Jamaica’s Rushell Clayton powers to victory in the women’s 400m hurdles at the first staging of the Jamaica Athletics Invitational at the National Stadium on Saturday, May 11, 2024. (PHOTO: Marlon Reid).
Jamaica’s Rushell Clayton raced to victory in the women’s 400-metre hurdles at the first staging of the Jamaica Athletics Invitational at the National Stadium on Saturday night, clocking a world-leading 53.72 seconds.
It was Anna Cockrell from San Ramon, California, who set off in front, closely followed by two-time world championships bronze medalist Clayton. It took Clayton until halfway to generate some serious momentum. She worked her way through to the front around the curve, though Cockrell, who won the world U20 400m hurdles title in 2016 and added Pan American Games silver in 2019, was still within striking distance as they came off the bend.
Despite Cockrell’s efforts to close the gap, Clayton maintained her lead, setting her fastest season opener in the event.
Cockrell stayed on well for second place in 53.76, while Shian Salmon of Jamaica finished third in 54.57. Andrenette Knight, also of Jamaica, came next, finishing fourth in 55.33.
Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands (left) and Malik James-King of Jamaica compete in the men’s 400m hurdles.
Meanwhile, Jamaican Malik James-King ran a new personal best time of 48.39 seconds to win the men’s 400m hurdles, well clear of Kyron McMaster, who finished fourth in the Olympic final at Tokyo 2020.
McMaster of the British Virgin Islands powered into a comfortable lead but offered little resistance when James-King challenged, and the Jamaican went on to surpass his previous personal best time of 49.51 from 2021.
McMaster finished second in 49 seconds flat, while Jaheel Hyde of Jamaica took third place in 49.48.
