Ahye cops another Diamond League bronze

Andrew Gioannetti

FOR the second time in four days, TT sprinters Michelle-Lee Ahye and Khalifa St Fort placed third and seventh in the Women’s 100m event at the IAAF Diamond League.

The sixth leg of the Diamond League event took place in Stockholm, Sweden, yesterday. Running out of lane three, Ahye clocked 11.11 seconds (-0.1 wind), just shy of her season best 11.06 seconds she set in Oslo, Norway, on Thursday. Twenty-year-old St Fort clocked 11.35 seconds in only her second Diamond League event.

Ahye later tweeted: “The pieces are slowly falling into their respective places. I will continue to work hard and be patient because one day it will all come together. The journey continues.”

Ahye was edged by Oslo’s top two Women’s 100m finishers who switched places yesterday.

Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith again dipped under 11 seconds as she upgraded to gold in 10.93, nearly matching the new British national and personal record, which she set in Oslo (10.92).

Ivorian Murielle Ahoure’ dropped to second in 11.03 seconds.

Ahye and St Fort were the only two TT athletes in action, but the Caribbean was proudly represented by Jamaican Fedrick Dacres, who responded from an eighth place finish in the Men’s Discus event cleaning a slate of records in his gold medal winning efforts.

The Commonwealth gold medallist’s throw measured an enormous 69.67m. It was not only a new personal best, but also a world leading distance this year, a Diamond League Oslo meet record and a new Jamaican national record.

His nearest challenger, Lithuania’s Andrius Gudzius, who won gold in Oslo, also threw a new personal best of 69.59m for a runner-up finish. Ehsan Hadadi of Iran placed third (67.68m).

However, the performance of the day came from Abderrahman Samba of Qatar, who, in the form of his life, won the Men’s 400m hurdles in 47.41 seconds, yet another Asian record.

It was also a Diamond League record and a fifth consecutive run under the 48 second mark by the 22-year-old. Despite also putting on a personal best and national record breaking performance, Norway’s Karsten Warholm was left to settle for silver yet again. Warholm clocked 47.81 seconds, 0.01 faster than his previous personal best.

The Diamond League will continue in its seventh stage on June 30, in Paris.