- Nickel Ashmeade
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Nickel Ashmeade 
Personal information Nationality 
JamaicaBorn April 7, 1990
Ocho Rios
Saint Ann ParishResidence Orlando, Florida Sport Sport Running Event(s) 100 metres, 200 metres Achievements and titles Personal best(s) 100 m: 9.96 s (Clermont 2011)
200 m: 19.95 s (Kingston 2011)Medal recordMen's athletics Competitor for JamaicaWorld Junior Championships Silver 2008 Bydgoszcz 200 m Silver 2008 Bydgoszcz 4×100 m relay Pan American Junior Championships Gold 2009 Port-of-Spain 200 m Bronze 2009 Port-of-Spain 4×100 m relay World Youth Championships Silver 2007 Ostrava 100 m Bronze 2007 Ostrava 200 m Bronze 2007 Ostrava Medley relay Nickel Ashmeade (born April 7, 1990) is a Jamaican sprinter who specialises in the 100 and 200 meters.
Ashmeade first enjoyed success in the sprints as a junior athlete: at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships he beat compatriot Dexter Lee to the 100 m title, was runner-up to Ramone McKenzie over 200 m, and teamed up with the pair to bring Jamaica the 4×100 meter relay title.[1] Another medal haul came for the young Jamaican at the 2007 World Youth Championships in Athletics, where he was second to Lee in the 100 m, ran a 200 m best of 20.76 seconds for the bronze medal, and helped the national team to another bronze in the sprint medley relay.[2] He competed at the Penn Relays in 2008 and represented his school, St. Jago High School – an institution renowned for producing track and field athletes.[3]
Ashmeade focused on the 200 m at the 2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics and he took the silver medal, narrowly finishing behind France's Christophe Lemaitre. A second silver came in the 4×100 m relay and he departed from his usual oeuvre to help Jamaica to fourth place in the 4×400 m relay.[4] The regional CARIFTA Games provided him the opportunity for further junior medals: he won the 200 m title and two relay gold medals at the 2008 edition and almost repeated the feat in 2009, with the sole difference being a 4×400 m relay silver.[5][6] His final international outing as a junior athlete came at the 2009 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships in Port of Spain and he won the 200 m gold in a personal best of 20.40 seconds before going on to take a relay bronze medal.[7]
He made the transition to the senior ranks at the 2009 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics, where he won the 200 m race ahead of Rondell Sorrillo.[8] After a quiet 2010, he made significant improvements at the start of the 2011 outdoor season. In May 2011, he completed his first 200 m in under 20 seconds in Kingston, running 19.96 seconds to surprise the more established Wallace Spearmon and improve upon his previous best by almost half a second.[9] Ashmeade made similar progress in the 100 m at the Ponce Grand Prix later that month, setting a meet record to beat Justin Gatlin, 2004 Olympic and 2005 World champion, with a time of 10.05 seconds (an improvement of 0.24 seconds).[10]
Personal best
Distance Time Date Venue 100 m 9.96 s (+1.1 m/s) 4 June 2011 Clermont, United States 200 m 19.95 s (+1.6 m/s) 7 May 2011 Kingston, Jamaica References
- ^ 2006 Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships. WJAH. Retrieved on 2011-05-25.
- ^ 2007 World Youth Championships. WJAH. Retrieved on 2011-05-25.
- ^ Fitzpatrick, Frank (2009-04-26). Jamaica's next sprint superstar?. The Philly. Retrieved on 2011-05-25.
- ^ 2008 World Junior Championships. WJAH. Retrieved on 2011-05-25.
- ^ Carifta Games 2008. WJAH. Retrieved on 2011-05-25.
- ^ Carifta Games 2009. WJAH. Retrieved on 2011-05-25.
- ^ Pan American Junior Championships 2009. WJAH. Retrieved on 2011-05-25.
- ^ Clavelo Robinson, Javier (2009-07-06). Culson prevails over Sanchez as six more records fall - CAC Champs Final Day. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-05-25.
- ^ Foster, Anthony (2011-05-08). Jeter and Ashmeade impress in Kingston - IAAF World Challenge. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-05-25.
- ^ Robinson, Javier Clavelo (2011-05-15). Home win for Culson, fine sprinting by Ashmeade in Ponce. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-05-25.
External links
Categories:- 1990 births
- Living people
- Male sprinters
- Jamaican sprinters
- People from Saint Ann Parish
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