Grand Slam Track gets under way in Miami

May 02, 2025
Ackera Nugent (right)
Ackera Nugent (right)
Brazil’s Alison dos Santos (left) winning the men’s 400m hurdles ahead of Jamaica’s Roshawn Clarke at Grand Slam Track’s debut meeting at the National Stadium in Kingston last month.
Brazil’s Alison dos Santos (left) winning the men’s 400m hurdles ahead of Jamaica’s Roshawn Clarke at Grand Slam Track’s debut meeting at the National Stadium in Kingston last month.
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The second round of Grand Slam Track's (GST) inaugural season is set to get under way in Friday at the Ansin Sports Complex in Miami, Florida.

Jamaica will have six athletes involved across three race groups today, as Ackera Nugent and Megan Tapper will compete in the women's short hurdles, Roshawn Clarke and Malik-James King in the men's long hurdles, and Nickisha Pryce and Stacey-Ann Williams in the women's long sports race groups.

Nugent and Tapper will be the first Jamaicans on the track as they participate in the first event on the schedule, the women's 100m hurdles.

Tapper, the 2020 Olympic bronze medallist, is a recent addition to the line-up to replace Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, who had withdrawn from the Slam.

They will compete against the US duo of Masai Russell, the Olympic champion, and Kendra Harrison's, the former world record holder.

Danielle Williams, who had won the Kingston Grand Slam title, is not set to compete, as her status as a Challenger means she is not committed to run at all four slams this season.

Clarke, who had finished second in the Kingston Grand Slam points table, is expected to set up another exciting clash against Alison dos Santos of Brazil in the men's 400m hurdles.

King, the other Jamaican in the event, will be hoping he can improve on his performance this time around, as he had finished fifth overall in Kingston.

REDEMPTION

It will be a case of second chances for the final pair of Jamaicans involved in today's action, as Pryce and Williams will be looking to climb up the GST standings.

Williams had finished sixth overall in the Kingston Grand Slam, tallying six points, while Pryce had amassed four points in her eighth-placed finish.

They will contest a field containing the Dominican Republic's Marileidy Paulino and the speedy Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain.

The schedule of events is set to kick off at 4:42 p.m. Jamaica time with the women's 100m hurdles, and close at 6:21 p.m. with the women's 400m.

gregory.bryce@gleanerjm.com

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