By Paul Hof-Mahoney
December 10, 2024
Jamaica’s Oblique Seville, an Olympic finalist in the 100m, has signed with Grand Slam Track for the league’s inaugural season in 2025.
Here’s what you need to know:
– Seville and Nickisha Pryce are the fourth and fifth Jamaican athletes to sign with the league. Roshawn Clarke, Ackera Nugent, and Rushell Clayton are also members of the talented group of Jamaican sprinters that will be competing in Kingston, Miami, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.
– Seville is the third athlete signed to the “short sprints” group, who will compete in the 100m and 200m at each three-day Slam. Olympic medalists Fred Kerley and Kenny Bednarek were announced as the first two Racers in the category in September.
– Racers will accrue points for their finishes in both races. The athlete with the highest point total will win the Slam and a $100,000 prize for first place.
– Seville has been one of the top 100m sprinters in the world over the last three seasons. He finished 4th at the World Championships in both 2022 and 2023 before an eighth place finish in Paris this August. He ran his PB of 9.81 (16th all-time) in the Olympic semifinals. At only 23 years old, he has made each of the last four Jamaican 100m teams.
– In March, Seville ran his first 200m in three years, running a PB of 20.17. He’s relatively untested over the half-lap distance, but running 20.17 in mid-March shows great promise when considering his 100m credentials.
What his signing means for the league:
– With one short sprints Racer slot still available, there are a handful of big names that could potentially fill it. Noah Lyles and Letsile Tebogo, the Olympic champions in the 100m and 200m, respectively, remain unsigned. Christian Coleman (SBs of 9.86/19.89) and Andre DeGrasse (SBs of 9.98/19.98) could be intriguing options as well.
– Seville has never run a 200m race outside of Jamaica. That won’t change at the first Slam in Kingston, but he’s never faced that level of competition at that distance. He’ll truly be thrown into the fire.
Seville’s head-to-head record against Bednarek and Kerley
- 0-1 vs. Bednarek (Only race over 100m was in Olympic, where Bednarek finished 7th to Seville’s 8th)
- 2-2 vs. Kerley
Kevin Morris / @KevMoFoto
Who Else Has Signed With Grand Slam Track So Far:
– Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (June 18th)
– Josh Kerr (June 27th)
– Cole Hocker and Yared Nuguse (Sept. 4th)
– Fred Kerley and Kenny Bednarek (Sept. 12th)
– Melissa Jefferson (Sept. 19th)
– Masai Russell, Cyrena Samba Mayela and Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (Sept. 25th)
– Alison Dos Santos and Clément Ducos (Sept. 26th)
– Muzala Samukonga (Sept. 26th)
– Quincy Hall and Matthew Hudson-Smith (Oct. 10th)
– Nikki Hiltz (Oct. 15th)
– Grant Fisher and Ronald Kwemoi (Oct. 15th)
– Roshawn Clarke and Ackera Nugent (Oct. 17th)
– Luis Grijalva (Oct. 22nd)
– Shamier Little, Jasmine Jones and Rushell Clayton (Oct. 22nd)
– Jessica Hull (Oct. 22nd)
– Devon Allen and Daniel Roberts (Oct. 22nd)
– Marileidy Paulino (Oct. 22nd)
– Jereem Richards (Oct. 22nd)
– Marco Arop (Oct. 22nd)
– Tsigie Gebreselama and Agnes Ngetich (Oct. 22nd)
– Salwa Eid Naser (Nov. 21st)
– Elise Cranny and Nozomi Tanaka (Nov. 21st)
– Mary Moraa (Nov. 21st)
– Daryll Neita (Nov. 21st)
– Gabby Thomas (Nov. 26th)
– Alexis Holmes (Dec. 10th)
– Oblique Seville (Dec. 10th)
– Sasha Zhoya (Dec. 10th)
– Hagos Gebrhiwet (Dec. 10th)
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Paul Hof-Mahoney
Paul is currently a student at the University of Florida (Go Gators) and is incredibly excited to be making his way into the track and field scene. He loves getting the opportunity to showcase the fascinating storylines that build up year-over-year across all events (but especially the throws).
