KINGSTON, Jamaica – When Calabar’s Javon Francis smashed Usain Bolt’s 11-year-old Class One 400m record of 45.35 seconds, lowering the mark to 45.00 seconds on Saturday, he became the third athlete at Champs 2014 to erase the schoolboy-times set by two of Jamaica’s greatest sprinters.
On Friday Yohan Blake’s Class Two 100m record of 10.34 set in 2006 was beaten by Rahiem Chambers, also of St Jago, with a run of 10.29.
Then later Friday Kingston College’s Zharnel Hughes bettered Blake’s other record, the Class One 100m of 10.21 seconds, lowering it to 10.12 seconds. Bog Walk’s Jevaughn Minzie, second in that race, was also under Blake’s record in 10.16 seconds.
Another Champs record by Bolt, the Class One 200m of 20.25 seconds, was quite likely spared with the withdrawal of the injured Hughes from the event Saturday.
Meanwhile, it was world leading run from Francis’ Saturday bettering the 45.03 seconds of Brazilian’s Anderson Henriques done on March 14. Eighteen-year-old Francis who was eighth on the list with his 45.95 done in February, also surpassed Jamaica’s Edino Steele’s 45.44 seconds.
