World Leading (WL) times were churned out at an impressive rate at the 2nd edition of the Chris Brown Bahamas Invitational as some of Track and Field’s best performers held fans spellbound with their remarkable exploits at the Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau.
No fewer than six WLs were set in the men and women’s categories of the 200m and 400m, as well as the men’s 400m Hurdles and Triple Jump events.
Home girl and 2015 World Silver medallist in the women’s 400m, Shaunae Miller scored one for the hosts as she took the victory in her event with a WL of 49.69s, much to the delight of the home crowd. USA’s Quanera Hayes finished 2nd with a Personal Best (PB) of 49.91s.
London 2012 Champion Kirani James kicked off his 2016 debut on a high, storming to a win with a scorching time of 44.36s to finish ahead of the highly experienced American pair of Tony McQuay (45.34s) and former Olympic Champion. Jeremy Wariner (45.55s).
Two-time World Champion in the men’s 400m, LaShawn Merritt demonstrated that he is just like wine that gets better with age. He performed an incredible feat in the 200m where he raced to a career best of 19.78s (+0.9), bettering his mark of 19.98s set almost nine years ago.
His compatriots Wallace Spearmon (20.40s) and Mike Rodgers (20.42s) were left trailing in his wake. It will be recalled that the Beijing 2008 GOLD medallist set a lifetime’s best of 43.65s enroute winning Silver behind South Africa’s Wayde Van Niekerk at last year’s World Championships.
In the women’s category, Tori Bowie stunned the rest of the field to take the race in a WL of 22.26s, with team mates Natasha Hastings and Joanna Atkins following in 2nd and 3rd in 22.57s and 22.68s respectively. Nigeria’s Olivia Ekpone placed 6th in the event with a time of 23.90s.
USA’s Johnny Dutch was the man to beat in the men’s 400m Hurdles which had two Nigerians, Miles Ukaoma and Amaechi Morton in action. The 2008 World Indoors Silver medallist dominated the race with the fastest time in the world this year, clocking 48.36s.
Javier Culson (49.12s) and homeboy Jeffery Gibson (49.16s) followed in 2nd and 3rd positions. Nigerian Champion Ukaoma placed 4th with a Season’s Best (SB) of 49.60s while Morton finished in 6th place in 49.77s.
Reigning World and Olympic Champion in the men’s Triple Jump, Christian Taylor leaped his way to the top of the 2016 standings with his mark of 17.11m as Troy Doris followed with his distance of 17.10m. Levan Sands of the Bahamas was 3rd in 16.63m, while Nigeria’s Tosin Oke placed 5th with 16.40m.
Justin Gatlin raced to the 100m title with a scorching but wind-aided time of 9.90s (+2.3), while Qatar’s Femi Ogunode and Adrian Griffith placed 2nd and 3rd respectively in 9.94s and 10.03s.
In the women’s event Trinidad and Tobago’s Michelle-Lee Ahye returned a time of 11.14s to lead the rest of the field comprising of the likes of Murielle Ahoure (11.16s), Veronica Campbell-Brown (11.17s) and Candyce McGrone (11.18s).
It was a USA 1-2-3 in the 110 Hurdles as David Oliver stormed to victory in 13.30s and was followed by Aleec Harris (13.32s) and Jason Richardson. The same scenario played out in the 100m Hurdles as Queen Harrison (12.64s), Sharika Nelvis (12.66s) and Jasmine Stowers (12.74s) emerged the Top 3 finishers in their event.
