Jamaica men’s trio qualify for 60m semifinals

2026-03-20 - 18:45

TORUN – Jamaica’s trio of Bryan Levell, Kishane Thompson and Ackeem Blake won their respective heats to ease into the semifinals of the men’s 60 metres at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in the morning session in Poland on Friday. Competing in Heat 3 of the opening round, Levell clocked 6.53 seconds to comfortably win ahead of Hungary’s Dominik Illovszky (6.58) and Toluwabori Akinola of Ireland (6.59). Thompson also cruised to victory in Heat 5, with his time of 6.56 seconds well ahead of second placed Ali Al Balushi of Oman in 6.62 seconds and Italy’s Filippo Randazzo in 6.63. Blake then captured the seventh and final heat in a time of 6.59 seconds, edging Cameroon’s Claude Bogognie into second (6.60), while Erik Cardoso of Brazil placed third in 6.64 seconds. Meanwhile, Trinidad and Tobago’s Jereem Richards and Jamaica’s Reheem Hayles both advanced to the semifinals of the men’s 400 metres. Richards finished second in Heat 1 in 46.10 seconds, behind winner Matheus Lima of Brazil (46.09), while Hayles was second in Heat 2 in 46.66 seconds. His compatriot Delano Kennedy missed out on advancing to the next round after placing third in a personal best time of 47.02 in Heat 3. In the women’s 800 metres, Jamaica’s Natoya Goule-Toppin advanced to the semis after placing second in Heat 2 in 2:01.32, but her teammate Kelly-Ann Beckford failed to make it through after finishing fourth in Heat 4 in 2:04.09. Caribbean athletes found the going tough in the men’s 800 metres, with none of them making it to the semifinals. Navasky Anderson of Jamaica was third in Heat 1 in 1:46.34, St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Handal Roban placed third in Heat 2 in 1:46.38, while Nathan Cumberbatch of T&T was fourth in Heat 4 in a new national record time of 1:46.95. Jamaica’s Lamara Distin finished 10th in the final of the women’s high jump with a leap of 1.85 metres. CMC