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With no relay events scheduled at the National Senior and Junior Championships this year, the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) has highlighted three meets where they are confident Jamaica can qualify its remaining teams to the 2025 World Athletics Championships.
With just three months left until the World Championships, the Jamaican men’s 4x100m team, the women’s 4x400m team, and the mixed 4x400m team are yet to secure their places after falling outside the automatic qualifying spaces at the recent World Athletics Relays.
The three teams will need to meet the standards in order to secure their spaces by the August 24 deadline of the qualification window.
JAAA First Vice-President Ian Forbes said the association will target the Barbados Grand Prix, the London Diamond League, and the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) Senior Championships in their qualification attempts.
“I think we are aware that three of our relay teams have not yet qualified for the World Championships in Tokyo,” Forbes said.
“We have been looking for opportunities to facilitate their qualification, and we can announce that come July 5, in Barbados, there will be a meeting held in which the relays will be on the programme.”
He continued, “On July 19, the London Diamond League will be having 4x100m relays, and we will also be using that opportunity to facilitate qualification.
“The NACAC Senior Championships, August 15 to 17, will also be another opportunity for out athletes to qualify for the World Championships in Tokyo.”
In order to prevent a repeat of last year, where Jamaica failed to qualify a men’s 4x400 relay team for the Paris Olympic Games, Forbes said the association is working closely with the athletes and coaches to boost Jamaica’s chances of qualifying.
“We are actively coordinating with coaches and athletes to make sure the best possible teams are available for those meets.”
With 14 teams having already booked their places at the World Athletics Relays last month, the remaining three Jamaican teams will need to ensure that they have the next best two times in the world to qualify for the World Championships.
CONFIDENT
JAAA president Garth Gayle said the association is not concerned about the situation as he is confident that they can meet the World Athletics standard.
With time on their side, Gayle said they have received verbal confirmations from various coaches to ensure that the teams will be in the best shape possible to fight for qualification.
“We already have confirmation,” he said. “Hence the reason why those three events are the ones we can safely speak to based on arrangements that are in place with both the coaches of these athletes and the meet organisers of these events.”
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