World-lead for Jamaican Schoolboy Michael O’Hara

Young Jamaican sprinter Michael O’Hara clocked a World Youth-leading 10.29secs at the February 8 Camperdown Classic at the National Stadium in Kingston and sounded the alarm for a sizzling showdown in the Class One boys (ages16 to 19) 100 and 200m at the island’s national Boys and Girls Athletics Championships (Champs) next month.

O’Hara, the reigning World Youth 200m champion and a student of Calabar High School for boys, said in a post-race interview that he was looking at much faster times as the season progresses because he was fit and ready.

“I am working very hard in training and so it is a good time for me to run at this stage of the season,” O’Hara said.

Shortly before O’Hara’s race, Kingston College’s (KC) Zharnel Hughes, a new sprinter from Anguilla, raced to 10.36secs to win the 100m at the Milo Relays in western Jamaica.

Hughes’ performance was quickly answered, however, by Bog Walk High’s sprinter Jevaughn Minzie with a 10.31 clocking to take his race.

Following his failure in the 100m final at the World Youth Championships, a frustrated O’Hara said at the time that he would consider dropping the 100m because he was having ongoing problems with his start in that event. At last year’s Champs he won gold in the Class Two (ages 14 and 15) 110m hurdles and 200m.

This year, O’Hara moves up to Class One, and if his coach decides to enter him in that event at Champs, the boys Class One final (16 to 19) seems set to be a clash of the two titans from rivals Calabar and KC with Minzie in the mix.