Jamaica’s national women’s badminton champion Tahlia Richardson is enjoying a purple patch, something she welcomes as she continues her journey in attempting to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France.

Ever since she won the Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles titles at the Jamaica National Badminton Championships in November last year, Richardson has been on a tear.

This past weekend, March 25, she won the Mixed Doubles and Women’s Open Doubles at the Doubles Mania Tournament at GC Foster College in Spanish Town, St Catherine. The 2022 Female Badminton Athlete of the Year partnered with Kenneth Anglin to win the mixed doubles over Antoinette Ingleton and TJ Hines and then teamed up with former national champion Katherine Wynter to win the Women’s Doubles.

She went into the tournament coming off a bronze medal winning performance with Samuel Ricketts at the 2023 Giraldilla International in Havana, Cuba from March 16-19. And, in February, she won the Tournament of Kings defeating Wynter in the final.

She credits these successes to the work she has been putting in to improve her game.

“I think I have done really well whereas my fitness is up, I am getting more technical work in and I am able to go to tournaments and perform,” she said.

“The bronze medal for mixed was good. We lost to Bulgaria who ended up winning the tournament so that said something about the level we’re playing at,” she said.

“For singles I made it to the quarter-finals, which is good (Olympic qualification) points. I had played the top seed.”

The improved play, she said, has helped her go deeper into tournaments, another sign of her improved play.

“I have been matriculating into tournaments better and better. Whereas I used to make it to the round of 16 now I am making it to the quarter-finals which shows that there is improvement and getting good points geared towards the Olympics in 2024.”

Trinidad and Tobago Olympian Tyra Gittens has gone professional.

The 24-year-old Gittens announced on Instagram on Monday that has signed with Puma.

“Turning dreams into reality. I am proud to announce that I’m a new member of team Puma,” she said.

“The transition into my professional career was not smooth or easy but I have amazing people in my corner who rooted for me when I didn’t feel worthy of it. So excited to start this new chapter of my life.”

Gittens was an outstanding athlete while at Texas A&M University where she excelled at the heptathlon, high jump and long jump events.

In 2021 at SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, she jumped 6.96m to place her inside the top 10 for the year so far and set Trinidad and Tobago records in Heptathlon 6418 points, high jump 1.95 m  and long jump 6.96 m.

However, those 6418 points where just two points shy of the Olympic standard and caused her to miss 2020 Tokyo Olympics in that event.

However, she did qualify for the Olympics where she jumped 6.60m to finish 10^th overall.

She struggled for form in 2022, when she jumped 6.27m for 11^th place at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. She was also well below her best in the high jump clearing 1.76m for 14^th place in the high jump.

At the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon that year she only managed 6.44m for 19^th place in the long jump.

She was fourth at the NACAC Senior Championships with her best effort of 6.25m.

Later that year, Gittens transferred from Texas A&M to University of Texas citing a need to shift her focus from the heptathlon to the long and high jump events.

“I don’t feel like I outgrew it because I still have a lot of things that I wanted to do in the hep and accomplish in the hep. But at the same time, you kind of have to feel your body. It’s a lot to do the hep, I’m not going to lie, and so I wanted to challenge myself in other ways,” said Gittens in a media interview in 2022.

Now, armed with her Puma contract, Gittens can now turn her focus to the Paris Olympics in 2024.

“My goals are not something you necessarily can write down. It’s more of a feeling and how I carry myself and how I adapt and how I push through all of the things that has led me here. I think that’s what my goal is for this year  — to overcome a lot of things that the younger Tyra wouldn’t have been able to,” she said.

Shericka Jackson and Sada Williams produced standout performances at the Velocity Fest meeting at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday when rising star Tina Clayton took the scalp of Briana Williams in their first encounter as professionals over 200m.

Jackson was the toast of the meet with a stirring run down the home stretch to clock a meet record and season best 50.92, her fastest time ever in March. The reigning world 200m champion has her eyes set on going faster than the 21.45 she ran to win her first ever global title in Eugene, Oregon last summer and on the evidence of what she has accomplished so far this season building on her endurance, she is well on track.

