BARCELONA, Spain – In what proved to be a record-setting men’s 100-meter final at Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium, LSU’s freshman Aaron Ernest solidified his reputation as one of the world’s top young sprint talents while capturing the silver medal for the United States with a personal best in Wednesday’s finale at the 2012 IAAF World Junior Championships in Athletics.
After cruising to a comfortable semifinals victory in 10.21 earlier in the day, Ernest drew lane No. 7 in the final alongside Great Britain’s gold-medal favorite Adam Gemili in lane No. 6.
It quickly turned into two-horse race for the World Junior title as Gemili surged ahead of the field after 50 meters with Ernest nipping at his heels. Gemili broke the World Junior Championships meet record with a winning run of 10.05 seconds for the gold medal, while Ernest took home the silver after equaling his best of 10.17 with a negligible tailwind of 0.1 meters per second.
Jamaica’s dominance was broken as Odean Skeen trailed Gemili and Ernest with a time of 10.28 for the bronze medal in Wednesday’s final. Jamaican Dexter Lee had captured each of the previous two 100-meter gold medals at the IAAF World Junior Championships with back-to-back wins in 2008 and 2010.
Gemili’s 10.05 smashed the previous championship record of 10.09 that was set 10 years ago in Kingston, Jamaica, by Trinidad & Tobago’s world junior record holder Darrel Brown.
“I feel great. Obviously, I wanted to win and I could have put together a better race today, but I’m pleased with the outcome,” Ernest said after the event. “I timed my personal best, so I’m pleased. I thought I came out of the start either second or third and just rolled it up. I just felt good all day. I felt great running in the semifinal, and came back and ran a pretty good race tonight to win a silver medal.”
With his performance, Ernest matched his seasonal best and personal best of 10.17 in winning the silver medal at the SEC Championships on May 13 at LSU’s Bernie Moore Stadium.
He also made history Wednesday night as the first LSU Tiger in program history to medal in the sprints at the World Junior Championships. He joins 2008 World Junior champion Walter Henning as the only LSU Tigers to medal in an individual event as Henning was the hammer throw gold medalist in 2008.
“I always had confidence, but this just helps me out a little more,” Ernest said. “I’m thankful to have this opportunity.”
A New Orleans native and product of Homewood High School in Homewood, Ala., Ernest is ready to add to his collection as a gold-medal contender in both the 200-meter dash and 4×100-meter relay this week. He will line up in the first round of the men’s 200-meter dash on Thursday at 2:55 a.m. CT and in the first round of the men’s 4×100-meter relay on Friday afternoon at 12:05 p.m.
The semifinal round of the 200 meters will be held Thursday at noon CT, followed by the finals on Friday at 2:30 p.m. The championship final of the 4×100 relay is scheduled to run Saturday at 2:50 p.m. CT.