TOP junior coach David Riley thinks the 43-member team named by the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) for the World Athletics Under-20 Championships to be staged at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, in early August, represents the best “available” athletes. The team, which includes national junior record holders Gary Card and Shanoya Douglas, who are both down to contest their respective sprint doubles, was named on Monday, with Riley, the World Athletics Global Calendar liaison and deputy chairman, Competitions Commission at the JAAA, named as technical leader. Card and Douglas are among five athletes, who were part of the last Jamaican team to the World Under-20s, in Lima, Peru in 2024, that are again listed in the team, with the others being Theianna-Lee Terrelonge, Jabari Matheson and Nyrone Wade.
The Excelsior High head coach said that despite some shortfalls in the system, including some schools not extending their seasons past Penn Relays at the end of April, thus excluding some talents from consideration, he still thinks this team will do well. “This is our best team, based on the results from those who competed at the national championships, and so I mean it is the strongest team that we have available,” Riley told the Jamaica Observer on Monday. He said other variables such as athletes sitting important external exams and some preparing for their first year in US colleges are also factors affecting those who showed up at the national championships.
“It’s always a challenge to have our best athletes at the under-20 level ready for this time of the year because, of course, they have to balance exams, exam preparation, as they’re usually still in high school,” he pointed out. “Some are looking for colleges and focusing their efforts there, and of course sometimes the high school programmes don’t provide much support to the continued development beyond the [ISSA] Champs and Penn Relays situations, so it is always a challenge, and we value and appreciate the effort of the coaches in the schools in the preparation of the athletes, and we’re looking forward to to a great championship and Jamaica representing well in Oregon.” There will be a lot of expectation for Card and Douglas, with the latter being the only individual medalist at the last World Under-20s, where she won the bronze medal in the women’s 200m.
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