Coming off the final turn, Jackson running in lane six, found herself trailing Elite Performance’s Stacey-Ann Williams, the Olympic 4x400m bronze medallist and simply shifted gears to surge past the 24-year-old quarter-miler towards the finish line.

Williams ran a creditable 51.59 for second place while Commonwealth Games 400m hurdles champion Janieve Russell finished third in 52.77.

The men’s race was equally thrilling with 2022 Carifta Games champion Roshawn Clarke, who is now at Swept Track Club, holding off the field to win in a personal best 45.85.

Titan’s International runner Assinie Wilson clocked 45.95 for second place. Malik Kymani James King ran a season-best 46.39 for third.

The 200m races were run in an ‘A’ and a ‘B’ and both were interesting for different reasons.

The ‘A’ final featured World Championship bronze medalist Sada Williams of Barbados, the 2022 Commonwealth Games champion and she looked every bit the part as she ran down Toyko 4x100m relay gold medallist Natasha Morrison to win in a season-best 22.98.

Morrison held on for second place in 23.24 while Tovea Jenkins was third in 23.91.

The ‘B’ final had two of Jamaica’s rising sprint stars, Briana Williams, who celebrated her 21^st birthday on Tuesday, March 21 and 18-year-old Tina Clayton, the World U20 100m champion.

In truth, it was expected to be a close contest, but it wasn’t.

Clayton running inside Williams’ surged past her elder rival midway the curve and extended her lead once she hit the straight before going on to win in 23.69. Williams, who got a poor start and ran a poor curve, tightened up down the stretch and was passed by Indian sprinter Srabandi Wada, who finished second in 23.98, forcing the Jamaican to settle for fourth in a disappointing 24.03.

The Men’s 100m final proved to be anti-climactic as the three main protagonists Zharnel Hughes, Julian Forte and Nigel Ellis, all of whom looked sharp in their preliminary heats, were disqualified after false starts.

Without them, Canada’s Brendon Rodney stormed to victory in a personal best 10.17, just ahead of Wolmer’s Boys Jehlani Gordon who ran a personal best 10.22 and the ‘msyterious’ Sachin Dennis, who was third in a season-best 10.23.

Tyler Mason came up trumps in the 110m hurdles winning in 13.68, well clear of Odario Phillips 13.83 and LaFranz Campbell 13.85.

Elvis Graham of GC Foster established a meet record 74.58m to win the javelin over Oraine Thomas (68.97m) and Devon Spencer 68.32m.

Fedrick Dacres threw 64.29m to win the men’s discus ahead of clubmate Traves Smikle (63.77), and Kai Chang of the University of the West Indies (60.69m

Dr Kishore Shallow was elected unopposed as the new president of Cricket West Indies at the organisation’s Annual General Meeting in Antigua on Saturday. He will have Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board President Asim Bassarath as his vice president.

Dr. Shallow succeeds Ricky Skerritt, who decided not to seek a third term. Skerritt became president in 2019 after defeating three-term president Dave Cameron in Kingston.

The new president, who also leads the Windward Islands Cricket Board, has promised significant changes to the way the CWI operates going forward. Those changes will manifest atop four key pillars that include cricket development; human capital, commercial and marketing as well as governance.

In a recent interview, Dr Shallow said he intends to invest in the development of young cricketers from the grassroots to the senior level while establishing a culture of pride and passion for West Indies cricket.

The new president also plans to incorporate modern-day best practices that align with Caribbean culture as well as implementing a viable and lucrative commercial model to enhance revenue streams for Cricket West Indies.

Jamaica Scorpions chasing a mammoth 459 for victory against Guyana Harpy Eagles were 176-1 at stumps, needing a further 282 to achieve an unlikely victory on Friday.

When play resumes on Saturday morning, Tevin Gilzene will carry on from 81 hoping for a big century as is Jermaine Blackwood, who was unbeaten on 66. The pair has so far put on 166 for the second wicket after losing opening batter Leroy Lugg for 10.

