44 seconds, became the first Jamaican man since Asafa Powell in Portland, Oregon in 2016, to win a medal in the event.
He also broke a seven- year drought since a Jamaican man won a medley in the short sprint at any senior global championships since 2017 when Usain Bolt was third in the men’s 100m at the World Championships in London.
Blake, who was a semi-finalist in the 100m at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon in 2022, had won his first round race in 6.55 seconds and his semi-final race in 6.51 seconds.
-Paul A Reid
