Sixteen-year-old Tina Clayton produced the most outstanding performance over the weekend (9-11) as her team Jamaica dominated the NACAC U23 and U18 Championships, the first of the area’s regional events in 17 months.
Clayton improved her 100m personal best from 11.25 to 11.17 to claim gold in the U18 category. Despite her impressive time, the best by world ranking standards, the mark was not among the 17 championship records broken at Costa Rica’s National Stadium. Her countrywoman and 2018 world U20 champion Briana Williams kept her 11.11 time clocked at the previous edition in Mexico in 2019.
A world leader among U18 athletes, Clayton’s 11.17 places her third-fastest among U20 athletes in 2021, behind fellow Jamaicans Williams (10.97) and Ackera Nugent (11.09).
Two other 16-year-old Jamaicans also left their mark in San Jose. Alana Reid ran 23.78 for 200m gold and became the first U18 woman to break 24 seconds at the championships. Reid also anchored her team to the 4x100m title in 45.49. She was joined by 100m silver medallist Serena Cole, Clayton and Kerrica Hill.
World leader Jaydon Hibbert broke the 16-metre barrier with a 16.02m leap in the triple jump, a 34cm improvement on his previous best.
The world’s fastest U20 sprint hurdler and fourth-fastest ever, Nugent, returned to the regional event where she placed second in the U18 category and to the same stadium where she claimed silver at the Pan American U20 Championships in 1999. The 2021 NCAA bronze medallist easily dominated the 100m hurdles in 13.64, despite a strong headwind of -2.2m/s.
Sprint hurdler Orlando Bennett (13.65), 400m specialist Charokee Young (52.06) and long jumper Shakwon Coke (7.88m into a -2.6m/s wind) also shone for Jamaica, all in the U23 category. Alicke Cranston also impressed with his 10.42 winning time in the 100m.
Alexander Ogando, member of the bronze medal-winning team for the Dominican Republic at the 2021 World Athletics Relays in Poland, impressed on the final day by winning the 200m in 20.59, just 0.05 shy of his personal best. Ogando, who has run 45.01 for 400m, will be a key piece in his country’s mixed relay at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
With the CARIFTA Games suspended two consecutive years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the regional championships opened an elusive competitive opportunity for U20 athletes in the region. Eighteen-year-old Bahamian Camille Rutherford took the sprint double in 11.36 and 23.42, a personal best at the longer distance.
National record-holder and Tokyo-bound Jonathan Jones won one of the five gold medals for Barbados by covering the one-lap race in 46.20, in a close battle with Jamaica’s 2018 world U20 silver medallist Christopher Taylor, who was second with 46.58. Taylor is also qualified for the Summer Games.
Shiann Salmon, Taylor, 100m silver medallist Odaine Mcpherson and Young joined their efforts to set a new standard of 3:20.71 in the mixed relay, contested for the first time at the championships. Their Jamaican teammates Kishay Rowe, Roshawn Clarke, Oneika Brissett and Delano Kennedy set the new time of 3:25.27 in the U18 category.
Juan Diego Castro led the home team with a victory in the 800m in 1:48.82. Fourth at the 2017 World U18 Championships, he has improved his national record in both the 800m and 1500m. His 17-year-old compatriot Sharon Lisseth Herrera set a meeting record in the 5000m race walk with 23:18.14.
In the same event, Guatemala’s Yasury Betzayda Palacios rewrote the record books with a 22:31.13 effort in the U23 category. In total 13 records were broken, plus the two mixed relays.
With 61 athletes, Jamaica dominated the medal tally with 67 medals (39 gold, 18 silver and 10 bronze), ahead of the host nation (19-20-23=62) and Bahamas (17-18-7=42). All 19 participating nations won at least one medal. Due to Covid restrictions, some regional powerhouses did not attend, including the United States, Canada, Cuba and Mexico.
Seville sizzles with personal best 19.96s-clocking at Atlanta City Games
With the Olympic Games now approximately 11 weeks away, Jamaica's Oblique Seville indicated his readiness for the global multi-sport showpiece, as he clocked an impressive personal best 19.96 seconds to win the men’s 200m at the Adidas Atlanta City Games at Piedmont Park, on Saturday.
Seville, running from lane four, in the four-athlete field, blew away the competition to win in a negative 1.1 metres per second wind reading, and took apart his previous best of 20.17s.
Such a performance from Seville certainly laid down a marker for what is to come at the Racers Grand Prix and National Trials in the coming months, as he targets a medal or two at this summer’s Paris Olympic Games.
The 23-year-old won ahead of Trinidad and Tobago’s Jereem Richards, who clocked a season’s best 20.04s, while American Elija Goodwin (20.47s) and Jamaica’s 400m World champion Antonio Watson (20.99s), completed the field.
There were no such fortunes for the Caribbean ladies in the women’s 200m, as Junelle Bromfield (23.44s) of Jamaica, and Guyana’s Aliyah Abrams (23.47s) were fourth and fifth respectively. The event was swept by Americans Lynna Irby-Jackson (22.67s), Kennedy Blackmon (22.96s) and Lauren Williams-Jones (23.18s).
