Eight Tokyo Olympic Games Medalists set for Bermuda Games

World Athletics Continental Tour Gold kicks off on Saturday 9 April with the USATF Bermuda Games. Olympic medallists Jasmine Camacho Quinn, Noah Lyles, Kenny Bednarek, Grant Holloway, Shericka Jackson, Kirani James,  Gabby Thomas, and Briana Williams are the top headliners at the Flora Duffy Stadium in Devonshire.

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Women’s 100 metres hurdles: 

Olympic 100m hurdles champion Jasmine Camacho Quinn is scheduled to compete twice in her specialist 100m hurdles event and in the 200 metres. 

Camacho Quinn set the Olympic record of 12.26 in the semifinal in Tokyo before winning the gold medal in 12.37. The Puerto Rican hurdler won all her Continental Tour 100m hurdles races last year in Eugene in 12.46, in Hengelo in 12.44 and in Szekesfehervar in 12.34 and the Diamond League race in Florence in 12.38 last year. She will take on 2018 world indoor silver medallist Christina Clemons and Gabby Cunningham, who finished seventh in the Olympic 100m hurdles final in Tokyo 2021 and won the world indoor bronze medal in the 60m hurdles in Belgrade 2022 in 7.87, and Chanel Brisset, who finished second in the NCAA Outdoor Championships final in 2019 in 12.52. 

Women’s 200 metres: 

Camacho Quinn will run her second outdoor race in the 200m this year after improving her PB to 22.27 in Carolina last March. She also set her indoor PB of 22.54 in Louisville last February. Her top rivals in the half-lap event are Jodie Williams, who finished sixth in the 400m Olympic final in Tokyo in 49.97, Jamaica’s Briana Willams, Olympic 4x100 relay champion in Tokyo 2021 and fifth in the 60m world indoor championships final in her PB of 7.04, former 100m and 200m world under 20 champion Antonique Strachan from the Bahamas, who clocked 10.99 in the 100m in Kingston last March. 

Men’s 100 metres: 

Noah Lyles will face 200m Olympic silver medallist Kenny Bednarek, and Olympic finalist Erryion Knighton in the men’s 100 metres. 

Lyles, who won the world 200m gold medal in Doha 2019 and the Olympic bronze in Tokyo 2021, showed his good form last February over shorter sprint distances when he improved his PB to 6.55 in the 60 metres in Birmingham. Last August he set the world-leading time in the 200 metres clocking 19.52 at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene. 

Bednarek won the 200 metres Olympic silver medal improving his PB to 19.68 and claimed the Diamond League win in the 200m in Zurich in 19.70. Bednarek dipped under the 20 seconds barrier 13 times last year. 

Knighton broke Usain Bolt’s world under 20 record in the 200m clocking 19.88 in the semifinal and 19.84 in the final at the US Olympic Trials in Eugene and finished fourth in the Olympic final in 19.93. 

Lyles, Bednarek and Knighton will face Canadian 4x100 relay medallists Aaron Brown and Jerome Blake, Mouhamadou Fall from France, who set his 100m PB clocking 10.03 in Nairobi last year and Jamaican sprinter Tyquendo Tracey, who clocked 9.96 in London in 2018 and won two Jamaican titles in 2018 and 2021. Sprinters will run in the heats and the final.

Men’s 110 metres hurdles: 

Grant Holloway will open his outdoor season three weeks after the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, where he equalled his world 60m indoor record clocking 7.29 in the semifinal before winning the final in 7.39. 

The Olympic silver medallist and world outdoor champion will face Olympic semifinalist and 2018 world under 20 champion Damion Thomas from Jamaica. 

Women’s 100 metres: 

Gabby Thomas started her season with wind-assisted times of 10.92 in the 100 metres and 21.69 in the 200 metres at the Texas Relays in Austin. Thomas won the US Olympic Trials in Eugene setting the third fastest time in history with 21.61 and the Olympic bronze medal in 21.87 in Tokyo. 

Thomas will take on Tamara Clarke, who finished fourth US Olympic Trials in the 200m in Eugene last year in 21.98 and clocked wind-assisted times of 10.94 and 21.72 in Austin last March. The line-up also features Tehana Daniels, who finished seventh in the 100m in both the World Championships in Doha 2019 and the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021, and Javianne Oliver, who won the Olympic Trials final in the 100 metres in Eugene and the Olympic silver medal in the 4x100m relay. 

