It had been predicted to be a onetwo for the United States. But not in this order: Jessica Onyepunuka got a better start than her more favoured team mate, Krystin Lacy, and then overpowered her team mate to claim the IAAF World Youth 100 metres gold medal, setting a championship record 11.31sec to really stamp her authority on the event.
Lacy, who turned 16 just three days ago, the daughter of a former Kansas City Chiefs running back, Kenneth, who attends the same Dallas school where Michael Johnson spent his formative years, was never even in contention for gold. Yet Onyepunuka had arrived in Sherbrooke with a best of just 11.49sec.
With the benefit of a 1.8 metre per second tailwind, Onyepunuka looked just too strong for her rivals, finishing at least two metres clear of Lacy, who clocked 11.50, just ahead of bronze medallist Kelly-Ann Baptiste, from Trinidad and Tobago (11.58).
"I'm happy. What more can I say?" said Onyepunuka, perhaps as stunned as on-lookers by her shock victory.
