ONE SHOT

FOLLOWING BOTCHED exchanges at the World Relays and failure to achieve the automatic qualifying mark for the Tokyo World Championships, Jamaica’s male sprinters will make another attempt this Saturday at the London Diamond League in their bid to book a 4x100-metre relay berth to the World Championships.

After falling short at the Barbados Grand Prix two weeks ago – where the quartet of Bouwahjgie Nkrumie, Christopher Taylor, Odaine McPherson, and Kadrian Goldson clocked 38.46 seconds, missing the required 38.20 seconds – the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association is taking no chances, assembling a powerful quartet for this Saturday’s meet to achieve its objective.

With two of the fastest men in the world this season in the 100 metres – Kishane Thompson (9.75 seconds) and Oblique Seville (9.83) – joining Ackeem Blake (9.88) and former national champion Rohan Watson (10.00), the country has put together one of the fastest quartets ever assembled.

World lead

If baton exchanges go smoothly, they should easily advance and may even surpass the current world lead of 37.61 seconds set by South Africa at the World Relays.

President of the MVP Track and Field Club and TVJ track and field analyst, Bruce James, is extremely confident that the team will qualify for Tokyo and do so in a fast time.

“In 2023 we had a team of Ackeem Blake, Oblique Seville, Ryiem Forde, and Rohan Watson that ran 37.68s in Budapest. The Jamaica team for this Saturday’s Diamond League in London will see Kishane Thompson, who has a season and world best of 9.75, replacing Forde,” said James.

“With decent passes and their combined flat speed, they should secure Jamaica’s 4x100m relay qualification for the Tokyo World Championships,” said James.

The event, which will get under way at 7:23 a.m., will feature six teams, led by Canada with the fastest time among the group at 38.09. The others are Great Britain (38.18), which will have two teams, France, and Australia (both 38.31), and Ireland (38.88).

This could be do or die for the Jamaicans, as it is unlikely the country will get another chance to see its top sprinters lining up for relay duties. None of the athletes named above are slated to compete at next month’s Senior NACAC Championships in The Bahamas, which ends just seven days before the final entry list is due for the Tokyo World Championships.