England-born player Rhea Dixon is one of two newcomers selected in Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls squad for the 2023 Fast5 Netball World Series set for Christchurch, New Zealand from November 11-12, 2023.

The recalled Abbeygail Linton is the other 'newcomer' in the team that will led by Romelda Aiken-George with Adean Thomas as her vice-captain. Notably, the team will be without veterans Jhaniele Fowler, Latanya Wilson and Shamera Sterling.

Dixon, who represented England at the U21 level will be making her Sunshine Girls debut after expressing an interested in representing Jamaica for some time, Netball Jamaica Vice President Simone Forbes explained to Sportsmax.TV. She qualifies to represent Jamaica via her grandmother, who is Jamaican.

She has played for the Leeds Rhinos and Super Netball League outfit Loughborough Lightning in the United Kingdom. Standing at 1.80m (5’ 11”), the soon-to-be 26-year-old Dixon can play as goal-shooter, goal-attack and wing-attack.

Linton was selected in the Sunshine Girls squad that played against New Zealand in 2016.

The remainder of the team is comprised of Gezelle Allison, who returns to the set up after giving birth to her first child earlier this year, Theresa Beckford, Amanda Pinkney, Crystal Plummer, Kimone Shaw and Abigale Sutherland.

Great Britain sprint star Dina Asher-Smith is breaking up with her long-time coach John Blackie and is moving to the USA to train under the guidance of Eldrick Floreal.

Coach Blackie has been Asher-Smith’s coach for the past 19 years guiding her to tremendous success through her junior years and into a senior career that peaked at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar where she won gold in the 200m and a silver medal in the 100m.

However, since then, the five-time British 100m champion whose parents are Jamaican, has had a hard time of it since then.

She was eighth in the 100m final at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest and seventh in the 200m final. At the 2022 championships in Eugene, Oregon, Asher-Smith finished fourth in the 100m final and third in the 200m finals.

Given the recent disappointments and ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, while thankful for the success she enjoyed with Coach Blackie, the 27-year-old has decided it was time to shake things up in order fulfilling her ambitions of winning gold medals at global championships.

“After 19 years, John Blackie and I have ended our coach-athlete relationship,” Asher-Smith posted on her Instagram account Friday.

“My life changed by meeting him and I will be forever grateful to him. His intellect, patience and dedication has taken me from an energetic eight-year-old to a World Champion with over 20 international medals and many Olympic, World, Commonwealth and European finals.

“John and I will, or course, remain close friends.”

She expressed gratitude for her now former coach.

“Thank you to John and thank you to all my team in London whose talents and hard work have helped me realize so many dreams to date,” she said while revealing her new destination.

“My next chapter will be led by Eldrick Floreal based out of Austin, Texas, I am very excited to join his talented training group as we head to Paris 2024.”

With the Floreal training group, Asher-Smith will be training alongside St Lucian sprint queen Julien Alfred and Irish quarter-mile queen Rhasidat Adeleke.

A national collective effort is currently ongoing to locate the whereabouts of Bahamian basketball player Zane Knowles, who has been stranded in Israel as the conflict between that country’s military and Palestinian group Hamas rages.

There have been thousand of casualties from both sides since the conflict erupted on Saturday after Hamas reportedly fired more than 3000 rockets into Israel killing hundreds of civilians.

The 31-year-old Knowles, who plays for Bulgarian professional team CSKA Sofia, was reportedly in Israel with the team with the conflict began. Since then, flights in and out of Israel have been grounded. According Eugene Horton, President of the Bahamas Basketball Federation, after the player declared himself safe early on in the conflict they have been unable to locate him in order to determine if his status has changed.

“One of the players had made contact on Instagram a few days ago and I think he had said he was safe at that time. Foreign affairs, government and the basketball community had been trying to touch base to make sure he’s good but have been unsuccessful so far,” Horton told Sportsmax.TV.

“We are not sure what’s going on. We’re following the news with the happenings over there but the main thing right now is to locate him, find out his circumstances and see how best we can assist in getting him to safety.”

Horton indicated that all the stakeholders in the Bahamas have been working together to try and locate the player and ensure his safety.

“Once we locate him, we will put an action plan together to get him home or to another country,” the BBF president said.

“We continue reaching out to national team coaches, players to see if anybody is getting any news of his whereabouts.”

After a three-year hiatus due in large part to the Covid-19 pandemic, Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce’s Pocket Rocket Foundation is set to resume an inter-community six-a-side football tournament in Waterhouse.

