Sub 45 seconds is the Holy Grail of 400m sprinters. When you can say your PB is 44 point… nobody cares the rest of the decimal numbers, whether it’s 44.1 or 44.9. 44 point is 44 point.
As a 17 year old, Akeem Bloomfield ran 44.93 for 400m at the 2015 Champs in Jamaica.
It was a National Junior record, but not quite a World Junior record, which is held by Luguelín Santos. But he broke Javon Francis’ meet record of 45.00 seconds set only last year!
Jamaica is showing a lot of talent in developing 400m sprinters, including Christopher Taylor’s 400m Age Group World Record for 15 year old, but where are they at the world elite level? We’ve seen Jamaica win 1-2-3 at the Olympic 200m level, but shouldn’t we see this for 400m like USA?
Akeem Bloomfield is coached by Neil Harrison of Kingston College. He quotes:
“I am proud of Akeem. He entered new territory, and there is no limit for him now”
His race plan was flawless. Get in front of everyone at 250m and let everyone catch you. He had to run the last 100m hard, and he even dipped for the line. That earns my respect. If he didn’t, he would have run 45.01 and not break either records!
You can see the list of all Age Group World records here at http://age-records.125mb.com or the European records here at http://statistics.homepage.t-online.de/a.htm
| Age | Time | Athlete | Country | YOB | Location | Date |
| 6 | 70.20 | Torrie Cox | USA | 2003 | Orlando FL | 2010 |
| 7 | 65.00 | Torrie Cox | USA | 2003 | Orlando FL | 2011 |
| 8 | 63.44 | Tyler Mapson | USA | 2003 | New Orleans LA | 2011 |
| 9 | 59.40 | Tyler Mapson | USA | 2003 | Atlanta GA | 2012 |
| 10 | 56.83 | Kenneth Gilstrap | USA | 1991 | Omaha NE | 2002 |
| 11 | 52.16 | Bryce Love | USA | 1997 | Greensboro NC | 2009 |
| 12 | 49.47 | Bryce Love | USA | 1997 | Greensboro NC | 2010 |
| 13 | 48.62 | Bryce Love | USA | 1997 | Durham NC | 2011 |
| 14 | 46.96 | Kirani James | GRN | 1992 | Ostrava | 2007 |
| 15 | 45.70 | Kirani James | GRN | 1992 | Bydgoszcz | 2008 |
| 16 | 45.14 | Obea Moore | USA | 1979 | Santiago de Chile | 1995 |
| 17 | 44.71A | Luguelín Santos | DOM | 1993 | Guadalajara | 2011 |
| 18 | 44.45 | Luguelín Santos | DOM | 1993 | Hengelo | 2012 |
| 19 | 43.87 | Steve Lewis | USA | 1969 | Seoul | 1988 |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEHvaPHGfcw
Jimson Lee
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