By David Melly
July 2, 2025
Track and field in Jamaica is like nothing else in the world of track and field, or really, the world, period. If you didn’t make it to Kingston or the sketchy pay-per-view website turned you off to tuning in, you could still follow along via the thriving, and occasionally chaotic, Twitter commentary community. But if you were outside touching grass last weekend, here’s what you need to know:
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce didn’t go quietly into the night. Track fans around the world both cheered and mourned SAFP’s pre-race announcement that these would be the final national championships for the beloved “Pocket Rocket.” At 38 years old, Fraser-Pryce has had a truly epic career as one of the sport’s all-time greats, appearing in World Championships stretching back to 2007 and having earned a whopping 24 global medals (13 gold). But she wasn’t just showing up to her fifteenth national championship to collect her flowers—she came to compete.
After a fourth-place finish in Doha raised some concerns (it was her lowest finish in a 100-meter race in four years), it looked like even a fit Fraser-Pryce would face an uphill battle, as she clocked an 11.02 in the semifinal behind Tia Clayton’s 10.86. But as she so often does, SAFP saved her best stuff for when it counted most, running a season’s best 10.91 in the final to take third behind Shericka Jackson’s 10.88 and Tina Clayton’s 10.81. Tia pulled up with an injury mid-final so we’ll never know for sure where she would’ve finished fully healthy, but regardless of anyone else’s performance, Shelly-Ann showed she can’t be counted out of any podium conversation in her specialty event when the stakes are high.
Kishane Thompson made history—and ignited a little controversy: 23-year-old Kishane Thompson—though undoubtedly one of the most talented sprinters in the world—has had a relatively quiet spring so far, running 9.99 in China for his first race of the outdoor season and then sticking to domestic races post-World Relays. He clocked a 9.88 at the Racers Grand Prix in early June, defeating Oblique Seville and Bayanda Walaza, among others, but mostly fans were looking forward to Thompson’s impending clash with Trayvon Bromell at the Prefontaine Classic (more on that below).
Thompson didn’t wait for Eugene to make his statement. He clocked a world-leading 9.80 in the semifinal, miles ahead of Kadrian Goldson and Ackeem Blake, who both went 10.05. Then he followed up that performance a few hours later with an incredible 9.75 victory in the final, improving his PB 0.02 seconds to leap from T-9th to sixth on the men’s all-time list.
But Thompson’s night wasn’t done. When asked about whether he was practicing dipping at the finish line in his post-race interview, he said “If you’re that good, you don’t need to dip,” which some have interpreted as a shot at Noah Lyles’s Olympic-winning performance in Paris. As far as shade-throwing goes, it’s a pretty benign comment, but it’ll surely be dredged back up when Lyles returns to the racing scene.
Shericka Jackson put (some) early-season fears to rest: The sole Jamaican set to compete in both the 100m and 200m in Tokyo is Shericka Jackson, by virtue of her runner-up finish in the 100m and bye in the 200m as the reigning World champion. Jackson hasn’t been quite the unstoppable force she was in 2023, but running 10.94 and 10.88 a few hours apart makes it clear she’s back to something resembling full strength after an injury-shortened 2024 season. Jackson didn’t contest the 200m since she didn’t need to, so the jury’s still out on what her full capacity over both events may or may not be.
The next generation of great Jamaican sprinters is here: It’s not just Kishane Thompson and the 20-year-old Clayton twins—Jamaica has plenty of young talent coming up through the ranks to fill the gaps when Jackson, Fraser-Pryce, and the mysteriously absent Elaine Thompson-Herah finally do make their final exits from the international scene. 21-year-old Bryan Levell had a tough 100m final, finishing last after pulling up around 80 meters, but bounced back to win the 200m in 20.10. Thompson’s podium mates in the 100m are Oblique Seville (24 years old) and Ackeem Blake (23 years old). In fact, only one finalist in that event was born before the year 2000. If any of these athletes has a fraction of Fraser-Pryce’s longevity, we’ll be seeing them at the top of race results for the next decade or more.
A mixed bag for medal contenders in the hurdles: While Ackera Nugent and reigning World champ Danielle Williams often get top billing on the Jamaican hurdles scene, Megan Tapper has quietly been putting together a really strong year. The 2021 Olympic bronze medalist had a few early-season wins and a good run at the Philly GST meet, finishing third behind Nugent and Tia Jones, but it was still a bit of a surprise to see her set a big 0.10-second PB of 12.34 and take down Nugent in the final of the 100H last weekend. Williams, who also has a wild card into Worlds, opted not to contest the final, so we won’t know for sure how she factors into the pecking order until later in the summer.
On the men’s side, Rasheed Broadbell also had a good start to 2025, starting the season with three wins in four races, but he hit a bit of bad luck in Kingston, winning his heat but picking up an injury in warmups and ultimately not starting the final. Olympic finalist Orlando Bennett won the national title instead in 13.10, but neither of Jamaica’s Olympic champions in the event will be representing in Tokyo as Hansle Parchment finished seventh in the final and Omar McLeod did not compete.
Jamaican’s podium hopes could extend to the 400m:
2024 NCAA champ Nickisha Pryce hasn’t had quite the same success yet this year as fellow Arkansas alumnae Amber Anning and Bella Whittaker, but she took a big step forward with her first sub-50 in 11 months, defending her national title in 49.97. On the men’s side, 32-year-old Rusheen McDonald picked up the first national title of his career in 44.89, which probably causes a wide range of emotions for Jamaican fans who know McDonald has seen high highs (his PB is 43.93 and he ran 44.03 as recently as 2023), but has never quite delivered in global championship settings.
Coming off a disappointing Olympics for Jamaican track fans, where Thompson’s silver and Broadbell’s bronze were the only medals won by Jamaicans on the track, there’s plenty of reason to be excited as the nation prepares to send a team loaded with both veteran experience and young talent on a revenge mission. It’s hard to say what effect JAAA’s gamble to hold its selection event a month earlier than the U.S. will have on its athletes chances—they have more time now to rest and reset, but also had to be ready to perform three months before Worlds. But if the team comes home with a wagonload of medals, it will look like a stroke of scheduling genius.
David Melly
David began contributing to CITIUS in 2018, and quickly cemented himself as an integral part of the team thanks to his quick wit, hot takes, undying love for the sport and willingness to get yelled at online.
