Jamaica’s Kemar Bailey-Cole, a training partner of Olympic and World champion Usain Bolt, snatched victory in the 100m final at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on Monday (28th), the fifth day of competition. The 6ft-4in 22-year-old Jamaican, who entered the Games as only the fifth-ranked Jamaican in the world this year, recovered from a bad start to clock 10.00secs ahead of England’s Adam Gemili (10.10) and Jamaica’s reigning national champion Nickel Ashmeade (10.16).
Completing the field were St. Kitts & Nevis’s Antoine Adams (4th place also with 10.16), Mark Jelks of Nigeria (5th 10.17), Jason Livermore of Jamaica (6th 10.18), Warren Fraser of the Bahamas (7th 10.20), Raymond Gittens of Barbados (10.25).
In the women’s equivalent, Nigeria’s sprint queen and long jumper Blessing Okagbare struck gold in a Games record of 10.85 to defeat the Jamaican pair of Veronica Campbell-Brown and Kerron Stewart, who took silver and bronze in 11.03 and 11.07, respectively. England’s Asha Philip clocked an 11.18 personal best (PB) just outside the medals in 4th place.
Jamaica’s Schillonie Calvert (5th 11.21), England’s Bianca Williams (6th 11.31), Canada’s Khamica Bingham (7th 11.37) and Nigeria’s Gloria Asumnu (8th 11.41) completed the field.
The Caribbean also showed strength on the field when Jamaica’s O’Dayne Richards hurled the ball to 21.61 meters shot put Games record to defeat powerhouses New Zealand and Australia, among others. In qualifying for a spot among the top 12 competitors, Richards placed second to pre-Games favorite Tom Walsh of New Zealand, who threw a Games record of 21.24.
Another Jamaican qualifier Raymond Brown finished 8th with 18.65. Other results