bourbiza mohamed
- Kishane Thompson set a time of 9.77s over 100m at the Jamaican Olympic trials
- That places him ninth in history in just his second season as a pro sprinter
- The 22-year-old claimed he was only trying properly for 60 metres of the race
Watch out, Usain Bolt – Kishane Thompson is coming.
The 22-year-old has topped Jamaica’s men’s 100m Olympics trials with the ninth-fastest time in history – in just his second season as a professional.
Thompson blasted to a time of 9.77 seconds to become the fourth-fastest runner in the Jamaican record books despite not racing this season until Friday.
Bolt has held the world record of 9.58 seconds since the 2009 World Championships, also age 22.
Thompson’s time is the fastest in two years and with under a month until the Paris Olympics, he claimed he wasn’t even trying for all of it.
Kishane Thompson, 22, has become the ninth-fastest man in history – and claims he wasn’t even fully trying!
Could he break Usain Bolt’s record of 9.58s over 100m? Thompson is only in his second season
‘My coach instructed me just to run the first 60 metres, nothing more – after that, shut it down,’ he said.
‘If I came second or third, I would’ve made the team. The goal wasn’t to prove anything tonight, just run the 70 or 60 metres and see where I was.’
Thompson tore a quad in January and had been suffering with a ‘continuous shin problem’ for several years.
However, his coach Stephen Francis told TV Jamaica ahead of the trials that he was pain-free.
‘If he manages to survive this thing next week (trials), then I think he will really be ready to run at the Olympics,’ Francis said.
Thompson made his name last summer at Jamaica’s national championships, clocking a time of 9.91 in the heats of the 100m.
Shericka Jackson won the women’s 100m Jamaican Olympic trials with a time of 10.84s
Meanwhile, in the women’s trials, Shericka Jackson ran in 10.84seconds and recovered from a bad start to beat Tia Clayton and two-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.
Jackson said: ‘Coach and I sat down and talked about how we wanted the approach the season, and I think we did pretty good, having only ran one 100m prior to the national trials.’
