McLaughlin
continues Jamaican women’s sprint tradition
IAAF
12 July 2001 - Debrecen - Jamaica’s tradition in women’s sprinting
appears to be guaranteed for the near future. Still only 15, Anneisha McLaughlin is
destined to become Jamaica’s next sprinting star. Anneisha’s running style is
very similar to that of Veronica Campbell, the 18 year-old who won an Olympic silver medal
last year with her 4x100m team mates and two gold medals at the world junior championships
in Santiago. The main difference with Veronica though is that Anneisha is a 200m and 400m
runner.
“She will not double up at these championships though,” her coach and team leader explained. “The time table doesn’t allow her to take part in both races and we think that her best chances are in the longer race.”
A native of Manchester, Anneisha smiles when asked who is her favourite Jamaican runner. Despite there being many world class Jamaican runners in the history of athletics, the young girl doesn’t hesitate a second. “Sandie Richards is my favourite. I’ve had the chance to meet her and it has been fascinating.”
With the season’s world best, Anneisha entered this morning’s first round of the 400m very relaxed and cruised to victory in her heat clocking 55.26 more than a second faster than second placed Gabriela Ciuca (ROM). The best time of the heats was clocked by the USA’s Jerrika Chapple (17 years old) who won heat 1 in 54.82.
With a personal best of 52.31 set in Kingston last March, Anneisha is expected to run faster in the following rounds and attack the championships record of 52.28 established by Monique Henderson (USA) two years ago in Bydgoszcz.
A member of the 4x400m relay team that won silver at last year’s World Junior Championships in Santiago, Chile, Anneisha said she is not worried about getting tired running three rounds here in Hungary.
Anneisha is also a world leader in the 200m with a time of 23.11 clocked in Kingston last April.
