Kelly Ann Baptiste captured Trinidad and Tobago’s only medal at the recently concluded IAAF 2011 World Championships held in Daegu South Korea. Running in lane 5 the Tobago born sprinter ran an impressive race and come in third to secure the bronze medal in a time of 10.98 seconds missing out on silver to Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell –Brown by the narrowest of margins. Campbell Brown’s time was 10.97 seconds. The race was eventually won by USA’s Carmelita Jeter in a time of 10.90 seconds. (See race summary below)
Kelly Ann Baptiste has been performing consistently since last year. She broke the national record in June 2010 when she ran a blistering time of 10.84 Seconds at the National Training Centre (NTC) Stars Invitational meet, in Clermont, Florida, making her the 27th-fastest woman over that distance all-time.
The bronze medal captured at the World Championships capped off an incredible season for Baptiste who came into the World Championships ranked 5th based on her season best time of 10.91 seconds. She opened her season on April 23 in Arkansas, USA, where the 24-year-old track star won the women's 100m in 11.56 seconds. Two weeks later, Baptiste clocked 10.94 to finish second to American Carmelita Jeter (10.86) at the Jamaica International Invitational. On July 5, Baptiste topped the field at the Reims international meet, in France, getting home in 11.11 seconds. Three days later, the Plymouth, Tobago sprinter produced her best run of the season when she ran 10.91 to capture the gold medal at the Meeting Areva Samsung Diamond League meet, in Paris, France. Later that month Baptiste captured gold again at the Spitzen international meet, in Lucerne, Switzerland. In August Kelly Ann had her only other pre World Championships loss for the season when she captured the silver medal once again behind USA’s Carmelita Jeter at the Samgung Diamond League Aviva Grand Prix in Crystal Palace, London, England.
The Sports Company salutes the incredible and consistent performances of Kelly Ann Baptiste and looks forward to her efforts at the 2012 Olympics in London. Kelly Ann is well poised to become Trinidad and Tobago’s first female Olympic Medallist.
