Jamaican rising star Tia Clayton beat Ta-Lou by a whisker to win her first Diamond League crown
Just one week after celebrating her 20th birthday, fast rising Jamaican sprinter – Tia Clayton etched her name in the golden books of the Wanda Diamond League on Sunday, August 25 having won the women’s 100m dash in 10.83 seconds [+2.9m/s] in Silesia, Poland.
The Jamaican sprint prodigy [Clayton] edged out Marie-Josee Ta-Lou Smith by a razor-thin margin as both sprinters were credited with a time of 10.83 seconds, but Clayton was 0.006 ahead of the 35-year-old Ivorian.
Tamari Davis of the United State of America finished third in 10.84 seconds.
Though young, Tia became a fan favourite at the 2024 Jamaican Athletics Championships where she finished second [10.90] to Shericka Jackson in the women’s 100m final, upsetting the most experienced Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce who had to settle for the third position in 10.94 seconds.
At the Paris Olympics, Tia Clayton did not disappoint having finished first [10.89] in the semi-final 3 ahead of Daryll Neita [10.97] of the Great Britain, and Twanisa Terry of the United State of America [11.07].
Her inexperience, however, came to hunt her in the final where she finished 7th [11.04] in a field that included the likes of Julien Alfred, Sha’ Carri Richardson, and Melissa Jefferson.
Tia Clayton is a double gold medallist at the U-20 level having ran the anchor legs for the Jamaican 4×100 metres relay teams that broke the world under-20 records at both the 2021 [42.94 s] in Nairobi, and the 2022 World U20 Championships [42.59 s] in Cali.
By James K. Attaglo Wilson
