By Matt Hardy
Great Britain picked up three gold medals at the coveted Jamaica Athletics Invitational at the weekend as the nation’s track and field stars shape up ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Dina Asher-Smith took gold in the women’s 200m, beating Jessika Gbai of Ivory Coast and Lanae-Tava Thomas of Jamaica.
Zharnel Hughes won the same event for the men, beating Tokyo 2020 Silver medallist American Fred Kerley with a time of 19.96.
Britain on a roll
In the men’s 400m final, Matt Hudson-Smith clocked a time of 44.69 to take gold ahead of the United States athlete Matthew Boling and Jamaican Zandrion Barnes.
“I’m in really good shape so I was hoping to get a quicker time today,” said Asher-Smith.
“Clearly I’ve got some stuff that I’ve got to work on so I’m going to go back to Austin [Texas] and work on them, but I’m happy to have won here in Jamaica.”
Elsewhere 17-year-old Phoebe Gill ran an Olympic qualifying time of 1:57.26 in the 800m at the Belfast Irish Milers Meet to post the second fastest time of the year and topple Marion Geissler-Hubner’s 1979 U18 record.
Sprinter Daryll Neita also won at the Doha Diamond League, setting a 100m time of 10.98. Fellow Briton Amy Hunt came fourth in a time of 11.13.
Pole Vaulter Molly Caudery also claimed gold in the Middle East with a winning height of 4.73m.
400m runner Amber Anning came within one tenth of the British record in the women’s 400m in the United States.
It appears as if Team GB’s track and field team are stringing together a solid set of performances ahead of the Olympic Games in Paris later this year, where the athletics will take place on a purple track at the Stade de France.
