When City Commissioner Alexandra Davis received a request for the city to host an auction and fundraiser for Jamaican Olympian Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in October, she jumped at the opportunity.
Davis is one of five Commissioners for the City of Miramar in South Florida, which boasts a large Jamaican community that has strong links to its homeland. Davis was born in the United Kingdom but raised in Jamaica where she attended the Mico Practising All-Age School, Wolmer’s Girls and the University of the West Indies before migrating to the United States.
So when on October 6, 2021, she received a phone call from Dr Jermaine McCalpin, the Executive Director for Fraser-Pryce’s Pocket Rocket Foundation, telling her that the celebrated athlete was in town training and wanted to have an event in Miramar to raise awareness about her foundation, it was a no-brainer.
“He was referred to me by Wolmer’s Girls’ Principal Colleen Montague, who was my classmate at Wolmer’s many years ago. She is a current board member of the Pocket Rocket Foundation,” Davis recalled while adding that they decided on a date three weeks later, which gave them enough time to promote the event set for November 16.
“I didn’t reject the request because as a city and myself as a commissioner understood the sheer awesomeness of this superior athlete and I knew the residents of my city and the surrounding areas would be honoured to host and meet her as well as support her foundation albeit at short notice on a weekday.”
Even with the limited time, Commissioner Davis pulled together a team that included her two legislative aides, Randy Green, the banquet hall manager at the Miramar Cultural Centre; Eddy Edwards from Riddims Marketing, Jacqueline Knight-Campbell of Top Klass Events and Marketing as well as Dr McCalpin and Fraser-Pryce’s public relations professional, Sherie Ranston.
Together, they managed to make the auction a success.
“The event was a success because folks wanted to see our Jamaican sports ambassador Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce CD in the flesh and support the cause.”
And even after the physical event ended people were still interested in participating.
“Folks were still responding online to donation requests even after the event concluded. Most if not all of the items were auctioned off for far more than the starting price of which most started off at $USD1,000.00,” Commissioner Davis said.
“Olympian Fraser-Pryce was well received as she is indeed regarded here as an icon in her field of sport, who had never visited a city as an honoured guest previously. We recognized her with the Key to the City, the Key to Broward County and Proclaimed November 16th 2021 as Ambassador Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Day in the City of Miramar.”
The highlight for Commissioner Davis was listening to Fraser-Pryce share her own incredible life story.
"Olympian Fraser-Pryce is a prolific speaker and her life story was compelling," she said.
Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.
Christania Williams and Coach Unfried target return to personal best ahead of Jamaica National Championships
Christania Williams, the talented Jamaican sprinter and 2018 Commonwealth Games silver medalist, is setting her sights on reclaiming her peak form as she gears up for the Jamaica National Championships in June, with her eyes firmly set on securing a spot at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris this summer.
Since her impressive performance as part of Jamaica's silver-medal-winning 4x100m relay team at the Rio 2016 Olympics, Williams, now 29, has faced setbacks due to injuries and other undisclosed health concerns. However, under the guidance of her coach, Philipp Unfried, she is focused and determined to return to her personal best time of 10.96 seconds.
Unfried outlined their strategy for the upcoming season, emphasizing Williams' goal of nearing or even surpassing her personal best. "The plan for 2024 is to get close to where she was, close to her PB or maybe around PB," stated Unfried. "She is going to do some more races now in preparation for trials and training went really well so far."
At the Velocity Fest 15 on Saturday meeting held at the Ashenheim Stadium in Jamaica, Williams demonstrated her potential by clocking a time of 11.76 seconds into a headwind in her qualifying heat, securing second place behind Remona Burchell, who won the heat in 11.52 seconds. Despite challenging conditions with winds affecting her heat, Williams progressed to the B final.
In the B final, Williams improved her performance, achieving a season's best time of 11.56 seconds. Although she finished second in the final, Williams' progress is indicative of her determination and gradual return to top form.
"Mentally, I am ready," expressed Williams. "The aim right now is to get back to my personal best. There is no pressure. Right now the focus is on me, just taking it one step at a time."
Williams acknowledged the mental fortitude required to overcome setbacks and stay focused on her goals. "It's about going into the race and doing exactly what I do in training," she affirmed. "I know I have a lot of potential, I still believe there is more in there and I still haven’t reached my full potential."
Despite the obstacles she has faced, Williams remains resolute in her determination to move forward. "With all that has happened in the past, I am just trying to put that behind and move forward," she explained. "I do have days when that really gets to me mentally but it’s life. If something happens, you don’t use that to keep yourself down."
As Williams continues her journey towards peak performance, supported by the unwavering guidance of Coach Unfried, the upcoming Jamaica National Championships will serve as a crucial stepping stone towards her ultimate goal of representing Jamaica at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Asafa Powell's absence cost Jamaica a faster 4x100m world record in 2012, suggests Gatlin
In a recent episode of the Ready, Set, Go podcast, American sprint legend Justin Gatlin delved into the hypotheticals of Jamaica's historic 4x100m relay run at the London 2012 Olympics, suggesting that the world record of 36.84 seconds could have been even faster had former world record holder Asafa Powell been part of the lineup.
Powell, renowned for his blistering speed having held the 100m world record at 9.77 and 9.74s, missed out on the opportunity to join the likes of Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Yohan Blake, and Usain Bolt in that record-breaking relay team due to a groin injury sustained during the final of the 100m.
Gatlin, reflecting on the potential of the Jamaican squad, speculated that adding Powell to the mix could have propelled them to an astonishing 36.5-second mark.
"Adding Asafa Powell to that already formidable lineup of Bolt, Blake, Carter, and Frater could have pushed the team to an even faster time," Gatlin remarked on his podcast. Powell's absence, while the team still delivered Olympic gold, left room for speculation on just how much quicker they could have been.
Gatlin, a seasoned sprinter himself, understands the unique pressure and responsibility that comes with relay events. "There is a difference between being an individual runner at the Olympics or world championships and being part of a relay team," he explained. "If you falter as an individual, it's on you; but in a relay, it's on the country's back."
Reflecting on the challenges of breaking a world record in relay events, Gatlin emphasized the need for everything to align perfectly. "36.8 is a gigantic order. 37 low is a tall order," he admitted. "Everyone needs to be in peak condition and ready to run."
Looking ahead to the future, Gatlin also weighed in on Team USA's chances of breaking the 12-year-long Jamaican 4x100m relay world record in 2024. "It's going to take a near-perfect performance from a team firing on all cylinders to surpass what Jamaica achieved in 2012," Gatlin predicted.
Texas A&M’s Farquharson establishes new meet record to win 800m at Alumni Muster
Jamaican Texas A&M junior Kimar Farquharson continued his winning ways in the 800m this season with victory at the Alumni Muster held in College Station, Texas on Saturday.
The former Calabar High star was in dominant form, winning the event in 1:47.26, a new meet record.
More than two seconds behind Farquharson in second was teammate Caden Norris (1:49.62) while Tracksmith’s Luca Chatham was third in 1:50.71.
This was Farquharson’s second 800m win of the season as he ran 1:46.69 to beat countrymen Navasky Anderson and Tarees Rhoden to victory at the Tom Jones Memorial in Florida on April 13.
Interestingly, the 22-year-old has also established a new personal best in the 400m this season with 45.70 at the Battle of the Bayou in Baton Rouge on March 30.
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