Charlton wraps up season
Simba FrenchSend an emailSeptember 13, 2022 253 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email
The Bahamas saw two of its senior top athletes in action this past weekend when Devynne Charlton and LaQuan Nairn competed at the Memorial Borisa Hanžekovića on the World Athletics’ Continental Tour 2022 Gold meeting, at the Sports Park Mladost in Zagreb Croatia.
Charlton, who ended her long season at this meet, finished with the silver medal on Sunday in the women’s 100 meters (m) hurdles when she crossed the finish line in 12.86 seconds. Nairn was in action on Friday and finished sixth in the men’s long jump event when he leapt 7.82m (25’ 7 3/4”).
The 100m hurdles saw Olympic bronze medalist, Jamaican Megan Tapper being the favorite to win this race. However, she had to settle for third place with a time of 13.03 seconds as American Tonea Marshall held off Charlton with a time of 12.74 seconds.
“I wasn’t too pleased with my race on Sunday,” Charlton said. “The execution wasn’t there so the time could’ve been a whole lot faster but I’m just happy to end the season with a podium finish and no injuries.”
Nairn bettered a 7.57m performance on Sunday, September 4 in Padova,
Italy. Winning the long jump event on Friday was Australia’s Henry Frayne who recorded 8.11m (26’ 7-1/4”). Croatians Filip Pravdica and Marko Čeko won the silver and bronze medal respectively. Pravdica posted a leap of 8.03m (26’ 4-1/4”) and Čeko jumped 8.00m (26’ 3”).
It has been a long season for Charlton who did both the indoor and outdoor disciplines. She made several national teams and even captured the silver medal at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Beograd, Serbia with a national record time of 7.81 seconds in the 60m hurdles back in March. She ran a national record of 12.46 seconds in semifinal of the 100m hurdles at the World Athletics Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, the United States in July.
“I felt my season went really well overall. This was by far the longest season of my career and first time running a complete indoor and outdoor season since college so to finish healthy is a blessing,” Charlton said.
The 26-year-old said she will take the next few weeks off and rest before getting back to work and start preparing for the next season.
“I’m looking forward to building off of this year’s success and implementing all the lessons I picked up along the way,” Charlton said.
Charlton was also able to come away with a silver medal in the 100m hurdles at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. She posted a time of 12.58 seconds. She then came home and won a bronze medal in the women’s 100m hurdles, at the 4th Anita Doherty North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Track and Field Championships, at the Grand Bahama Sports Complex in Freeport, Grand Bahama. She posted a time of 12.71 seconds.
Once she stays healthy, Charlton will look lower both national records next season. For now, she deserves rest after an impressive season.
Nairn made history at the Commonwealth Games by becoming the first Bahamian to win a gold medal in the men’s long jump at those games. Nairn, who is also 26, won with a leap of 8.08 meters (m) – 26’ 6-1/4”.
He is number two all-time in the men’s long jump among Bahamians, trailing just national record holder Craig Hepburn. Nairn was able to get the national record in the indoor long jump with a leap of 8.18m (26’ 10”) in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He has a season’s and personal best leap of 8.22m (26’ 11-3/4”), a feat he did in Walnut, California in March.
Nairn also made several national teams this year. Next season, Nairn will look to get the coveted Hepburn’s national record.