André Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter

Bridgeports's Jazeel Murphy is one of Jamaica's brightest sprinting treasures, and he showed why he is held in such high regard during the Class One 100m final at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Athletics Championships inside the National Stadium last night, recovering from an indifferent start to capture the gold medal with relative comfort in the end.

Murphy, who was running his first 100m final as a Class One athlete, was so slow out of the starting blocks, it appeared as if two slabs of concrete were attached to his feet. Midway in the race, Murphy, whose 10.73 seconds semi-final clocking was the second-fastest going into the final, was barely in a medal position with the likes of Andrew Fisher (STETHS) and Delano Williams (Munro) setting the early pace. He, however, found a new gear at the 60m mark, pulling his rivals closer and then behind him, with each bouncy stride.

Asked what was going through his mind at while he was trailing, Murphy, never a man of many words, wasted no time in summing up his thoughts during the disastrous first phase of his race.

"I told myself, mi affi ketch dem, swing (arms) and just run to the max," he said, still wearing a huge smile on his face; and smile he should.

Murphy has not always had a chance to deliver on the tremendous promise of his talent, with a couple years of injury setbacks hampering his progress.

challenges and triumphs

So moved was he by this timely redemption at Champs, that even he - the soft-spoken Waterford, Portmore native, produced a hint of philosophy when speaking about his challenges and triumphs.

"I was frustrated and very sad but it was just a matter of time," said Murphy, in response to questions about his thoughts having claimed victory in the face of many previous disappointments.

"Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes you get injured, but your time will come."

"It was a good win, I'm very happy about this win, trust me, I'm so proud of myself to get this win," he beamed. "I feel very proud of myself to come out here and get the win, even though I got a bad start. I have been training very hard for this win, I really wanted this one, it's very sweet."

Murphy, who still has business to settle in the 200m finals today, would not be drawn into making any promises about that event and only offered a coy, "I don't know what time I will run, we'll just have to see, but there are good things to come."

'I was frustrated and very sad but it was just a matter of time ... '