Fred Kerley and Sha’Carri Richardson won the Olympic Development men’s and women’s 200m dashes at the 2021 Tom Jones Invitational at the James G. Pressly Stadium on Friday evening. The meeting is being hosted by the University of Florida in Gainesville and you can follow all the live results here.
Richardson, who last weekend blazed a world-leading 10.72 seconds to win the 100m at the 2021 Miramar Invitational, returned on Friday to clocked an impressive 22.17 secs (1.0 m/s) as she continues to prepare for Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, later this summer.
The time posted by the American at the Tom Jones Invitational is the second fastest this year behind the 22.03 performance of Bahamian Olympic 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo.
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On Friday, Lynna Irby of the USA clocked 22.57 to take second place behind the speedy Richardson, while third place went to Nigerian 2013 world championships bronze medalist Blessing Okagbare who ran 22.66. USA’s Dezerea Bryant was fourth with 23.07 followed by Kyra Jefferson (23.08), Kortnei Johnson (23.41), and Jessica Beard (23.44).
On the men’s side, American Kerley held off Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago to extend his fruitful streak this season.
The World Championships 400m bronze medalist from Doha 2019 posted a time of 20.24 (+0.9 m/s) to take the event in his first 200m race this season. Kerley, who is targeting sub-20 seconds performances this campaign, had opened his outdoor term with a series of 100m races, including clocking a personal best of 10.03 in Clermont, FL, earlier this month.
Meanwhile, T&T’s Richards, the 2017 world bronze medal winner, was just behind Kerley with a season-best 20.30, with third place overall going to American teen Erriyon Knighton after he ran 20.39 (0.5 m/s) for first place in the third heat. Canadian Aaron Brown was third in heat one and fourth overall in 20.43, while Divine Oduduru of Nigeria rounded out the top five with 20.46.
Meanwhile, American Trayvon Bromell ran 20.62 for seventh place overall after taking fifth in the first section. Global major championships 400m gold medalist Lashawn Merritt posted 20.92 for 12th overall following his fourth place finish in the second heat, which was won by his countryman Kyree King in 20.61.
