Blake made a long-awaited return to the track clocking a 21.57 season opener in the Men’s 200M at meet four in the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) All-Comers development series on Saturday, June 6. Despite being placed in 13th position overall after cruising to victory in heat 8 at the National Stadium due to his time, behind Anguillan native Zharnel Hughes who top the event with a time of 20.44, the 25-year-old is elated to be back on the track.
“First I have to give God thanks that I am back on the track; it felt different [because] I was really nervous [and] didn’t know what I could do really. But I feel really good to get the rust off,” he told reporters.
The 2011 World Championship 100 metre gold medallist confirmed his participation in next weekend’s meet five in the series, as he looks ahead to the National Senior Championships set for June 25-28.
“I don’t take long to get going; so I am going to come next week and run one more and head into the trials. I just have to keep it simple and do some speed work and I will be good,” said Blake.
However, he expressed uncertainty about a sprint double and is optimistic about a podium finish which will earn him a spot on the team to the World Championships in Beijing, China in August.
“I am not sure as yet, I am still leaving it for the coach to decide what he think is best for me. I just want to get back my competitiveness and see what happens, but I would like to be in the top three,” he added. Comparing his time with the fastest times this season, ‘The Beast’ would place 7th in the 200m at the 54th Ostrava Golden Spike, behind Bolt’s winning time of 20.13, if he had competed.
Yohan Blake’s personal best of 9.69 makes him the second fastest man with Tyson Gay. “The Beast” was the youngest ever to become the 100m World Champion in 2011. His personal best of 19.26 in the second fast in the history of the 200m.
The ‘Beast’ is now looking a lot like the ‘Hulk’. Olympic bronze medallist Warren Weir shared a selfie with Double Olympic silver medallist Yohan Blake during a training session back in April and it seems he’s planning on destroying the track, literally. Him being hampered by a hamstring injuries over the last two seasons, the sprint circuit has been arguably less exciting without him. Blake reiterated that the recovery process has been difficult, but he’s slowly getting back in shape.
