One of track and field’s rising sprint stars, Kishane Thompson — an Olympic and World Championships 100m silver medalist — has pulled out of the men’s 200m event at this Sunday’s Velocity Fest 19, held at Kingston’s National Stadium. Event organizers have not yet released any details surrounding the cause of his late withdrawal.
Now in its 19th iteration, Velocity Fest has grown into a truly international invitational meet, with athletes representing more than a dozen countries across North America, the Caribbean, Europe, and beyond set to compete. Alongside host nation Jamaica, competitors from Great Britain, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Kitts and Nevis, Haiti, Anguilla, and the British Virgin Islands have all registered for the day’s events, which are scheduled to get underway at 4:00 pm local time.
Despite Thompson’s absence from the 200m, the event remains stacked with world-class sprint talent that will give track fans plenty to cheer for. Headlining the men’s 200m field is 2025 100m world champion Oblique Seville and 2023 400m world champion Antonio Watson, who will both test their speed over the half-lap distance. Also set to start is Adrian Kerr, a World Championships 200m semi-finalist who ran a personal best of 20.08 seconds at the global championships, plus 2024 World Indoor 60m bronze medalist Ackeem Blake.
In the premier men’s 100m, Olympic 200m bronze medalist Bryan Levell tops the entry list, drawing a deep international field that includes British sprint star Zharnel Hughes, Mario Burke of Barbados, McKish Compton of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Jelani Ellison of Canada’s Flying Angels club, and top Jamaican sprinters Bwouwahjgie Nkrumie, Kadrian Goldson, and Rohan Watson. Rounding out the field are Guyana’s Sachn Dennis and Emmanuel Archibald.
On the women’s side, two-time Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah leads the 100m field, where she will go head-to-head with a mix of veteran and emerging sprinters including Jonielle Smith, Jodean Williams, Natasha Morrison, Levanya Williams, Theianna-Lee Terrelonge, and teenage rising star Shevi-Anne Shim of Jamaica’s Immaculate High School. The women’s 200m will feature dynamic sibling duo Tia and Tina Clayton, alongside fellow young sprint talent Alana Reed and top sprint hurdler Ackera Nugent.
Middle-distance sprint action also boasts elite talent: the men’s 400m features Roshane Symister of Trinidad and Tobago matched up against Jamaica’s Jeremy Bembridge, Deandre Watkins, and Marcinho Rose, while the women’s 400m will see world-class sprinter Shericka Jackson compete alongside Janielle Josephs, Shian Salmon, and Sada Williams of Barbados.