ACKEEM Blake opened Jamaica’s medal count at the World Athletics Indoor Championships at Glasgow Arena in Scotland when he won a bronze medal in the men’s 60m, running 6.46 seconds and finishing behind the American duo of Christian Coleman and Noah Lyles on
Friday.

The 22-year-old, who was winning Jamaica’s fourth medal in the event following silver medals from Michael Green in 1997 in Paris, France; Nesta Carter in 2012 in Istanbul, Turkey; and Asafa Powell in 2016 in Portland, Oregon, USA, was winning his first senior, global, individual medal.

Coleman, who was winning his second World Indoor gold medal and third medal overall, won in a world-leading 6.41 seconds and Lyles, the World Athletics Championships triple gold medallist, was second in 6.44s.

Blake, the Hanover native who trains with Michael Frater, was impressive through the rounds in winning his first two races, 6.55s in the first round and then 6.51s in the semi-finals, which ended a seven-year drought by Jamaican men in the short sprint at the senior global level.

Jamaica’s Danniel Thomas-Dodd competes in the women’s shot put final during the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, on Friday.(Photo: AFP)

Until Friday, Usain Bolt was the last Jamaican man to win a global senior medal in the short sprints when he won the bronze at the World Athletics Championships in London in 2017.

Many-time national champion and record holder in both indoor and outdoor shot put, Danniel Thomas-Dodd was sixth in the women’s shot put with a best of 19.12m, the same mark and position she produced two years ago in Belgrade.

It also equalled her third-best indoor throw, behind her national indoor record 19.52m set in Iowa in April last year.

Rajindra Campbell failed to make a legal throw in the men’s shot put final, the second-straight major final at which the double shot put record holder — indoor and outdoor — had failed to record a legal throw after he also fouled out last August’s World Championships final in Budapest, Hungary.

National men’s outdoor 400m record holder Rusheen McDonald qualified for Saturday’s final, his first at the senior level, after he ran back-to-back personal bests with 46.02s in the semi-finals in which he was second to Norway’s Karsten Warholm who ran a season’s best 45.86s.

In the first round McDonald had run 46.25 seconds for second, then a personal best.

Stacy Ann Williams and Charokee Young both failed to make it to the 400m final. Williams finished fifth in her semi-final heat in 52.72s while Young was fifth in her first-round race in 53.04 seconds, and failed to advance.

Many-time national champion Natoya Goule-Toppin advanced to Saturday’s semi-final after she ran a season’s best 2:00.83 minutes for second in her first-round heat.

Goule-Toppin — who was fourth two years ago in Belgrade, Serbia — finished behind Ethiopia’s Habitam Alemu who won with 2:00.50 minutes, with Kenya’s Vivian Chebet Kiprotich third in a personal-best 2:00.86 minutes.

The semi-finals are set for 7:20 am Jamaica time on Saturday.

Another six Jamaicans will make their first appearance on Saturday. Shashalee Forbes and Briana Williams compete in the women’s 60m; Tajay Gayle and Carey McLeod in the men’s long jump, and Damion Thomas and Tyler Mason in the men’s 60m hurdles.