 The yeah, I think you can hear me now back on the sportsmax zone We're talking truck and field to open this Friday edition of the show and the Diamond League meet from Brussels, Belgium today The penultimate one of the season so for Caribbean winners all of them from Jamaica We start with the women's 100 meters one by Elaine Thompson here Remember 1092 in Switzerland 1084 today a season's best for Natasha Morrison finishing in second her Jamaican compatriot Over 200 meters Sharika Jackson was going for the world record and she won that event 2148 A Diamond League record for Sharika Jackson. She also brought the meet record of 2164 Which was set by Merlin Joyce Otte in 1991 so a pretty special performance From Sharika Jackson over 200 meters the Bahamian Anthony Xtron finishing in second position at 22.31 Seconds in the men's 400 meters Rashid McDonald got victory 44.84 seconds his winning time And then in the women's triple jump Shanika Ricketts becoming the second Jamaican to go beyond the 15 meter Mark with a 15-01 effort to win that event no Yulema Rojas in Brussels today so Four Caribbean winners there Tia Lafon finished third in the women's triple jump with 14.03 meters Well Leighton Levy our in-house analyst that joins us as we discuss what happened today In Brussels and Leighton I'm going to begin with the women's 200 meters and Sharika Jackson's performance at 2148 effort she was chasing the world record in fact there were three athletes so I Think um had hopes of threatening world records today Jackson being one of them it didn't happen Manda Duplantis in the men's pole vault he got over six then it didn't happen and Jacob Inga Britson in the men's 2000 meters really run 2000 meters and he did break the world record they don't even really refer to it as world record it's a world best but we're talking about Sharika Jackson not getting the world record but she got a diamond league record and a meeting record Leighton fantastic performance um what else can you say four of the six fastest times in history and all of them run without an appreciative way helping win uh 0.2 today and that was what we saw in Budapest was 0.1 her 2145 0.6 when you go back and look at the history of it the world record of 2134 set in 1988 was run with an aiding wind of 1.3 meters per second and Sharika Jackson had that win in any of two of those three races she the world record would have been hers so I mean you can't complain fantastic performance and the reality is that when you look at the races in their entirety they're not as good as she could have run so I suspect that tweaking a little few things here and there you know the the curve maybe she needs to hug Leighton a little bit more the last 50 meters today at first glance I need to look back at it probably wasn't as good as she wanted it to be so when you look at the overall performance though what can you say 2148 I mean notwithstanding a brand new track that has to be has to be taken into consideration as well but the fact is that you have to run the time and she did it today again three times under 215 no other athletes have ever done that before 2141 2145 2148 in less than ideal conditions in terms of the environmental conditions I mean what is coming it's just fantastic from the young Jamaican and of course looking forward to see what she does in in Eugene and of course looking forward to the Olympics next year where unless something extraordinary happens she's the gold medalist at the Olympic Games in Paris next year it's track and field maybe you shouldn't look that far I said unless something extraordinary happens which has been known to happen in this sport of track and field do you suspect that she is putting together a resume that puts her well a little bit more than in the conversation now as the greatest half-lap sprinter of all time on the women's side despite the fact that she doesn't have the world record and if she is not there yet as the greatest half-lap runner on the female side what does she have to do to get there when the Olympic title next year she does that I think she establishes herself as the greatest why because she has the times and she has the titles to back including the prestige of the Olympic title if she breaks the world record then the argument is over completely when you look at and it goes beyond just the 200 in terms of combinations sprinters one two and four 10 65 21 41 and 49 47 or 49 47 sorry it puts her only second to marita cock of germany who has run 10 71 21 21 27 I don't know what the times were but the reality is but she's only four points behind now in terms of the overall standing 3800 9 to 3800 and 5 which makes syrica jackson actively the best combinations sprinter right now overall she's just behind coke but the reality is that by the time she leaves Paris next year as again I see that everything goes according to plan and she's going to be the greatest female combinations sprinter of all time but in terms of the 200 meters if she wins in Paris next year I don't think you can debate it the experts say all the time that latent that athletes shouldn't chase world records in the way that syrica chased the record today because she announced this week that she she was chasing the record and um a lot of experts don't feel that's a good thing to do apart from putting unnecessary pressure on yourself to deliver it can result in you tightening because you want it so so badly do you think she should have announced publicly that she was going for the record no problem with it going inwardly to know that that's what you're aiming for but to tell the world that you're going for the record tomorrow do you think that's something she should not have done or it depends on the athlete I think for syrica right now she's a level of confidence rare I think she can boldly say I want to go for the world record because it's there it's the it's the it's what she she's been striving for for the last couple of seasons and and look if she welcomes the pressure and