Candace Hill put in an incredible performance in the 150m at the Adidas Atlanta City Games 2024. The American athlete dominated the pack and pulled through in the last moment in a close chest finish, clocking 16.293 seconds and winning the gold medal. As a result, she clocked the fastest 150m straight race of the 2024 season.
The 150m straight race is an unusual event and isn’t featured in major track and field tournaments. Shaunae Miller-Uibo holds the world record for the 150m straight race where she clocked an impressive 16.23s in 2018.
Faster times have been recorded in the 150m previously. However, they were during the 200m. Jamaican athlete Shericka Jackson holds the record for the fastest 150m split while running the 200m where she clocked 16.09 in Brussels last year.
Candace Hill won the race in the Adidas Atlanta City games in a close finish with her training partner, Favour Ofili, where the two were separated by 0.006 seconds. Nigeria’s Favour Ofili clocked 16.299s. Hill’s incredible performance comes before the coveted Olympic trials which are scheduled in June.
Candace Hill’s junior career
Candace Hill dominated the junior track and field circuit since she was a high school athlete. She came under the spotlight after becoming the first-ever female athlete to break the 11-second barrier in the 100m. She clocked 10.98 seconds in 2015, which was ratified by World Athletics and the performance hailed as the ‘world youth best.’
As a high school athlete, Hill received several accolades for her incredible performance over the 100m and 200m sprints. After dominating the national youth circuits, she qualified for the World Youth Championships 2015 which were held in Cali. Hill won the double gold medal dominating the 100m and the 200m, smashing the previous 100m championship meet record by clocking 11.08s.
Moreover, in the following year, she won the double gold medal at the international stage once again at the World U20 Championships held in Poland, in the 100m and the 4x100m relay. Her performance in the 100m at the World U20 Championships broke the previous Championship record and made her the world leader in two disciplines, namely the Women’s U20 and the Women’s U18.
Candace Hill turned pro in 2015 after deciding to skip college post signing a massive ten-year deal with the popular sporting brand Asics.
