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HomeNewsLocal sportsEddie Lovett Impresses at 2017 IAAF World Championship in London

Eddie Lovett Impresses at 2017 IAAF World Championship in London

Eddie Lovett competing in heat at the IAAF World Championships in London

Eddie Lovett represented the Virgin Islands in the IAAF World Championships in London this past weekend and became the first V.I. 110-meter hurdler to advance to the semi-finals with a season best of 13.41. He finished third in his qualifying heat and fifth in his semi-final heat.  Lovett finished 18th among the 200 plus countries competing; he finished fifth among Caribbean countries; he finished 8th among North America, Central America and Caribbean Countries; he finished 8th among Pan American Countries.

Lovett has had strong indoor and outdoor seasons where he received a high world ranking in 110m hurdles.  This was his second World Championships. Lovett is a Rio Olympian, a two-time IAAF World Championships competitor, a World University Games Gold Medalist, a 7th place finisher in the IAAF 2016 World Indoor Championships, a multiple NCAA indoor hurdles national champion, and a University of Florida (UF) multiple NCAA All-American leading his team to multiple NCAA national team championships.

He ranks on the all-time world lists for indoor and outdoor hurdles; he is number 2 on the all-time UF a 110m list; he is the V.I. national record holder in the 60m and 110m hurdles.

He is the third V.I. National Track and Field Team member to compete in the Olympics 110m hurdles (including Franklyn Blyden at 1968 Mexico and Jeff Jackson at 2000 Sydney).  He is the only 110m hurdler to compete in and advance to the semi-finals.  Leslie Murry won the bronze medal 400m hurdles in the IAAF World Junior Championships in 2010, the only V.I. National Track and Field Team member to win an IAAF medal. Lovett’s current season has included competition in Pennsylvania, where he is based, Florida, New York, California, Montreal, Canada, Bridgetown, Barbados, Lucerne, Switzerland and London, England.

His comment to VITFF officials after he was congratulated for his fine effort… “thanks… wish I could do more, but I’m not at that level yet.”

For information, e-mail: isv@mf.iaaf.org call 643-2557 logon to http://virginislandspace.org/vitff.html

Note: The 110-meter hurdles (see Eddie Lovett 5th from the left in IAAF World Championships round 1) is perhaps the most technical running event in track and field.  The athlete must, from a full start, negotiate while at full sprint speed, 10 hurdles approximately 3 feet in height 10 meters apart over the distance of 110 meters with the winner usually decided among eight runners with only hundredths of a second separating them …all done between 12 and 13 seconds.

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