admin100-metre sprinter in the world.
Makusha is also the only athlete from the Southern African Region who has earned his place in the Top 10 in the rankings of the world’s 100 fastest men for 2011.
The 24-year-old sprinter and long jumper, who is in his final year at Florida State University in the United States, bulldozed his way into the world rankings for the 100m event after he broke the all-time
National Collegiate Athletics Association mark in June when he won the 100-metre dash at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
He posted a time of 9.89 seconds while also becoming the first person since the legendary American track and field star athlete Carl Lewis to win both the 100 and the long jump at the same NCAA meet.
Makusha’s winning time of 9.89sec at NCAA Outdoor Championships was ranked as the ninth fastest time recorded during the 2011 season.
This places him among a host of top Jamaican sprinters, led by world record holder Usain Bolt, who dominate the world 100m rankings for 2011.
According to the Jamaica Observer, with the World indoor Championships, World Junior Championships and the Olympic Games set for next year, 18 Jamaicans have earned their places in the ranks of the world’s 100 fastest men for 2011.
The list, which focuses on the 100m in the outdoor season, has Bolt (9.76sec), Asafa Powell (9.78sec), American Tyson Gay (9.79sec), Steve Mullings (9.80sec) and Yohan Blake (9.82sec) in the top five.
At the IAAF World Outdoor Championships in Doha, South Korea, Bolt jumped the gun, Powell pulled out, Gay couldn’t have a say, and Mullings drugged out, allowing the 21-year-old Blake to run away with the title.
Michael Frater (9.88sec) and Nesta Carter (9.89sec) are in eighth and 10th places, respectively, with Nickel Ashmeade in the top 20 at 16th.
Pan American Games champion Lerone Clarke is at 24th with 10.01 seconds, five places ahead of 20-year-old Dexter Lee (10.06sec), a World Junior and World Youth Championships gold medallists.
World Student Games champion Jacques Harvey (10.09sec) is at number 34 in the world 100, with Mario Forsythe and Ainsley Waugh in 39th and 40th places, both having clocked 10.11 seconds.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Richard Thompson (9.85), Zimbabwean Makusha (9.89) and France’s Christophe Lemaitre (9.92) were the other quick sprinters this season, placed seventh, ninth, and 11th, respectively. – Sports Reporter-Jamaica Observer
Kimmari Roach clocked a season-best 10.14 seconds for number 50 on the list, with Oshane Bailey one-hundredth of a second slower (10.15sec) at 57th in the world.
Winston Barnes’s 10.17 seconds puts him at number 62, with Kenroy Anderson (10.18sec) five places below the Jamaica College past student.
Outstanding Camperdown High past student, 23-year-old Remaldo Rose, is at number 81 with 10.20 seconds, with Sheldon Mitchell, the National Junior runner-up two years ago, rounding out the top 100 (in 100th place) with a time of 10.22 seconds.
Jamaica’s main rivals, the United States, have 28 athletes in the top 100, notably Gay, Mike Rodgers (9.85sec), Darvis Patton (9.94sec), Walter Dix (9.94sec), Justin Gatlin (9.95sec), Rakieem Saleem (9.97sec) and Travis Padgett (9.99sec).
All three rewrote their national records.
Bridgeport High’s 17-year-old Jazeel Murphy, Jamaica’s fastest schoolboy, is at 140 in the world with a personal best of 10.27 seconds.
Online Reporter