York University Lions track and field standout Khamica Bingham finished in seventh place in the 100m at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, on Monday night.
Bingham, of Brampton, Ont., became the first Canadian woman since 2006 to reach the 100m final with a personal-best time of 11.32 seconds in the semifinals. She clocked a time of 11.37 seconds in the final.
At 20 years of age, she is also the youngest Canadian female to reach the 100m final at the international multi-sport event since it became the British Commonwealth Games in 1970.
Bingham recently completed her first season with the Lions, ending the year as York’s female athlete of the year after a tremendous showing on the track. She won three gold medals at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) championships and two at the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) championships, and set new records in the 60m at both meets. She was named the CIS championship’s most outstanding performer and the OUA track event’s most valuable performer, and earned first-team CIS all-Canadian and OUA all-star honours. At the conclusion of the season, she was named the OUA female athlete of the year and a nominee for the BLG Award as CIS female athlete of the year.
Bingham has already put together an impressive international resume. She holds the Canadian youth record in the 100m and finished just .01 seconds out of a medal position at the 2012 world junior championships. She competed at the senior world championships in Russia as a teenager last year, running the anchor leg on the 4x100m relay team that broke the Canadian record and placed sixth overall.
York teammate Dontae Richards-Kwok of Mississauga, Ont., also had his best-ever showing at a major international event. The 14-time CIS gold medallist and two-time York male athlete of the year reached the semis of the 100m for the first time, eventually finishing in eighth place in his semifinal heat.