Chat-bout.net - Sixth gold! - Jamaica’s Parchment wins hurdles in China

Sixth gold! - Jamaica’s Parchment wins hurdles in China

Twenty-one year old Hansle Parchment of the University of the West Indies, Mona, pulled off a stunner in the men's 100m hurdles at the 26th World University Games in Shenzhen, China on Saturday to claim Jamaica's sixth gold medal.

Running in lane six, Parchment ran a personal best 13.24 seconds on the penultimate day of athletics to push Jamaica's tally to six gold and two silver medals.

With the fifth career-best time coming into the final, Parchment was the seventh man out of the starting blocks and was never expected to be a factor.

But with his eyes on the finish line and his mind on the prize, Parchment, who was fifth at the Jamaica National Senior Championships, tore down the track to give Jamaica their first ever medal in the history of these Games.

The Morant Bay High past student beat China's Fan Jiang, who took the silver in a time of 13.55 seconds, and American Ronald Brookins, 13.56 seconds. Wind speed was -0.3m/s.

So impressive was Parchment's performance that not only was he the only hurdler running a personal best in the final yesterday, but his time would have handed him victory at the National Championships, which Andrew Riley won in 13.36 seconds.

Fifth in the Class One 110m hurdles at the 2008 ISSA High Schools Boys Championships in a race that also included Keiron Stewart and Riley, Parchment is now Jamaica's the third fastest sprint hurdler ever.

Only Dwight Thomas, current national record-holder with 13.15 seconds, and Maurice Wignall, 13.17, have run faster.

Parchment's previous best was the 13.50 seconds he ran at the National Championships in June.

Earlier, Shermaine Williams, Carrie Russell, Anneisha McLaughlin and Anastasia Le-Roy ran 43.81 seconds for second place in heat two of the first round of the 4x100m relays for women.

Ukraine won with 43.55 seconds, with Thailand third in 44.34 seconds. All three teams advanced to the final, joining heat one winners Russia, 44.11 seconds; USA, 44.25 seconds, and Great Britain, 44.55 seconds.

However, in the men's 4x100m relay, the Jamaican quartet of Peter Matthews, Jason Young, Rasheed Dwyer, and Jacques Harvey was disqualified. South African won, clocking 39.56 seconds.

Russia, who won heat two in a time of 39.37 seconds, are the fastest team going into the final.

At the end of day five, with 34 of 46 events completed, Russia are ahead with nine gold, 10 silver, and eight bronze (27 medals), followed by Jamaica with six gold and two silver; Turkey, four gold, one silver, one bronze; Ukraine, three gold, three silver, one bronze; and Poland, three gold, two silver, and one bronze.

The women's 4x100m relay final is scheduled to be contested at 5:45am am Jamaican time.

Jamaica now boast their best ever World University Games medal haul, beating the 1993 Buffalo, New York Games performance of one gold, four silver and a bronze.

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