3 months ago
14
WITH THREE of five Jamaican teams missing out on automatic qualification to the World Athletics Championships via the recent World Athletics Relays, the country will now look to ensure they rank high enough on World Athletics’ global ranking system by August 24 if they are to have a spot on the plane to Tokyo.
Following the World Relays held over the weekend, Jamaica’s men’s 4x100m, women’s 4x400m and the mixed 4x400m relay teams have yet to qualify for the World Championships.
But the question is, how do you qualify for the World Championships, and what comes next for Team Jamaica?
For the 2025 Tokyo World Championships, to be held in September, World Athletics has outlined two paths for 16 national teams to qualify for the international competition.
The first route for qualification came at the World Relays, where the top 14 teams earn an automatic qualification spot.
These teams were given two chances at qualification, during the first round of heats on the opening day, and during a repêchage round on the following day.
The national teams who miss out on automatic qualification will need to rely on global rankings to earn a spot at the World Championships.
This is the situation that the three Jamaican teams now face.
World Athletics stated that the two next-best national teams, based on the global rankings during the qualification window, will earn the remaining two spots for the World Championships.
The current qualification window will close on August 25.
For a team’s performance to be placed on the World Athletics global ranking list, they must first meet certain requirements.
The first requirement states that the race must be run at a track meet which is in compliance with the World Athletics regulations and is recognised by the sport’s governing body.
The race must also include at least two different international teams, representing two different countries.
So, a race which includes a Jamaica ‘A’ team and a Jamaica ‘B’ team would not be considered for the global ranking list.
Jamaica’s men’s 4x100m really team will need massive improvement if they are to qualify for the World Championships, as they are ranked 11th in the world among the non-automatic qualifiers.
The team will need to better Brazil’s 38.40 seconds to get into the top two rankings.
The women’s 4x400m, for now, must be quicker than three minutes, 25.31 (3:25.31), a time held by the Czech Republic.
In the mixed relays, Jamaica is the second next-best team with their season’s best of 3:14.42.
However, their position is not yet safe, as other national teams will be looking to improve their rankings.
The priority now for the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association will be to identify track meets which meet World Athletics standards and to put together strong relay teams to boost their chances of qualification.
With just about three months until the qualification window ends, it is a race against time for Team Jamaica.
English (US) ·