THERE’S TIME

WHEN THE selection committee of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) sits to select the team for the Tokyo World Championships, scheduled for September 13–21, it could be a major headache for the Garth Gayle-led body as several athletes who finished in the top three in their respective events are yet to attain the automatic qualifying standard.

“Having our National Championships early was a good thing as these athletes now have over a month and a half to hit the qualification marks. It is a good opportunity for those athletes not yet attaining the standard not only to earn, but to sort themselves out,” said Gayle a day after the four-day Championships.

With the World Athletics qualification standards much more rigid than those for the Olympic Games, it is significantly more difficult for athletes to attain the marks. The period to meet the specific standards set by World Athletics is August 1, 2024, to August 24, 2025. Most athletes who do not meet the standards will be hoping to qualify via world rankings in their disciplines, which is calculated 50 per cent by performance and 50 per cent by placings.

At the just-concluded National Championships, the women’s top three finishers in the 200 metres are yet to meet the required standard of 22.57 seconds. Winner Ashanti Moore clocked 22.66, ahead of Gabrielle Matthews (22.80) and Roneisha McGregor (22.86), who placed second and third, respectively.

Jamaica was guaranteed four spots for Tokyo in the event, with defending champion Shericka Jackson holding a bye. Seventh-place finisher Niesha Burgher, who was timed at 23.23s, is the only one to have attained the standard, clocking 22.39 in a win in New Mexico in February.

Matthews, the second-place finisher at the Trials, just missed the mark with a personal best of 22.59 in the semi-finals at the recent NCAA Division One Championships in Eugene, Oregon, while competing for the University of Florida.

Despite being crowned national champion in the 800 metres for the first time, Kelly-Ann Beckford’s winning time of 2:00.23 was well outside the standard of 1:59.00. Multiple-time national champion Natoya Goule-Toppin, who was second in 2:00.97, has a season’s best of 1:58.43 done in Shaoxing, China, is comfortably within the qualifying mark.

BELOW REQUIREMENT

Despite winning the women’s long jump and finishing second in the triple jump, Olympian Ackelia Smith is yet to meet the standard in either event. She won the long jump with a season’s best 6.81 metres, just shy of the required 6.86.

In the triple jump, she ended second with 14.44 metres, narrowly missing the 14.55m mark. Third-place finisher Kimberly Williams managed only 13.80 and will have a herculean task hitting the automatic qualifying standard.

Several male athletes are facing similar situations, with the men’s 200m topping the list. Event winner Brian Levell, who clocked 20.10 seconds, is the only one to have met the standard of 20.16. Second-place Christopher Taylor (20.28) and third-place Adrian Kerr (20.49) fell short.

None of the top three finishers in the men’s 400m met the qualifying mark of 44.85. However, winner Rusheen McDonald, the national record holder, must be kicking himself for not doing so.

McDonald, who has shown good form this season, appeared to be on course to qualify. But with a commanding lead in the final 10 metres, he eased up significantly – putting his finger to his lips in a gesture to silence critics and slowing to a near walk before the line.

He barely held off the fast-finishing Delano Kennedy to win in 44.88 – just three hundredths of a second outside the required mark. Kennedy was timed at 44.91s, with Jevaughn Powell third in 45.08. Notably, Powell ran a season’s best 44.90 in the semi-finals.

Seventh-place finisher Bovel McPherson, who clocked 45.91 at the Trials, is the only Jamaican male so far to have met the standard, with the 44.78 clocking he had in Lubbock, Texas, back in May.

It is the same story in the men’s 800m, won by Tyrice Taylor in a personal best 1:45.26.

National record holder Navasky Anderson was second in 1:46.03, and both were well outside the qualifying mark of 1:44.50.

Anderson’s best this season, 1:44.61, came when he set the national record early last month in Newark, New Jersey, putting him closest to the required time.

With several of the top male field event athletes absent from the Championships, the country will find it difficult to match its performance in these areas compared to the Paris Olympics. Discus gold medallist Roje Stona, silver medallist Wayne Pinnock, shot put bronze medallist Rajindra Campbell, and long jumper Tajay Gayle, the former world champion, were all missing from the meet.

Ralford Mullings, who won the men’s discus at the Trials, is the only male thrower to have met the automatic qualifying mark of 67.50 metres so far this season with a season’s best 69.31m.

In the men’s long jump, national champion Carey McLeod has a season’s best of 8.30 metres. Gayle remains the top Jamaican this season with a jump of 8.34.

Both male high jumpers – Raymond Richards, with a season’s best of 2.30 metres, and Romaine Beckford, with 2.26 – are also below the required qualifying mark of 2.33.