Jamaica’s Oblique Seville powers to world 100m glory in front of Usain Bolt

By Staff reporter
Published 14th Sep 2025, 17:10 GMT
Updated 14th Sep 2025, 17:25 GMT
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Oblique Seville was crowned the first Jamaican world 100m champion since Usain Bolt after blazing to a personal-best 9.77 seconds in Tokyo.

World record holder Bolt, who last won gold at a world championships a decade ago, was the guest of honour at the Japan National Stadium and he was treated to a Jamaican one-two on the second night of the World Athletics Championships after Kishane Thompson claimed silver in 9.82secs.

Olympic and defending world champion Noah Lyles collected bronze in a season’s best of 9.89s, in a race that required a restart after the Olympic 200m champion, Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, was disqualified for a false start.placeholder image
Olympic and defending world champion Noah Lyles collected bronze in a season’s best of 9.89s, in a race that required a restart after the Olympic 200m champion, Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, was disqualified for a false start.

“Through the years that I’ve been performing, injury is always the thing that stops me,” said Seville, 24, who trains with Bolt’s former coach Glen Mills.

“This year I showed my dominance straight through the season, and I said, ‘OK, this is my year, I’m going to take this one, and no-one is going to take it away from me’.”

Zharnel Hughes was the fastest Briton in the semi-final heats in 10.03s, but ultimately missed the finals by one place.

The top two from each 100m heat qualified for the final alongside the two fastest-remaining finishers.

Hughes, the 2023 bronze medallist, finished with the same time as Canada’s Jerome Blake. Both were two one hundredths of a second faster than Welsh record holder Jeremiah Azu, the 11th-fastest semi-finalist, while fellow Briton Romell Glave was 15th in 10.09s.

Dina Asher-Smith finished eighth in a women’s 100m final won by the United States’ Melissa Jefferson-Wooden in a championship record 10.61s.

Asher-Smith crossed the finish in 11.08s, Jamaica’s Tina Clayton took silver in a personal best of 10.76s and Olympic champion Julien Alfred collected bronze in 10.84s.

“I would have loved for my times to be a bit shinier over the 100m, but given the year that I’ve had and everything I’m so happy with just how I came into these championships,” Asher-Smith said.

“Obviously, I want a lot more in the 200m. But yeah, I’m happy to have made a global final in what has been a very difficult year for me.”

Jefferson-Wooden ran the fourth-fastest women’s 100m in history.

“This year has been nothing short of a dream,” she said. “To be able to put together the perfect race at the right time just means so much to me.”placeholder image
“This year has been nothing short of a dream,” she said. “To be able to put together the perfect race at the right time just means so much to me.”

Asher-Smith booked her place as one of the two-fastest remaining finishers, a spot Great Britain’s Daryll Neita, then Amy Hunt, also briefly occupied.

Neita was second-quickest of all the athletes from the women’s 100m heats, but came fourth in the first semi-final behind the United States’ defending champion Sha’Carri Richardson, who stumbled but still claimed the other non-automatic finals place.

Their heat required a restart after a potential false start for Richardson was reviewed, but the American was shown a green card.

“I’m angry,” said Neita. “What happened with my race? I don’t know what happened with the false start, I just knew it wasn’t me, I said that out there.”