Adelle Tracey claims third national 1500m title at JAAA championships

Adelle Tracey stamped her authority on the senior women's 1500 metres final on day two of the JAAA/PUMA National Junior and Senior Championships, taking a third national title in the event with an official time of 4 minutes 40.08 seconds.

Four athletes lined up for the race after Wolmer's Anita Gottshalk Moore, originally entered for the under-20 girls 1500m, joined the senior field. Tracey, the defending champion and national senior representative, led from the gun alongside Blackwood, Jody-Ann Walker and Gottshalk Moore.

Tracey, the national record holder at 3:58.77, set in 2023, moved to the front early and never looked troubled. Blackwood, the Class One silver medallist at this year's Boys and Girls' Athletics Championships for Sydney Pagon, held second for much of the race as she tried to stay within reach of the seasoned campaigner. Walker and Gottshalk Moore fell back as the gap widened through the middle stages.

The 2023 season remains a high point in Tracey's career. That year she lowered the national 1500m mark, ran 1:58.41 for 800m, and finished seventh over the shorter distance at the World Championships. She also holds the indoor mile record at 4:30.71. A World Championship finalist with NACAC silver and bronze to her name, she competed for Great Britain until June 2022 before representing Jamaica. She won this title last year in 4:17.80.

This season Tracey has run sparingly outdoors, with previous clockings of 4:07.32 and 4:07.69, plus 4:11.44 indoors in February. On Saturday she controlled the pace without chasing a sub-four-minute or season-best effort, easing through the closing stages before accelerating inside the final 150 metres. Blackwood crossed the line second, while Gottshalk Moore and Walker finished further back.

Tracey greeted Blackwood after the race, adding another national crown to a résumé that already includes two previous 1500m titles and the national record.