KINGSTON, Jamaica — Talented sprinter Jhevaughn Matherson of Kingston College showed up and won his heat of the Class One Boys 100m at Champs 2018 at the National Stadium in Kingston, on Thursday afternoon.
Matherson, who trains at Racers Track Club under the guidance of former national head coach Glen Mills, the man who also helped world record holder Usain Bolt dominated the short sprints for almost a decade, had been questionable for Champs 2018 due to an illness.
The 19-year-old missed the heats of the 200m on Tuesday night after it was confirmed that he suffered from “gastroenteritis.”
“He has gastro (gastroenteritis) with vomiting and we took him to the doctor and they said he needed at least 24 hours before he can compete,” KC head coach Neil Harrison was quoted as telling the Jamaica Observer.
There were also reports suggesting that Matherson was not even in the country and was apparently traveling from Germany, which was quickly bounced away by his handlers.
On Thursday, he posted a time of 10.47 seconds when comfortably easing away from the field in the opening metres to win his heat of the 100m and advanced to the semi-finals with the second fastest time of the day.
It was his first individual 100m race of the season after coming back from injury last season.
Matherson joined several other challengers for the title, including defending champion Michael Stephens of Calabar who ran 10.48 seconds to win his heat with the third-fastest performance of the preliminaries.
Stephens’ teammate Tyreke Wilson also advanced, while Jamaica College’s Michali Everett progressed with the quickest time of the day, at 10.42.
