
Jamaica's Fraser-Pryce qualifies for 9th World Championships
Tina Clayton won her first national title in a personal best of 10.81 with reigning 200m world champion Shericka Jackson second in 10.88.
Tia Clayton, twin sister of Tina, was fastest in the semi-finals but pulled up with an apparent injury in the final.
Fraser-Pryce won her first world championships medal at Osaka in 2007 -- a silver in the 4x100m relay -- before going on to win 10 world titles, five of them in the 100m.
In front of a large turnout that included treble world record holder Usain Bolt, she delivered when it mattered most.
"It's been a long journey," Fraser-Pryce said after the final. "But it was not about making the team, it was about celebrating the journey and I am grateful for those who have been part of the journey.
"It takes strength and resilience to have made it so far, but it was always a joy and privilege to represent Jamaica and I hope I will leave a legacy of inspiration to every girl who has a dream for achieving more."
In the men's 100m final, Paris Olympics silver medallist Kishane Thompson delivered a blistering 9.75sec (wind .8m/sec), his personal best making him the sixth-fastest performer in history.
Only Justin Gatlin (9.74), Asafa Powell (9.72), Yohan Blake (9.69) Tyson Gay (9.69) and world record-holder Bolt (9.58) have gone faster.
The 23-year-old, who was beaten by just 0.005sec by Noah Lyles in the 100m final at the Paris Games, sliced two hundredths off his previous career best of 9.77 set in June of 2024.
Oblique Seville shrugged off concern over a tight hamstring to finish second in 9.83 and Ackeem Blake was third in a personal best of 9.88.

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France 24
31 minutes ago
- France 24
Woodman-Wickliffe lines up 'one last ride' for Black Ferns at World Cup
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France 24
15 hours ago
- France 24
Wanyonyi, the former cattle herder ready to eclipse Rudisha
Rudisha set the world record of 1min 40.91sec when he won gold at the 2012 London Games, one of the most iconic track and field moments in recent Olympic history. For the first time in more than a decade, there are a handful of middle distance stars seemingly capable of etching their own names as the event's leading light. At the heart of that pack is Wanyonyi, who at just 20 was crowned Olympic champion at last year's Paris Games, a year after sealing silver at the world championships in Budapest. Wanyonyi, who opened his season by bagging $100,000 for second (800m) and first (1,500m) places in the inaugural meet of Michael Johnson's Grand Slam Track series in Jamaica, has notched up four victories on this season's Diamond League circuit. He now turns his focus on the 800m in Lausanne on Wednesday where four of the top six rated runners will be tracking him down: Canada's world champion and Paris silver medallist Marco Arop, the US pair of Bryce Hoppel and Josh Hoey, and Spain's Mohamed Attatoui. "Anyone right now can break the world record because the 800m right now is very competitive," Wanyonyi told journalists on Tuesday. "Anyone can run under 1:40: anyone, not just me. This (shoe) technology is very good for athletes. If you train well, you stay focused, you can manage to run very fast." Wanyonyi, a veritable poster boy for humility which he credits to his tough upbringing, added: "My body is different from Rudisha's. Rudisha is strong for the first lap and I am strong in the second lap. "I have better endurance than Rudisha, but I need to respect Rudisha because he ran under 1:42 seven times." Rudisha the friend Wanyonyi has himself run six sub-1:42.00 800m races, with a personal best of 1:41.11 set at last year's Lausanne Diamond League meet. It was a performance that consolidated his third-place position on the world all-time list, with only Rudisha and Wilson Kipketer above him. "Rudisha is my friend," said Wanyonyi, whose best this season is 1:41.44 in Monaco. "I remember the last time I saw him he told me, 'Now is your time to shine'. I told him I respected him. "I have time to improve, so I need to improve my personal best, then think about the world record." One of 12 children -- six boys and six girls -- Wanyonyi's route to international stardom was far from straightforward, starting with early mockery as running was not commonplace in his Luhya tribe. Family financial woes saw Wanyonyi taken out of primary school at the age of 10 to work as a cattle herder. That economic situation worsened when he lost his father in 2018, a tragedy that saw his mother and younger siblings move away. Wanyonyi, currently coached by Kenya-based Italian Claudio Berardelli, eventually returned to school and was spotted by youth coach Janeth Jepkosgei, the 2007 world 800m champion and 2008 Olympic silver medallist. He promptly won the 800m at the world under-20 championships in Nairobi in 2021 in 1:43.76. The Olympic title was won later that summer in Tokyo by his compatriot Emmanuel Korir in 1:45:06. A year later, Wanyonyi won his first Diamond League race aged 17 and finished fourth at the Eugene world championships, going on to win a first senior gold as part of Kenya's mixed relay at the world cross-country champs. Financial must "I started running because I come from a poor background," he said, having bought a plot of land on which he built a house for his mother and siblings after his world under-20s success. "I said (to myself that) I need to run. I need to be a champion one time because I need to help my family. I need money to help my siblings, my mother." The Olympic final, he said, had been a "lot of pressure" and after crossing the line and embracing his mother, he was left ruing the absence of his father. "I asked myself why is my father not alive? Because I need my father to see this race. I need my father to be there. All in all, I can say this was very bad for me," he said. As for next month's world championships, Wanyonyi was cagey, although he admitted he had been boosted by the experience of going through world and Olympic racing schedules. "I need to go there, try my best to reach the finals. Then anything can happen."


