How good is Bouwahjgie Nkrumie?

National Junior Record Holder and World Under 20 Championship silver medalist, Bouwahjgie Nkrumie of Kingston College posted an easy 10.30 second, to win the Boy’s 100m timed final at the Youngster Goldsmith Meet that was held at the National Stadium on February 11, 2023. Nkrumie, who turned nineteen-years-old on Thursday, February 16, 2023, has a lifetime best of 10.02 in the 100m, a time that he posted at the World Junior Championship in Cali, Colombia, last year. Based on early season performances, Nkrumie is likely to go faster than 10.02. Nkrumie may become the first schoolboy to dip below 10 seconds when he competes at the ISSA Boy’s and Girl’s Championship that will take place between March 28 and April 1, 2023 at the National Stadium in Kingston.

The competition

Nkrumie’s main competitions are expected to come from Brian Level of Edwin Allen and Deandre Dailey of Herbert Morrison Technical High School, both of whom have gotten the better of the National Junior Record Holder, last year. Currently though, Nkrumie Is much faster than he was at the 2022 Boy’s and Girl’s Championship, and should therefore, seek to make amends for the losses he suffered last year. Even with the absence of Jeevan Newby, the 2022 Champs 100m silver medalist, the clash with Brian Levell and /or Deandre Dailey, should be an interesting and salivating prospect for track fans.

Sub-10 100m a possibility?

Bouwahjgie Nkrumie has exuded and expressed much confidence ahead of the Carifta Trials and the ISSA Boy’s and Girl’s Championship, so much so that fans and sports enthusiasts alike are waiting with bated breath, to witness history being created at the Carifta Trials and/or the ISSA Boy’s and Girl’s Championship. But, just how fast can Nkrumie go? Will he deliver on his promise, to become the first Jamaican schoolboy to go below 10 seconds or will another do that before him? Could Jamaica witness more than one schoolboy breaching the 10 seconds barrier or will the expectations of fans prove anti-climactic?

Indeed, will we get a glimpse of what is possible, at the Cooperate Area Champs that will be held in a few days, between Friday, March 3 and Saturday, March 4 or must we wait a few more weeks, for the “big dance” at the ISSA Boy’s and Girl’s Championship? From my own vantage point, I see Bouwahjgie Nkrumie posting 9.96 in the 100m final, at the ISSA Boy’s and Girl’s Championship.

Henley Taylor

Freelance Sports Writer

Henleytaylor1965@gmail.com