In a stunning display of athletic prowess, 16-year-old Ricardo Mann of Saint Lucia delivered a record-shattering performance at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships in Kingston, Jamaica. Despite previous disappointment over missing national team selection for the CARIFTA Games, Mann achieved a remarkable personal best of 10.44 seconds in the Under-20 boys’ 100m final on March 25, earning a bronze medal and establishing a new national junior record.
The Vere Technical High School sprinter, representing coach Elton Coombs, demonstrated exceptional progress throughout the championship event. After clocking 10.57 seconds in preliminary heats with a 0.4m/s wind, Mann improved to 10.49 seconds in semifinals with a 3.1 m/s tailwind before achieving his record-breaking 10.44 seconds in the final with a legal wind of 0.6 m/s.
Mann finished behind gold medalist Kai Kelly of Jamaica College (10.28 seconds) and silver medalist Joshua Ricketts of Calabar (10.42 seconds), though he recorded the fastest reaction time among all three medal winners. His achievement broke Nick Joseph’s 2017 national junior record of 10.54 seconds and marked Saint Lucia’s first male sprint medal at the championships since Julien Alfred’s 200m bronze in 2018.
Reflecting on his performance, Mann stated: ‘I have a lot more left in the tank. I didn’t get the opportunity to show what I was capable of last year, so I am grateful to run this in my second time running 100 this season.’ The young athlete expressed confidence in his potential, suggesting he could achieve times of 10.2 or 10.3 seconds with improved start technique and finishing form.
Despite this breakthrough achievement, Mann will not compete at the upcoming regional junior athletics festival due to missing qualification deadlines. The sprinter faced challenges last season when a recurring hamstring injury prevented him from completing his semifinal run after advancing with 10.74 seconds in preliminary heats.
According to World Athletics data, only eight Saint Lucian men have achieved times of 10.3 seconds or faster under any conditions. Mann’s legally-winded performance establishes a new benchmark for Saint Lucian sprinting and signals the emergence of a promising athletic talent.