France 24
2 days ago
- France 24
Social media hit Ilona Maher takes women's rugby onto new plane
Now the stage is set at the women's World Cup in England for the American to spark even more interest. The 29-year-old phenomenon has attracted over eight million followers on social media, not only through her sporting exploits but also for her promotion of body positivity. She played a pivotal role in the USA women's team winning a first ever Olympic medal, beating Australia in the third-place playoff in Paris last year. On the back of that achievement, Maher featured in Sports Illustrated's swimsuit edition and appeared in the US version of hit TV show "Dancing with the Stars", finishing runner-up. The Maher-fuelled improvement of the USA team attracted the attention of American investor Michele Kang who donated $4 million to help develop the USA Women's Rugby Sevens Team over four years. In another sport, Kang owns the Lyon women's football team, the eight-time European champions. Maher's days in Paris were not just spent playing rugby but also attracting even more followers with her pithy social media posts. She compared life in the Athletes' Village to a reality TV show, in one humorous posting saying she was there "looking for love", to which her friend replies: "No you are here to play rugby." In more reflective mode in Paris, she told the Bleacher Report one of her goals was trying to reassure "girls" that playing sport did not take away their "girliness". "What we're trying to show is the beauty that in sports you can be a badass on the field, you can be a beast on the field, but also be a beauty," she said. "It's really important for me because I want girls to see what their body is capable of. "It's not just to be looked at, objectified, but it's strong and it's fast, and it's brilliant." Maher, who through her body positivity push has become a brand ambassador for a deodorant and a skincare product she co-founded, revels in her global popularity and being "America's sweetheart." "I love when people call me that because I feel like I'm maybe not the image you would have of a sweetheart in some sense of the word,' Maher told CNN in January this year. "I'm honoured." 'Tone down' Maher, who hails from Vermont, may be extrovert and cheerful but she keeps her ego in check by showing appreciation to those women sports stars who paved the way for her. Hamm, her fellow American and a groundbreaking football superstar of the 1990s and early noughties, a two-time Olympic and World Cup winner, features high on the list. "I remember in our gym we always had a poster of Mia Hamm, and that was always cool to look up to her," Maher told the Bleacher Report. Closer to home, though, she is part of a tight-knit family unit, with her father Michael, a keen rugby player who introduced her to the sport, Netherlands-born mum Mieneke and sisters Olivia and Adrianna. Elder sister Olivia has a considerable social media presence herself. From her father Ilona not only learned about rugby but also a crucial life lesson when he defended her at a softball event. One of the other dads complained that Maher's pitches were unhittable but he was put in his place by Maher senior. "I think that was the first moment of being told to never tone it down," she told CNN. "Because that dad over there … wanted me to tone myself down so that it could be easier for (his daughter). "But that's not the world, is it? The world isn't going to tone down for you." Instead Maher has upped the ante and the fruits for women's rugby have been plentiful as New Zealand legend Portia Woodman-Wickliffe told AFP. "Having someone from America with that American market who is very confident, loves rugby, loves supporting women's bodies, someone as vocal as that is amazing for us," Woodman-Wickliffe said.