2023 BLAZING IN BUDAPEST
McPherson took the Jamaica indoor record from 50.93 by Sandie Richards in 1993 to 50.79 in a bronze medal effort at the 2022 World Indoor Championships. “That record was there for a very long me. Even if I never medaled, all I wanted to do was to break the naonal indoor record and I did that,” McPherson reflected. We’ve watched Blake develop from being a star high school sprinter to World Champion in 2011. Famously, his superstar compatriot Usain Bolt was charged with a false start in the 100‐metre final but Blake, then just 21, kept his cool and secured the gold medal for Jamaica in 9.92 seconds. It was no buck‐up. He lost only one 100‐metre race all season – a 0.01 reversal to Asafa Powell at the Naonal Championships – reeled off twin 9.82s in Zurich and Berlin and stunned the world with the second fastest 200 race of all me, a mind‐ boggling run clocked at 19.26 seconds in Brussels. Accordingly, Track & Field News acclaimed him as number 1 in the world in the 100 metres. In 2012, Blake was brilliant. He placed second to Bolt at the London Olympics in both sprint events, clocking 9.75 and 19.44 seconds, respecvely for the 100 and 200 and then sped the third leg as Jamaica set a new world record – 36.84 – to win gold in the 4x100 metres. Horrendous hamstring injuries struck him down in 2013 and 2014 but aer a quiet return in 2015, Blake finished fourth,
to keep going. “It’s the people around me that make it so easy.
I mean, they believe in me and that is one plus. As an athlete, you need people around you to push you. That’s what keeps me going,” she gratefully explained. McPherson sll has one goal le – Fenton’s 21‐year‐old naonal record of 49.30 seconds. “I’m not going to put any pressure on myself. If it comes, it comes but I would love that before I go”, she targeted. Blake hasn’t detailed any goals in public for a while but with only a 2018 100‐metre bronze to show for his fine return from injury, he certainly would love a medal next year at the Olympics. His recent post on Instagram indicates how he has survived the ups and downs he has experienced and how he will approach the rest of his track career. “When you’re geng stuck in any area of your life, remember this: the only thing you need to do is take the next step – nothing more and nothing less”, Blake proposed. “You don’t have to understand everything or have everything figured out. Trust yourself and take that step – one step at a me”, he concluded. For all we know, big results this summer could give Stephenie‐ Ann and Yohan a new lease on life and good reason to push rerement aside. Whatever they decide, they’ve already done enough for us to hail them for their outstanding service to Jamaican track and field.
McPherson (centre): “I think this year is my last year.”
fourth and fih in the 100 at the 2016 Olympics, and at the World Championships in 2017 and 2019. He denied the young guns of Jamaican sprinng with his best me in a decade – 9.85 seconds – to win the Naonal Championships last year. That victory over Oblique Seville and Akeem Blake shouldn’t have been a complete surprise given that Yohan has run sub‐10 in every full season since his return to fitness. On that occasion, the humble veteran said, “Never give up on yourself. Trust God. Trust your coaches at all mes and just believe in yourself.” Now, McPherson is approaching her 35th birthday. She praised her close circle for helping her
Whatever they do next, both of them can keep their heads high.
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