2023 BLAZING IN BUDAPEST
THE END OF THE WORLDS FOR STEPHENIE-ANN AND YOHAN?
S tephenie‐Ann McPherson and Yohan Blake have a lot in common. Both have had long, storied careers in athlecs with proud moments at the World Championships. It’s something of a coincidence that we may never see them at the Worlds again. Quoted in mid‐day.com on January 13, Blake reportedly said, “doing the 200, 100 and relays simply takes a lot out of you, so these are the events I want to focus on.” In the same interview, Jamaica’s 33‐year‐old sprinter pinpointed the moment when he will leave championship athlecs. “Paris 2024 should be my last dance,” he specified with regard to next year’s Olympic Games. That would close a track career that has seen Blake win gold in the 100 at the 2011 World Championship, two silvers at the 2012 Olympics and scorch mes which make him the second fastest man of all me at 100 and 200 metres. McPherson, speaking in May at the Naonal Stadium, spoke of her own future: “I’ve been doing this for a very long me. I think this year is my last year.” Later in the same conversaon, the 400‐metre ace who has bronze medals from both the outdoor and indoor World Championships, clarified her intent. The 34‐year‐ old explained, “I said that maybe this year is my last year. I don’t think I want to come back. This year should be my last year.”
Despite some good performances this season, Blake will not make it to Budapest, and his outing at the 2022 Oregon World Championships may have been his last. He plans to retire after the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
Slowed by an early‐season niggle, McPherson missed the final of the women’s 400 metres while Blake was a vicm of the zero tolerance false start rule in the opening round of the 100 metres. If these enduring heroes follow through on these statements, they won’t be around for the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan. Thankfully, they have given us many memorable moments to savour. McPherson crossed the line in fourth place in the 400 at her first World Championships, the 2023 staging in the Moscow but later received the bronze medal as Antonina Krivoshapka was struck from those results for a doping violaon. Since then, McPherson has reached four more World Championship finals, led a Jamaica 1‐2‐3 at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and reached two Olympic finals. It’s a por olio laced with consistency. Her speed has also
made her a staple on Jamaica’s 4x400‐metre relay squad and in the 2015 Beijing Worlds, she helped the team to a stunning upset victory over the USA for gold. The MVP Track Club loyalist pinpoints 2021 as her best season. First, she lowered her lifeme best to 49.61 seconds to win her third Naonal tle in Kingston and then went even faster in Tokyo at the Olympic Games. “In my semifinals when I got the instrucons just to run the first 300, I think I would have broken the naonal record but unfortunately in the final I got hurt, but I am grateful,” she recounted of her performances at the 2021 Olympics. That eased‐down semifinal took just 49.34 seconds and registered third on the all‐me Jamaica performance table.
“That year was my best year,” she underscored.
Both were struck down at the Naonal Championships in July.
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