The same was true for Jamaica’s Demisha Roswell (12.98s) and Yanique Thompson (13.13s), who placed fourth and fifth respectively in the women’s 100m hurdles. American Kendra Harrison (12.67s) finished tops ahead of Nigeria’s World record holder Tobi Amusan (12.73s) and Great Britain’s Cindy Sember (12.86s).
Carey McLeod placed third in the men's long jump.
America’s World 110m hurdles champion Grant Holloway topped the event in a World leading 13.07s, running in a slight headwind. Robert Dunning (13.40s) and Michael Dickson (13.50s) were second and third, also with season’s best marks.
The much-anticipated men’s 150m was expectedly won by American World sprint double champion Noah Lyles, who stopped the clock in 14.41s. Great Britain’s Zharnel Hughes (14.66s) and Dominican Republic’s Alexander Ogando (14.86s) were second and third, while Jamaican Tyquendo Tracey (15.90s) was fifth.
In the men’s long jump, Jamaica’s Carey McLeod continued his good early season form with a third-place finish, after a best leap of 7.92m. The event was won by Italy’s Mattia Furlani, who cut the sand at 8.06m, while American Damarcus Simpson was second with a season’s best leap of 7.94m. Bahamian Laquan Nairn (7.70m) was fifth.
Jamaica’s Chanice Porter, with a season’s best 6.58m, and Tissanna Hickling (6.50m), were fifth and sixth in the women’s long jump, won by American Tara Davis-Woodhall, who cut the sand at 7.17m. Another American Quanesha Burks (6.89m) and Nigeria’s Ese Brume (6.87m) were second and third respectively.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s Akani Simbine indicated that he was still a part of the conversation for in the men’s sprints, as he topped the 100m with a World Leading 9.90s in a slight 0.4 metres per second headwind. Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala (10.00s) and American Kendal Williams (10.05s) were the runners-up.
American Aleia Hobbs won the women’s 100m in a season’s best 10.88s in a slight tailwind of 0.5 m/s. Her compatriots Tamar Clark (10.98s) and Mikiah Brisco (11.00s), also clocked season’s best for second and third.
Grenadian Olympians Kirani James, Lindon Victor set to compete on different continents this weekend
As they continue sharpen their skills ahead this summer’s Olympics Games in Paris, France, Grenadian Olympians Kirani James and Lindon Victor are set to compete at separate meets on different continents this weekend.
James, the 2012 Olympic champion and three-time medalist, has been confirmed for the LA Grand Prix on Saturday, May 18, at the Drake Stadium in Los Angeles, California. This will be his second race of the season having opened at the USATF Bermuda Grand Prix on April 28.
Meanwhile, Victor, a decathlete, will take part in the Hypo Meeting at the Mosle Stadium in Gotzis, Austria, from Saturday, May 18 to Sunday, May 19.
The Hypo Meeting is a World-Athletics organized combined events gold level meet that features the world’s top heptathletes and decathletes in two days of grueling competition.
Victor, a two-time Commonwealth Games gold medalist and the holder of several national records for Grenada has his sights set on the 2024 Paris Olympics where he will make his third Olympic appearance for the Spice Island.
Following competition in Austria, Victor will fly home to Grenada where he will contest the long jump and the 100m at the Grenada Invitational on June 6.
Olympic hopeful Tamarri Lindo faces deportation to Jamaica amidst Olympic dreams
Tamarri Lindo, a standout track athlete from York University in Canada, finds himself grappling with the looming threat of deportation just as his Olympic aspirations reach a critical juncture. Despite his impressive athletic achievements, including a recent bronze medal in the 60-metre hurdles for York University at the national collegiate championships, Lindo's dreams of representing Canada at the upcoming Olympics are in peril.
Tamarri's journey to Canada began in 2019 when he and his family fled Jamaica due to alleged threats and violence linked to his father George Lindo's political activism against gang influence in support of the opposition party. Tamarri, who has excelled both academically and athletically, earned a Ca.$2,500 scholarship after catching the eye of scouts while in high school.
"My goal was to make the 2024 Paris Olympics. But now, it feels like everything is being taken away," Lindo lamented in an emotional interview with CTV National News. "I feel like I could have a mental health breakdown. My heart is sinking."
Despite providing evidence of threats and violence faced in Jamaica, the Lindo family's asylum claims have been denied multiple times by Canadian immigration officials. The most recent pre-removal risk assessment, conducted in March 2023, upheld previous decisions, prompting the Canada Border Services Agency to issue a deportation order scheduled for next week.
Immigration lawyer Aidan Simardone, advocating for the Lindo family, has filed for a judicial review as their final recourse to remain in Canada. He condemned the decision, highlighting the potential danger awaiting the Lindos if forced to return to Jamaica.
"The fact that they are doing this is unconscionable," Simardone asserted. "It goes against our Canadian values of providing people their fair opportunities and protection to those in danger in other countries."
For Tamarri, who hoped his athletic achievements would bolster his family's case for residency, the uncertainty looms heavily. As he faces the imminent threat of deportation, he remains hopeful for a successful appeal while continuing to train and pursue his athletic goals amidst the uncertainty that surrounds his family's future in Canada.
As the legal battle unfolds, supporters have rallied behind the Lindo family, advocating for a reconsideration of their case and hoping for a resolution that allows them to remain in Canada and for Tamarri to pursue his Olympic dreams.
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