JAMAICA’S rising sprint star Kemar Bailey-Cole extended his late season winning streak by edging compatriot Asafa Powell to win the men’s 100m at the IAAF World Challenge meeting held in Zagreb, Croatia, yesterday.
In cool and rainy conditions both men clocked 10.07 seconds (-0.7m/s), but the far-striding Bailey-Cole, the Commonwealth Games champion, caught the fast-starting Powell on the line. It took several minutes before the photo finish camera decided the winner with American Mike Rodgers taking third in 10.10 seconds.
The 22-year-old Bailey-Cole has reeled off a string of victories since winning his first major gold medal in Glasgow, Scotland, recently.
He won in Birmingham and Zurich before recording his second straight beating of Powell, the former world record holder.
A third Jamaican, Sheldon Mitchell, who was upgraded from the B race, was eighth in 13.62 seconds. Mitchell never appeared to get into the race and jogged home well behind the field.
The 100m was the only bright spot for the Jamaicans as Commonwealth Games champion Andrew Riley was sixth in the 110m hurdles, and Edino Steele finished eighth in the men’s 400m.
Riley ran 13.61 seconds (-0.8m/s) as Russia’s World Championships medallist Sergey Shubenkov won in 13.39 seconds, beating Cuba’s Orlando Ortega with 13.42 seconds.
Steele clocked 48.66 seconds as Great Britain’s Martyn Rooney won in 45.49 seconds, beating Botswana’s Isaac Makwala with 45.60 seconds, and American Gil Roberts (45.77 seconds).