Jamaican starlet stuns Olympic champ

DOHA, Qatar (AFP) — Two-time Olympic 100-meter champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was outshone by fellow Jamaican Tia Clayton at the Doha Diamond League meeting on Friday.

Fraser-Pryce, 38, was competing on the Diamond League circuit for the first time for three years but finished fourth in the 100m as 20-year-old Clayton blasted to victory in a world-leading 10.92 seconds.

Clayton’s twin sister Tina was second in 11.02 seconds, Britain’s Amy Hunt finished third in 11.03 seconds and Fraser-Pryce, in what is likely to be her final season, clocked 11.05 seconds for fourth. Fraser-Pryce, who is also a five-time individual world sprint champion, suffered a disappointing Paris Olympics last year, withdrawing from the 100m semifinals.

Tia Clayton showed she has the potential to become Jamaica’s next sprint queen by reaching the final of that event and finishing seventh in the French capital.

The reigning men’s Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo produced a lacklustre performance in the Qatari capital to win his signature event as he was almost caught on the line by American Courtney Lindsey.

Tebogo ran a smooth bend but the 21-year-old from Botswana lacked fluency in the home straight and glanced to his right at Lindsey as he crossed the line in a modest 20.10 seconds, just one hundredth of a second ahead of the American.

In a high-quality men’s 800m, Tshepiso Masalela chased down Wycliffe Kinyamal to clock one minute and 43.11 seconds, the fastest time in the world this year.

Masalela, another athlete from Botswana, showed he has what it takes to challenge for medals at the world championships in Tokyo in September.

In the women’s 400m, Salwa Eid Naser, the 2024 Olympic silver medallist, eased to victory in 49.83 seconds as she made a triumphant return to the city where she won the world title in 2019.