is able to function under it which we saw today she said she was going for the record and still in 2048 yes it wasn't close enough to the record but to have the bravado to say I want to go for the record I don't think there's anything wrong in saying yes I want to do it yeah and if she falls short yeah but no we know that that's her ambition so eventually she gets it we knew she was always going to chase it so I don't know I don't think I think it depends on the athlete I think for syrica I think it's fine no problem for other athletes it might have might be a problem with the expectation of the pressure but I think for syrica we're at where she's at now I believe that is fine well you've already said you'd like to watch the race again to see if there was anything in the race that you saw Ricardo I saw the race once but from what I saw I'd like to see it again like like Leighton just said I thought she straightened a little too quickly coming out of the blocks when she came out of the blocks um I thought she straightened a little too quickly but I would want to see the race I think there was a mistake in that first 30 somewhere I saw something similar to what you saw Lance I'm not a hundred percent sure of what happened and I would love to see it again like both of you but I am agreeing with you there that there was something there was a little glitch that wasn't as smooth as it usually is one factor though that track in Brussels the curve is wider than the traditional to what you see so maybe that's the reason why she's straightened out a little bit more quickly because the curve is a lot tighter and most of the tracks that track the curve is a lot wider but it's wider so I think that may be a factor maybe that's something that they were working on when she said she was working on something that last year she was just around 218 so I don't know look to break a world record you're going to need to get everything going right all at the same time and it doesn't very especially one of flojo's world record yeah which you know has their own asterisk above them anyway the what the reality is that I think it's within reach of for shurika Jackson and I think if the if the right conditions and the right execution I think she'll get it yeah let's talk about Elaine Thompson here and her 1084 today on the back of 1092 in Switzerland listen for the last two seasons Elaine Thompson here has floundered compared to where she was in 2021 what we've seen the last three races especially the significant indicator that she's on track to back to being close to where she was in 2021 not saying she's going to get back to 1054 that's a long way away the fact is however when you look at what the race that I watched it three times her start was better her her drive phase was better her transition was better and her cadence as I've mentioned before when Elaine is at at peak performance levels her legs turn at a level like you see from Roadrunner and or Bugs Bunny or something on on Warner Brothers today I saw something close to that especially after she got to 60 her legs were turning like ridiculously fast not as fast as we used to see from her but she's beginning to look like Elaine Thompson here that we've seen in 2020-2021 where she was superior to everybody else in the world and if if Shaniki Osburn can get her back close to that I don't care what happens in Paris next year if she gets back to that level there's nobody beating her because we've seen the signs careful of those absolutes yeah there's an absolute and look but what I'm seeing today tells me that she's moving in the right direction and it tells me that that pivot that she's made from what has happened in the last two seasons is working out gloriously well for her because 1084 with zero wind that was a one meter per second when that's 1077 or 1075 depending on you know other environmental factors that attitude which I don't know what the attitude is in in in Brussels but the reality is that we're seeing an Elaine Thompson these last three races that looks close to the one that we saw back in 2021 and that's a very good sign for her and her coaching staff yeah I would just stay away from the absolutes but the point I wanted to make the point I wanted to make was how happy she looks and I've seen that from the world championships actually in in all the videos and pictures that I saw in the build-up to Budapest when she was there training and subsequent to Budapest she looks at peace yeah because now she's she's back to being Elaine or close to it or close to it look when you're not when you know you're capable of you play tennis yes I don't know well you play but let's assume that you're really good okay so so here's the thing if you're playing when you're playing a best tennis you feel it right it's a feeling you know you're gonna hit that forehand you're not gonna you're gonna cover that back as properly you know you're gonna cover the net the way you want to when you're not firing on all those cylinders it's frustrating for you so you're you're not clicking on you're wondering what's happening you're not it's not happening for you but what we've seen familiar in the last since the world championships right that 99 leg that everybody was questioning whether or not it's legitimate or not the fact is that she's beginning to feel like herself again and that's a very positive feeling you're like it's like okay I'm getting there I'm happening again and she I'm sure she can't wait to get into the postseason to to get working again yeah and before Lance even comes in I just want to make a quick point that the 99 leg in Budapest was a quality leg and I will not take that away from Elaine but I also want to make the point that there were some women who were clocking um 96 on that same second leg so there was still a gap between Elaine and the very best printers in the world at the world championships I just wanted to make that point and leave it there it's a good point to make because everything is in