100m in 9.75 seconds: Jamaican sprinter Kishane Thompson clocks fastest time in a decade

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. Thompson’s sprint elevates him to sixth on the all-time list, according to the World Athletics and it is also the fastest time since 2015. (Instagram/Team Jamaica)

A little more than 75 days before the World Championships, Olympic silver medallist Kishane Thompson laid down the marker by running the fastest time in a decade and sixth-fastest 100m race of all time.

The sprinter ran a world-leading personal best of 9.75 seconds to win the men’s 100m at the Jamaican Championships in Kingston on Friday. He recorded the timing despite a headwind of 0.8 m/s. Thompson’s sprint elevates him to sixth on the all-time list, according to the World Athletics and it is also the fastest time since 2015.

The 9.75 second sprint did not come out of the blue as two hours earlier, in the semifinals, he scorched the track with a timing of 9.80 seconds. “I’m never going to surprise myself, because I know how capable I am,” Thompson was quoted as saying by World Athletics. “I am very confident; even if I break the world record, it wouldn’t surprise me because I am that confident, and I’m working to achieve all my goals and the accolades.”

Oblique Seville, a finalist at the past three World Championships, overcame some pre-race discomfort to finish second in a season’s best of 9.83, just 0.02 shy of his personal best. Ackeem Blake, a 2024 Diamond League champion, finished third with a timing of 9.88, also a personal best.

Jamaica’s depth in the women’s 100m sprint was also on display as pre-race favourite Shericka Jackson, a three-time defending champion, and sentimental favourite Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce were stunned by two-time world U20 champion Tina Clayton.

Clayton had missed out on the final last year but she made amends this time, clocking a personal best of 10.81 to win the title. Jackson came second with a season best time of 10.88 while Fraser-Pryce recorded a third-place finish by finishing the race in 10.91 seconds.

“One thing I knew I had on my side was experience,” said Fraser-Pryce, now 38. “I am grateful for that fighting spirit that says it’s never over until it’s over, and once I step on the start line, I am ready. Knowing that I’m not race sharp and running 10.91 is a big deal.

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She added: “Many people don’t know that Japan is where I started my first senior international championships. It’s such a full circle moment for me to be going back to Japan.”

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