Olympic bronze medalist Megan Tapper stunned the field with a commanding victory in the women’s 100m hurdles final at the JAAA National Championships, capping off the final day of competition at the National Stadium in style.
Tapper, who had struggled with a nagging hamstring injury earlier this season, produced a personal best of 12.34 seconds (0.1m/s) to secure the national title , the sixth-fastest time in the world this year.
“I didn’t have any background training this season because I was cautious about my hamstring,” Tapper admitted. “Now that I’m healthy and have two and a half months to train, I’m going to maximise that time. I’m looking forward to getting in some real speed work.”
The 31-year-old, who represents Elite Performance Track Club, was electric from the gun. She upstaged national record holder and defending champion Ackera Nugent, who clocked 12.41 seconds for second place. Amoi Brown took third in 12.67.
All three will join reigning world champion Danielle Williams , who has an automatic berth on the Jamaican team heading to the upcoming World Championships.
It marked a stunning turnaround for Megan Tapper, who fell in last year’s final and failed to finish. She also missed the team to the 2024 Olympics after finishing fourth at the trials. But her response this season has been nothing short of impressive, shaving a full tenth of a second off her previous best of 12.44 set in 2023.
“Megan is back,” she declared with a smile in her post-race interview. “This year is just halfway for me. There’s much more to come.”
She credited her faith and support system for the performance. “I must give thanks to God and to the people around me including my sponsor, Sandals. This win is for all of them.”
Tapper Hails Ackera
Tapper’s confidence was evident as she reflected on the key to her race. “I know that Ackera is a fantastic athlete, but once I got my lead leg perfect, I knew I would have won,” she said. “Running a personal best didn’t surprise me. In training, I was hitting times equal to my PB today.”
Her resurgence had been hinted at during the Miami leg of the Grand Slam Track series,. She stepped in as a last-minute replacement for Puerto Rican Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn in the sprint hurdles. Tapper clocked 12.50 seconds her previous season’s best to place fifth. She returned the following day to finish second in the flat 100m, running a lifetime best 11.33 seconds, just behind Nugent (11.09).