context it's relative to what but coming from where she's been coming from level zero six from a block start at the national championships in the final to running a relay leg there's a big difference because you're coming from zero from the blocks when you're after a running start the dynamics completely different so that's also to be considered as yeah um when she announced her coaching adjustment set up she did say Shanique Osburn's coaching stint with her was temporary or experimental I guess we are awaiting the confirmation from her now but I don't think it would be too long for us to hear that this is going to be it well look the proof of the pudding is in the eating huh and I think what we've seen since Shanique Osburn has taken over her program that she's continuously improved it's not like she's doing this you know she's doing this which tells me that it should be an easy decision at the end of the season when they sit down to discuss the future that Shanique Osburn has to be a part of the coaching set up because one of the things that we do know about Shanique Osburn she has the experience of coaching with Elaine before at MVP yes she is a meticulous coach yes and we've seen her have success with other athletes so this is not new to her because she's used to being an environment for the elite athletes so handling somebody like Elaine Thompson here should be relatively comfortable for her in terms of marshalling her program and getting her cycles right so that she's able to peek at the right times and get the performance that she's looking for she was the coach that spotted Tejaye Gale wasn't she yes she was she she spotted Tejaye Gale while he was at Papine where she coached and she also coached Tiffany James who was Papine's first ever gold medalist at Champs and she still coaches well she is back coaching Candice McLeod from what I understand and Candice has been doing well and importantly this situation is not the similar to Shelley and Fraser Price's situation when she left MVP and went to Ronaldo Walcott where you could look at as an understudy of the great Stephen Francis this young woman Shanique Osburn you can also consider as an understudy of the the great Stephen Francis lately you're smiling does that have anything to do can you share you you looked at a message on your phone I can't share it you you can't then you shouldn't be checking it live on air I'm sorry Rashid McDonald and Shanika Ricketts won today can you compose yourself and talk about the quality of their performances I'm really happy for Shanika Ricketts because she's been she's been hunkering for that 15 meter jump for the longest while so to see her get it today was cathartic for me actually because I know wow no because I know how hard she's been working to get that middle phase right and I think today she got most of it right and I hope this is a breakthrough for her not just physically but mentally as well you know that she's broken through that 15 meter buy I know it becomes hopefully become more consistent for her and I think what we saw today from her is a sign that there is no slowing down for her in terms of her progress and kudos to her coach Carrie Ricketts as well for Rashid McDonald I think part of this has probably been his best season in the front of the 400 the consistency that we've seen from him all year picking on that 4403 4484 today I think there's only one individual two individual races that he's run this year that he's run over 45 seconds which is a good sign for him and of course well since definitely since June yeah since June yes and of course you're looking forward to seeing what the off season means for him because this is a nice base for him to build off yeah I want I want to ask Ricardo about his take on these performances because he did say last week that he doesn't put a lot of worth on post championship performances before I responded to that I just wanted to make the point that just a quick correction TLF on actually had 1449 and not 1403 but to answer your question Lance I did say when I made the point that I don't put a lot of stress on post championship performances but at the same time I felt that this post championship season was extremely important for someone like Elaine Thompson hero because what she when you made that point but so I'm just asking about Shanika Ricketts and Rashid McDonald and well again so so for because I understood the point that you made about Elaine and it's well it's well made it's a well made point so for Shanika Ricketts even for Elaine Thompson hero it's about building confidence it's about proving to yourself that these are things that you can do for Shanika Ricketts finally getting over 15 meters that's massive it doesn't matter at what point of the season that she does that the fact that she can get over that hurdle sets her up well for next year similar situation to Elaine Thompson hero it brings back a little bit of her confidence moving into next year but ultimately Leighton and Lance next year is a completely different year and start from zero and the athletes who have run even faster or have delivered better jumps for the duration of 2023 will be coming even harder next year and and ultimately that is what that is what it comes down to yeah but there's a thing that I like to phrase I like to use cause progress over perfection huh yeah and I think when you look at for example let's take Elaine yes Elaine ceiling is 15 seconds by the way Elaine ceiling is higher than everybody else in the world 1054 nobody else has it been there so you know her ceiling is so high that even at 1084 performance today is not close to her best so if you can get back to that level given the confidence that she now has makes her very dangerous for next year I love how you say very dangerous and not unbeatable because you've been on that absolute I'm very happy for her for today's show leave it there Leighton we have to end the segment there we go to a break of a buck with more on the sports mic so