Earlier, Guyana picked up from their overnight score of 138-4 with Tagenarine Chanderpaul on 60 and Tevin Imlach on an even 50. The pair had extended their partnership to 175 when Chanderpaul was trapped lbw by Blackwood for 89.

Meanwhile, Imlach went to make an unbeaten 136 as Guyana declared at 294-7, 458 ahead of the Scorpions.

Mindley finished with the impressive figures of 6-54 after running through the Guyana middle order. Blackwood took 1-41.

Neither Kieron Pollard nor Andre Russell were picked up during the The Hundred Player Draft took place on Thursday, March 23. The successful short-format competition is in its third season and is set to bowl off on August 1 and conclude on August 27.

Despite their power-hitting prowess and propensity for being on winning teams in T20 franchise cricket across the globe, neither player was considered to be good enough for any of the eight Hundred teams.

They were not the only big names to be overlooked as two of the best batters in the world - Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan – were also overlooked by the teams’ selectors.

However, Sunil Narine had much better fortune. He was picked up by the Oval Invincibles and is the only West Indian player in The Hundred for the third season.

Chaim Holder’s five-wicket haul has put Barbados Pride in control at stumps on day one of their fourth-round West Indies Championship match at Queens Park Oval on Wednesday.

Holder was the spearhead of the Barbados attack taking 5-71 as the Red Force were bundled out for 203 in 75-3 overs. At the close, Barbados were 40-0.

Jason Mohammed spared the Red Force blushes with his score of 55 but other than Tion Webster, who contributed 46 and Joshua Da Silva 32, the other batters failed to show. Darren Bravo who has two hundreds and a 95 in the competition so far managed only seven as Trinidad crawled to 76-3 from the first 33 overs.

Jair McAllister also got in on the wickets taking 3-31 as the hosts struggled to find runs.

At the close, Barbados trail by 163 runs with all wickets intact.

Zachary McCaskie is at the crease on 21 while Sheyne Moseley is unbeaten on 19 at the other end.

Half-centuries from Kieran Powell, Karima Gore and Kofi James steered Leeward Islands Hurricanes to 271-6 at stumps in their fourth-round West Indies Championship match against Windward Islands Volcanoes at Toruba on Wednesday.

Powell scored 75 and shared in a fourth-wicket stand of 42 with Jahmar Hamilton that helped rescue Hurricanes from 51-3 after Monctin Hodge (6), Akeem Saunders (0) and Devon Thomas were all back in the hutch within 17 overs.

The Leewards slipped again from 93-3 to 121 -6 as Hamilton (12), Powell and Rahkeem Cornwall 14 fell in relatively quick succession before Gore and James came together mounting an unbroken stand of 150 that took the Hurricanes to close of play.

Gore, an American, will resume on Thursday on 87 while James will pick up from 61.

Preston McSween 2-42 and Kenneth Dember 2-66 were the primary wicket takers for the Windwards.

Lifelong Manchester United fan Usain Bolt couldn’t help but express his gratitude to Erik Ten Hag for making the Red Devils a competitive force in world football once more.

The eight-time Olympic gold medallist was on hand at Old Trafford on Sunday when Manchester United rallied from a goal down to defeat Fulham 3-1 in their FA quarter-final match.

After the controversial match in which Fulham had Willian and Aleksander Mitrovic sent off in the 72^nd minute, Bolt caught up for the former Ajax boss, who now has United competing on all fronts this season and defeating Newcastle 2-0 to win the EFL Cup in February.

“The first thing I said to him was ‘thank you’. That’s the first thing I said and he was like ‘thanks for what?’ I was like ‘for bringing the glory days back’,” Bolt revealed to media about his conversation with Ten Hag.

“It feels good to watch Manchester now. The team is together, they’re as one. They’re working together, they’re working hard and you can see the purpose now, you can see the determination in the way they play.

“I was very happy with his progress and I can tell that he’s going to do a lot more. We have a lot more trophies in our future so I’m excited.”

As for the future, Bolt wanted to know who the boss wanted to bring in during the summer to continue transforming the club.

“I actually asked him about who we’re going to bring in in the summer and he was like ‘do you have any ideas?’. It was a nice, simple but fun conversation,” the 100 and 200m world record holder said.

