media_artricles :: 2013

Bledman among TT trio at Grand Prix

Trinidad and Tobago will be represented by three track athletes when the seventh leg of the IAAF Diamond League Sainsbury Grand Prix runs off in Birmingham, England, today.

The red, white and black will be flown by retaining national 100m champion Keston Bledman, Mikel Thomas in the 110m hurdles and Jehue Gordon in the 400m hurdles events.

In today’s race, Bledman leads the international field of 16 with the fastest personal best time of 9.86 seconds.

The national sprinter clocked this wind-assisted time at the Sagicor National Championships in the Hasely Crawford Stadium last weekend, and will be hoping to produce another fine showing in Birmingham today.

Bledman’s recent victory saw him retain his 2012 crown after snatching it from compatriot Richard “Torpedo” Thompson last year. This performance also sees him stand in third position of the world outdoor rankings.

Some of the other top athletes contesting this event are Great Britain’s Dwain Chambers, Jamaica’s Nesta Carter, American Michael Rodgers, Vincentian Kim Collins and Zimbabwe’s Gabriel Mvumvure.

Meanwhile Gordon will vie for a podium spot in the Men’s 400m hurdles against some of the world’s top ranked athletes. Two-time Olympic gold medallist Felix Sanchez of the Dominiacn Republic is favoured to bag gold but the presence of American Olympic medallist Michael Tinsley and Englishman David Greene are expected to make this encounter an enticing event.

Gordon’s personal best (PB) time in this event is 47.96s and enters the meet with a distant season best time of 49.05s. Sanchez currently holds a PB time of 47.25s, while Tinsley sits at 47.91s and Greene 47.84s.

Additionally, Thomas will attempt to seal his name among the top 110m hurdle finishers when he competes in the qualification stages and hopefully the final today. However, Thomas will face several major obstacles in this race. Aries Merritt, the Olympic 110m hurdles champion and World record-holder, is on the comeback trail after suffering with injury. Merritt returned to action in Des Moines, posting his fastest time of the year in his semi-final, 13.09, before scraping into the USA’s Moscow team for the IAAF World Championships in third place.

Thomas’ opponents also range from world number two, Orlando Ortega of Cuba and 2009 World champion Ryan Braithwaite of Barbados.

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