'Kishane is capable of running 9.6' - Coach Stephen Francis boldly confirms of his new speed king

Coach Stephen Francis and Kishane Thompson

'Kishane is capable of running 9.6' - Coach Stephen Francis boldly confirms of his new speed king

Funmilayo Fameso 19:09 - 05.07.2024

Coach Stephen Francis disclosed Kishane Thompson is in a 9.6s shape and the major goal is winning an Olympic medal in Paris.

Jamaica's renowned super coach Stephen Francis has boldly confirmed that his new speed king Kishane Thompson is capable of running 9.6s in the 100m event on his good day.

Thompson blazed his way to the top of the chat as a potential Olympic gold medallist in Paris after winning the Jamaican trials in a world-leading time and Personal Best (PB) of 9.77s - the ninth-fastest time in history.

Jamaican sensation Kishane Thompson

More impressively was that the 22-year-old lowered his PB through the rounds from his 9.82s in the heats and wasn't even too hard in the final as coach Francis said he should just run the first 60m of the race.

"My coach instructed me just to run the first 60m, nothing more - after that, shut it down,” the young sensation said of his electrifying performance.

“If I came second or third, I would've made the team. The goal wasn't to prove anything tonight, just run the 70 or 60m and see where I was.”

Coach Stephen Francis

Coach Francis who has trained several Jamaican sprinters to major championship medals is confident that his new protege will leave the Paris Olympic Games with a medal in the men's 100m event.

"Based on what I saw him do in the final, I think if he had maintained that speed he had between 40 and 80, he probably would have run 9.6 or thereabout," said the Co-Head coach of the famous MVP Track Club in Jamaica.

The modest coach also stated he's not about him breaking Usain Bolt's World Record but just winning a medal in Paris.

"I'm not the one about WRs. Right now for him and his future what he needs to do is to become an Olympic medallist first," he said.

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