| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1981-07-07)7 July 1981 (age 43) Trelawny, Jamaica |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Track and field |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personalbest | 60m: 6.47100m: 9.99 |
Lerone Ephraime Clarke (born 7 July 1981) is aJamaicantrack and fieldsprinter who specialises in the100 metres and the60 metres. He is the former Commonwealth Games champion in the 100 m. His personal best for that distance is 9.99 seconds, set in 2009. He has represented Jamaica three times at theIAAF World Indoor Championships and holds the Jamaican record for the indoor 150m.
Like multiple Olympic championUsain Bolt and former Jamaican sprinterMichael Green, Clarke is a former student ofWilliam Knibb Memorial High School. He attendedLincoln University of Missouri in the United States and competed for their Blue Tigers athletic team in 2002 and 2003.[1]
His first international appearance for Jamaica came at the2002 NACAC Under-25 Championships in Athletics, where he led off the Jamaican4×100 metres relay team to take thebronze medal.[2] He set a personal best of 10.24 seconds at the2005 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics, coming sixth in the 100 m final and was also part of the relay team which finished in fifth place.[3] This led to his first selection for Jamaica on the world stage: he finished fourth in4 × 100 m relay at the2005 World Championships, together with teammatesDwight Thomas,Ainsley Waugh andMichael Frater.[4]
He earned a spot in the60 metres at the2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships and set a personal best of 6.66 seconds in the semi-finals of the event.[5] Outdoors, he represented Jamaica at the2006 Central American and Caribbean Games and ran a season's best of 10.28 seconds in the 100 m semi-finals. He was slower in the final, finishing fourth, but led of the relay team to the bronze medals.[6] He had a low key 2007 season, although he achieved a 60 m best of 6.64 seconds at theMillrose Games and a 100 m best of 10.15 seconds inKingston, Jamaica.[7]
At the start of 2008 he won the 60 m sprint at theTyson Invitational,[8] but had a poor performance at the2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships, being eliminated in the heats after a slow start.[7] He competed in only two competitions over 100 m that year: he was a semi-finalist at the Jamaican National Championships and was seventh in the 100 m at the2008 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics.[9]
Driven on by the success ofJamaica at the 2008 Summer Olympics, he competed extensively in the 2009 outdoor season.[9] He was fifth at the Jamaican Championships and took the 100 msilver medal at the2009 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics with a significant personal best of 10.08 seconds. He also led off the Jamaican relay team which finished as runners-up.[10] He was selected as a first heat relay runner at the2009 World Championships in Athletics and received agold medal as the Jamaican quartet went on to win the title.[7] He competed at a number of smaller meets in the European circuit before going on to set a personal best time of 9.99 seconds at theWeltklasse Zürich in August, becoming the 70th man to have broken the10-second barrier with an official, legal time.[11] Following this he set a meeting record atRovereto,Italy, recording 10.11 seconds into a headwind to beatAsafa Powell's previous meet best.[12]
In the 2010 indoor season he won at theBW-Bank Meeting,Sparkassen Cup andErdgas Athletics Meeting (setting a 60 m best of 6.55 seconds at the latter). He was chosen for the third time running to run for Jamaica at the2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, but was surprisingly eliminated in the heats against lesser opposition.[13] He ran two sub-10-second times at theDoha Athletic Grand Prix, albeit wind-assisted and was a regular competitor on the2010 IAAF Diamond League circuit. He came fourth at the Jamaican Championships then went on to win a 100 m bronze medal and relay silver medal at the2010 Central American and Caribbean Games.[9] With the top Jamaican sprinters opting out of the2010 Commonwealth Games, Clarke was selected to represent his country in the 100 m. He had a fast start in the final and held his lead to win thegold medal, succeedingAsafa Powell as the Commonwealth champion for the event. However, the lack of top athletes was evident from his 10.12-second winning time – the slowest to win the title sinceDon Quarrie in1974.[14] He also won a silver medal with the Jamaican relay team.
The year after he led off a Jamaican quartet to win the relay gold medal at the2011 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics and achieved his season's best of 10.01 seconds to win the individual 100 m title at the2011 Pan American Games.[15] At the 2012Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix he caused an upset by defeating bothAsafa Powell andNesta Carter over 60 m as he ran aJamaican record time of 6.47 seconds to win the race.[16]
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing Jamaica | |||||
| 2002 | NACAC U-25 Championships | San Antonio, Texas,United States | 4th | 100m | 10.50(wind: +0.3 m/s) |
| 3rd | 4 × 100 m relay | 39.86 | |||
| Central American and Caribbean Games | San Salvador,El Salvador | 6th | 100m | 10.49w(wind: 2.1 m/s) | |
Commonwealth Games champions in men's100 metres | |
|---|---|
| 100 yards (1930–1966) | |
| 100 metres (1970–present) |
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