FRESH APPROACH

AFTER becoming the second Jamaican to win a lucrative Grand Slam Track (GST) title, 100m hurdles national record holder Ackera Nugent says she’s enjoying the sport more and plans to continue improving this season, which is to be highlighted by the World Athletics Championships in September.

The World Indoor Championships bronze medallist pocketed US $100,000 ($15.8 million) at the Miami leg of GST on Saturday, after winning the 100 metre event at Ansin Sports Complex. She finished first overall in the women’s short hurdles group with 18 points.

Nugent, who clocked 12.34 seconds for third in the 100m hurdles on Friday, matched her personal best of 11.09 in the flat 100m, ahead of countrywoman Megan Tapper (11.33) and American Kendra Harrison (11.35).

America’s Olympic champion Masai Russell, who ran a national record of 12.17 in the 100m hurdles on Friday, finished fourth in the flat 100m. That result means Russell finished second overall with 17 points, while Tapper was third with 12 points.

Nugent, the 2024 Paris Olympic Games finalist, made it consecutive wins for Jamaica in the women’s short hurdles after Danielle Williams finished on top in the Kingston leg at the National Stadium last month.

Nugent said she was motivated to win the cash prize after celebrating her 23rd birthday last Tuesday.

“Between Kingston and now, it was just like I got more outdoor training going on because I came from China like a week before [Kingston] and to be able to come out here and put it together [was good]. I didn’t get what I wanted in the hurdles but I just knew that I just needed to stay focused because I told myself, ‘I’m going to get 100 grand for 23,’ ” she said.

Nugent says GST’s unique format of athletes running two events in consecutive days makes her more excited about her professional journey.

“It’s making it a bit better because now it’s more fun, because I get the chance to do both events that I love. The 100m was my first love before the hurdles but it didn’t pick me, so to be able to do it back to back at a track meet, that’s just really good and I feel like it’s going to help me in the long run. Flat speed and hurdles? Putting them together would be a great feeling,” she said.

Nugent will be looking to make Jamaica’s team for the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, after her finals appearance at last summer’s Olympics and the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

She said she’s happy with the progress she’s making and is looking to improve in the weeks to come.

“I’m having more fun and I’m not as hard on myself like I used to be. I’m just taking it a stride at a time,” said Nugent.

“It doesn’t matter how much you place, as long as you have your eye on a goal and you’re able to make corrections. You can’t reflect on the bad but focus on the good and just work on the areas you can correct.”

Tapper, who was a last-minute replacement for Puerto Rican star Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, earned US$30,000 ($4.7 million) for her overall third-place finish in the women’s short hurdles.

Other Jamaicans who earned in Miami were Oblique Seville ($7.9 million), Andrenette Knight ($4.7 million), Malik James-King and Shiann Salmon ($3.9 million each), Nickisha Pryce($3.1 million), Stacey Ann Williams ($2.3 million) and Ackeem Blake ($1.5 million).