Amusan clocks season’s best 11.18s in Jamaica

Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan posted her fastest 100m time of the season on Sunday, racing to an impressive 11.18 seconds finish at the Racers Grand Prix, a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting, in Kingston, Jamaica.

The competition, staged before a lively crowd of 15,000 spectators, saw the world hurdles champion place fourth in a highly competitive sprint final.

Amusan, competing in lane two for Racers Track Club, showed marked improvement in her flat sprinting form, shaving a significant tenth of a second off her previous season’s best of 11.28s set in March. The performance, her second 100m flat race this season and third in 14 months, signals steady gains since relocating to Jamaica in November 2024 to train under Glen Mills.

The race was won by Jamaica’s Tina Clayton, who clocked 10.98s, closely followed by America’s Jacious Sears at 11.04s, both achieving qualifying standards for the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo. Alana Reid, another young Jamaican, finished third in 11.16s, with Amusan holding her own despite being a specialist hurdler.

Amusan’s sprint programme, designed to bolster her hurdling speed and overall race sharpness, appears to be paying dividends. Starting her sprint season at Velocity Fest in March with 11.41s, she progressed to 11.28s and then 11.26s at the Tom Jones Memorial before Saturday’s 11.18s run — her best time since her 11.10s personal record set in 2023.

In other highlights from the meet, Kishane Thompson stormed to a commanding men’s 100m win in 9.88s, while Rasheed Broadbell edged out American Trey Cunningham in a tight 110m hurdles battle, clocking 13.06s. The women’s 100m hurdles saw USA’s Alia Armstrong equal the meeting record with a swift 12.54s, while Shericka Jackson comfortably claimed the women’s 200m in 22.53s.

The event reaffirmed Kingston’s place as a global sprinting hub and showcased Amusan’s growing versatility as she eyes a busy championship season ahead.