World Athletics says Brianna Lyston, a young sprinter from the parish of St. Catherine in Jamaica garnered attention from around the world thanks to her eye-catching performances and is ready to cap her comeback in Cali, Colombia.
World Athletics said that Lyston, who has had her fair share of setbacks since her breakthrough season, is hoping to stamp her mark at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22 in August.
“Her confidence is the result of some remarkable success this season, winning all but one of her races,” World Athletics said. “Two of those performances earned her PBs of 11.14 (0.7m/s) in the 100m and 22.53 (-2.2m/s) in the 200m.”
“I’m not sure of how fast I can go,” Lyston told World Athletics, who prefers the 200m. “But, I think for the World U20 Championships, I’d like to go sub-23 seconds again.”
World Athletics said Lyston’s rise to prominence started in 2017, two months out from her 13th birthday, at the ISSA/Grace Kennedy Boys and Girls Championships (Champs).
“There, the fiercely competitive sprinter established a world U13 best and was a member of the championship record-breaking 4x100m team,” it said. “Five years later, those records remain untouched.”
World Athletics said Lyston’s association with record-breaking performances reached its peak at the 49th CARIFTA Games on April 18.
“The dream quartet of Cole, Tina Clayton, Lyston and Tia Clayton – in that running order – triggered unrestrained celebrations inside Jamaica’s national stadium when they broke the women’s world U20 4x100m record with a 42.58 run,” it said. “It improved on the previous record of 42.94 also set by a Jamaican quartet last year at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi.
“It was an overwhelming feeling that we could do it for our country,” Lyston told World Athletics.
In anticipation of the World U20 Championships in Colombia, Lyston expresses optimism, according to World Athletics.
“I’ve learned a lot from the Nairobi championships,” she said. “I’ve been working on a few things and been progressing really well.
“I am banking on my speed endurance, which is my strongest asset, and hoping to put everything together and deliver in Cali,” Lyston added.