Dylan Carter is anticipating a good year ahead as he can swim free knowing that he no longer has to worry about meeting the 2024 Olympic qualification standards.

On March 2, the 27-year-old Carter swam 48.28 to win the 100m freestyle race at the TYR Pro Series Meet in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which is below the Olympic qualifying standard of 48.34. In winning, he held off the challenge of Matthew Richards (48.48) and Hunter Armstrong (48.95).

The time was a new national record for the twin-island republic and made Carter the first male 100m freestyler in the world to qualify for the Olympics in the event.

 “It’s all very exciting and I am very happy with that,” he told Sportsmax.TV.

Coming off the success at the World Short Course Championships in Australia in December 2022, where he won a bronze medal the 50m freestyle, Carter took some time to rest and prepare for Olympic qualification.

“Between World Short Course in December and now, I took a couple weeks’ break and went to Tobago for New Year’s and was coming back slowly in January, building up my fitness,” he said.

“I wasn’t really sure where I would be in March but I was focusing on my speed, strength and power through January and February.”

He believes the work he did building his strength helped him achieve the personal best time and a spot at the Olympic Games.

“I think that little extra bit of strength paid off. Also, racing the weekend before at the Jalisco Cup in Mexico was at 5500 feet altitude so competing all weekend racing very hard at altitude and then coming down the next week to race 100, I was really, really good at sea level. That might have played a part in it but I am really happy.

“It is a small personal best for me which at 27 years of age you can’t complain about that in March and it sets me up really well for the rest of the year and I don’t have to worry about qualification or time.”

Newly crowned NCAA 60m hurdles champion Ackera Nugent arrived at Arkansas, already the 2021 World U20 100m hurdles champion and the World U20 record holder, but with the improvements she has made so far, and the potential she possesses in the flat sprint, she could be great at both the hurdles and the blue-riband flat sprint.

Johnson, the Associate Head Coach of the Women’s Programme at the University of Arkansas believes Nugent is a special talent that is nowhere close to achieving her full potential.

Early during the just-concluded indoor season, Nugent ran a couple of 60m races and she improved from her previous best of 7.27 in 2022 to 7.20. That improved speed between the hurdles was clearly evident as she upset gold-medal favourite Kentucky’s Masai Russell last weekend.

This is where Coach Johnson believes she has the most room for improvement. In fact, he believes that she will surprise many with how fast she really is.

“I won't let the cat out of the bag but I think you will be very pleased when you see her run 100m. I think everybody is going to be surprised about what she is capable of doing because she is a talent,” he said.
“Obviously, I have been fortunate enough to coach Janeek (Brown) and Dazsay Freeman, so three young ladies from Jamaica, all talented in their own right but this young lady is very special.

“The 60 is a little short for her. I think the 100m will be just right and I think you will be pleasantly surprised at what she will be able to accomplish.”

Does this mean, Jamaica could have its version of the American Olympic champion Gail Devers, who won Olympic gold in the 100m in 1992 and 1996 and 100m hurdles world titles in 1993, 1995, and 1999?

“That’s tall cotton if you will, but I think that provided she can stay healthy and continue to progress, I think Jamaica and the University of Arkansas will be very pleased with where she is going. We have to take care of her and make sure she does the right things,” said Johnson.

Johnson, who is in his 12^th season at Arkansas, began coaching Nugent last fall after the 60m World U20 record holder transferred from Baylor University where she spent her freshman year.

In 2019, Johnson coached Brown to an NCAA championship in the 100m hurdles where she ran what was then the second-fastest time in NCAA history crossing the line in 12.40, which at the time was a Jamaican national record.

Four years later, under his watch, Nugent who turns 21 in April, won the NCAA Division 1 National Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 7.73, just 0.01 off the world-leading and personal best 7.72 she ran in the preliminary round.

The 0.17 improvement in her 60m best came as a result of the improvements she has been making guided by Johnson’s experienced hand. His job is made easier, he said, because the 2021 World U20 champion is a good student of the sport.

“She is an extreme talent but from my position as a coach there were some things that needed to be worked on,” he said.

