Williams wins 400m race in Luzern
Stacey Ann Williams was the only Jamaican winner at Tuesday’s Spitzen Leichtathletik at Stadion Allmend in Luzern, Switzerland, a World Athletics Continental Tour-Silver event.
Williams victory came in the women’s 400m.
There were high expectations going into the meet, one of the last before the Olympic Games in Paris. But fans were let down after Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Rasheed Broadbell both withdrew at the last minute.
The Jamaica Observer has learnt that Broadbell, who was set to contest the 110m hurdles, was not feeling well. There were no indication why Fraser-Pryce did not show up for what would have been her first race in Europe this season.
Williams, who was second at the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association National Championships and who is set to compete in an individual event at the Olympics for the first time, easily won the quarter-mile race, running 50.58 seconds. She beat Lisane deWitte of the Netherlands (51.99) and Anniha Fahr of Switzerland was third in 52.08.
There were two other podium finishes for Jamaican athletes. Lanae-Tava Thomas was second in the women’s 200m and Kemba Nelson was third in the women’s 100m.
Thomas ran 22.60 (-0.4m/s), beaten by Jessika Gbai of the Ivory Coast who ran 22.57. Switzerland’s Mujinga Kambundji taking third in 22.61.
Jodean Williams of Jamaica was fifth in 23.01, four days after she ran her lifetime best 22.69 at a meet in Belgium.
Three days after she ran 11.04 at another meet in Switzerland, Nelson led for a long time in the third heat before being edged on the line by Kambundji who ran 11.20 (-0.8m/s). Nelson timed 11.21.
New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs, who won the second heat in 11.17 (0.0m/s), was the overall winner.
Serena Cole ran a season’s best 11.24 (-0.8m/s) for fifth overall, followed by Shashalee Forbes (11.31) in eighth place, the same time awarded to Jodean Williams who was ninth. Krystal Sloley ran 11.38 and Briana Williams clocked 11.50.
Ackelia Smith was fourth in the women’s long jump with a best mark of 6.61m (-0.3m/s) as Switzerland’s Annik Kalin won a close contest with 6.65m (-0.2m/s), just ahead of American Monae Nichols, who recorded 6.64m (-0.3m/s), and Colombia’s Natalia Linares, who attained 6.61m (-0.3m/s).
The Colombian had a better second jump than Smith, 6.60m to 6.45m.
Former national champion and World Championships relay bronze medallist Rohan Watson was ninth in the men’s 100m in 10.32 (0.1m), while Michael Campbell was 12th in 10.37 (0.3m/s). Rusheen McDonald ran 47.41 in the 400m and teenager Gary Card clocked 21.32 (0.1m/s) in the men’s 200m.