Men’s 400 metres: 

Grenada’s Kirani James won the 400m Olympic bronze in Tokyo completing his collection of medals after claiming gold in London 2012 and silver in Rio de Janeiro 2016. James will face Machel Cedenio, fourth in the Olympic 400m final in Rio de Janeiro 2016 in 44.01 and 4x400 world gold medallist in London 2017, Khamari Montgomery, NCAA outdoor champion in 2019 in 44.19, and Noah Williams, third at the NCAA outdoor Championships in 44.93 last year. 

Women’s 400 metres: 

Olympic 100m bronze medallist Shericka Jackson from Jamaica will move up to 400 metres. She will face US Wadeline Jonathas, who finished fourth in the 400m world final in 49.60, and Lynna Irby, who won the NCAA outdoor title in Eugene in 49.80. 

Jackson won three medals in the 400m at the World Championships in Beijing 2015 and Doha 2019 and in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro 2016 and three medals at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021 (gold medal in the 4x100 relay, bronze in the 100m in her PB of 10.76 and in the 4x400 relay). Last March she finished sixth in 7.04 in the 60 metres in the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade 2022 showing her versatility over different sprint distances. 

Men’s 200 metres: 

Reigning 400 metres Olympic and world champion Steven Gardiner from the Bahamas will step down in distance running the 200 metres. Gardiner clocked a world indoor all-time best of 31.56 in the 300m last January and started his outdoor season with 20.28 in the 200 metres in Carolina at the end of March. Gardiner set outdoor national records of 19.75 in the 200m in Coral Gables 2018 and 43.48 in the 400m at the World Championships in Doha 2019. The Bahamian star will face Jereem Richards from Trinidad and Tobago, who won the 400m world indoor gold medal in Belgrade in his PB of 45.00 and the world outdoor 200m bronze medal in London 2017, Aaron Brown from Canada, who finished sixth in the 200m in Tokyo 2021, and Emmanuel Matadi from Liberia, who clocked 20.33 in the 200m last week in San Antonio. 

Women’s 800 metres: 

Ajée Wilson won the 800 metres world indoor gold medal in Belgrade last month and now makes her outdoor season. 

Wilson also won two world outdoor bronze medals in London 2017 and Doha 2019 and two world indoor silver medals in Portland 2016 and Birmingham 2018. 

Women’s 400 metres hurdles: 

Janieve Russell from Jamaica, who finished fourth in the Olympic 400 metres hurdles final in 53.08, will face 2016 Olympic bronze medallist Ashley Spencer and Cassandra Tate. 

Women’s triple jump: 

Shanieka Ricketts from Jamaica is the top name in the women’s triple jump. Ricketts won the world outdoor silver medal with 14.92m in Doha 2019 and claimed the Diamond League title in Zurich earlier that year with 14.93m. The Jamaican triple jumper finished fourth at the Olympic Games in Tokyo with 14.84m. She opened her season with 14.27m in Kingston last week. 

Women’s long jump: 

Former British outdoor champion Abigail Irozuru will face US Quanesha Burks, who finished fifth at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade with 6.77m, combined events specialist Erica Bougard, who took fourth place at the World Championships in the eptathlon with 6470 points in Doha 2019, Akela Jones from Barbados, the world under 20 gold medallist in the long jump in Eugene 2014, who set a PB of 6.90m in 2021, Yanis David from France, who won the NCAA outdoor title with 6.84m in Austin 2019. 

Women’s high jump: 

US Olympian Rachel McCoy, who cleared her PB of 1.96m last year, will take on Inika McPherson, who finished seventh at the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham 2018. 

Men’s triple jump: 

US triple jumper Chris Benard, who finished ninth at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, will take on local favorite Jah-Nhai Perinchief, fifth at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade with 16.95m, and Jordan Scott from Jamaica, who holds a PB of 17.37m in 2019.  

Men’s 1500 metres: 

Brahim Kaazouzi from Morocco holds the fastest time in the 1500m field with 3:31.62.