“We have worked on what she looks like on top of the hurdle, into and off of the hurdle and I think she has done a fantastic job in working on those things. She is a really good student of the hurdles. She has good body awareness and kinaesthetic awareness so when you give her cues, she is really into what you’re giving her.”

Coach Johnson also lauded Nugent for her willingness to embrace change in pursuit of progress.

“I’ve got to give her a lot of credit in terms of being able to change the way she has done things to fit the model that we think that’s going to be best for her. She has lost some pounds, that’s something that as a coach, I required. I think it’s important in her development, not just from the losing weight part of it but in terms of being healthy and being able to train at a very high level and she has been able to a good job of that. So we’re very proud of her progress.”

Notwithstanding the rapid progress Nugent has already made in a short time, Johnson believes there is a lot more to come from her indicating that once she ‘cleans up’ some technical elements she will be a force to be reckoned with provided she can stay healthy and continue to progress.”

Jamaican netball player Gezelle Allison is planning for a life after sport and she is banking on bags to help her make that transition.

The 27-year-old Allison, who has represented Jamaica’s national team and Wasps in the Vitality Netball League in the United Kingdom, has come to realize that there isn’t much money in the sport and wanted to find a means of supplementing her income.

In the summer of 2022, a friend, a beautician, planted a seed in her mind that began to grow.

“It's my best friend, Suneak Rhoden, who had mentioned it to me and I decided to try,” said Allison, a six-footer who has also represented Jamaica at basketball. “Being a professional playing and still not earning a lot, plus paying for your own tuition fee, it only gives you the drive to try something else and have faith that it works.”

Allison, who is pregnant with her first child, has plans to play for another four years after she gives birth, said so far her gamble has been paying off.

“I didn't own a business before so obviously I was hesitant on the decision if I should. Eventually, I give it a try and It has been great,” she said gleefully.

“It has been great. I even start selling authentic bags and I still have the support like when I was selling the cheaper bags. So business has been fantastic!

“The only challenge I had was with myself. I didn't have the faith to start the business. My friend constantly asked when I'm going to open the business and I followed her advice and now I have no regrets.”

Ackera Nugent, in her first season with Arkansas after transferring from Baylor University, justified the move on Saturday when she ran the world-leading time in the 60m hurdles and then followed up by winning a national title as the NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships in Alburquerque, New Mexico.

After storming to a new personal best of 7.72 to win her preliminary round heat, Nugent sped to victory in 7.73 over former world-leader Masai Russell, the pre-race favourite, who was a close second in a personal best 7.75.

“It wouldn’t be my first time in history but the first time in history at the collegiate level is a really great feeling to see that I was counted out this year and I came out and showed on the day that mattered most,” the World U20 record holder said in an interview afterwards.

Her performance helped Arkansas win the Ladies championship.

Bunny Shaw’s goal-scoring exploits have reached record-breaking levels for Manchester City Women this season after she scored twice on Sunday to lead her side to a 2-1 victory over Brighton.

Shaw scored in the 21^st minute and 89^th minute after Elizabeth Terland had pulled Brighton level in the 33^rd minute. These were Shaw’s 25^th and 26^th goals in 22 games this season surpassing the previous 24 goals in the 2018/2019 season by Nikita Parris.

In 2023 alone, the Jamaican striker has scored two hat-tricks, while also striking four times in an 8-1 FA Cup win over Bristol City in February. Since joining Manchester City from Bordeaux in the 2021/2022 season, Shaw has scored 45 goals in 51 appearances, at an average of 0.88 per game.

Following Sunday’s record-breaking performance, team manager Gareth Taylor expressed his pride at Shaw’s achievements.

“I’m super proud of Bunny and all the players are. She understands the support and help she gets here to allow her to be herself,” Taylor said.

“I think what she’s done is remarkable, really - to go from the first game of the season scoring and not really have a dry spell at all, maybe a couple of games. She’s continued to score goals. She’s certainly a proven goal scorer, but it’s the types of goals she’s getting now and everything else she brings to us in the games.

“I think that’s nine in three games now, which is crazy.”