The tournament dubbed the Fesco Six-A-Side Football Competition, will see 16 teams from Waterhouse and adjoining communities vying for cash and other prizes and even more importantly, harmony between communities that are occasionally in violent conflict with each other. Matches will be played on Saturdays beginning on October 14 until the grand finale on November 19.

For the opening weekend, matches will also be played on Monday, October 16, National Heroes Day in Jamaica.

The multiple Olympic and World Championship gold medallist told Sportsmax.TV that she is glad that she is able to resume the competition that for almost a decade engaged young men in the under-served communities.

“This is going to be our eighth staging and we were away for three years. For me, it’s about being able to engage young men coming together from different communities on the football field. Everybody knows what football does to the world and we want to offer young men an opportunity to relate to each other, to understand that we’re vying for something, that we can be competitive but we can have sportsmanship. We can understand that we are all fighting for the same thing, just to co-exist and having the football come back is a huge opportunity to see what the community has been doing, how we can engage them,” said Fraser-Pryce, whose Pocket Rocket Foundation is celebrating its 10^th anniversary.

The foundation has brought gasoline marketers and distributors, Fesco, on board as a title sponsor and Fraser-Pryce expressed her gratitude at having them on board, stating, “We are fortunate to have Fesco as one of our title sponsors. They have been such a pillar in the community because they are in the process of opening a gas station in my community so we are looking forward to the partnership and just to engage the young men.”

Teams will be outfitted by Nike and the iconic athlete promised that the tournament will be so much more than just about football. She expects it to be a fulfilling experience for the communities involved.

“We will have an ambulance on site. We will have entertainment and giveaways and a whole host of things. One of the things we want to do this year is to make sure that each Saturday we have an outreach, whether its inviting the cancer society or having blood pressure checks, different things that can engage the community as a whole.”

The football competition is among several initiatives that the Pocket Rocket Foundation is undertaking this year. There is a fundraising gala on November 4 at the AC Hotel in Kingston and its Christmas treat for the Waterhouse community later this year.

 Reggae Girlz captain Khadijah ‘Bunny’ Shaw opened her account for Manchester City Women on Wednesday during a 2-1 victory over Everton in the opening round of the Women’s League Cup.

Shaw also had an assist as she fed teammate Jess Park, who scored the opener in the 21^st minute to see Manchester City take a 1-0 lead into the half-time break.

Shortly after the resumption, Shaw got her goal smashing in from 10 yard to give the Cityzens a 2-0 lead in the 47^th minute.

“Got the job done. On to the next,” a proud Shaw posted on Instagram afterwards.

Toni Duggan headed in in stoppage time for Everton’s consolation. The former Manchester City player was scoring her first goal since she returned from maternity leave after giving birth to a daughter in March.

Global track and field icon Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and her Pocket Rocket Foundation are celebrating 10 years of existence this year and in celebration, and to raise funds to offer even more scholarships to student-athletes in need of financial support, will be staging a fundraising banquet on November 4 that will be streamed on Sportsmax.

The two-time Olympic 100m gold medallist promises that the occasion will be one to remember.

Since its inception in 2013, the foundation has awarded scholarships to 73 student athletes across various sports from 26 schools across Jamaica. They are able to do so through generous backing from companies like GraceKennedy, Digicel and now National Baking Company Foundation, who donated JMD$1,000,000.00 to the foundation at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston on Tuesday when 11 more student-athletes were awarded scholarships.

Each scholarship recipient, in addition to the JMD$100,000 academic scholarship, will also receive, JMD$7500 NIKE book bag, official Pocket Rocket Foundation notebooks and Promise Pin, a JMD$15,000 Book voucher, a $10,000 GraceKennedy Food Basket and a JMD$25,000 DIGICEL Tablet with JMD$3,000 worth of credit.

Fraser-Pryce explained afterwards that the work is just beginning hence the fundraiser planned for next month.

“For the Pocket Rocket Foundation, we have a lot of visions that we are implementing currently from the Rocket Start Breakfast Programme that we rolled out last year, donating deep freezes and refrigerators to different schools, just to enhance school life,” she remarked.

“What we have coming up is the Pocket Rocket Foundation’s 10^th anniversary fundraising gala at the AC Hotel on November 4 when we are looking forward to all that we have been able to accomplish throughout the years as well as implementing a (public-relations) etiquette seminar for students.”

Among the foundation’s future plans is a strategy to prepare high school student-athletes for college by providing them with the tools they need to successfully make the transition thus enhancing the chances of success.

“I think one of the things that is also important for the foundation is college readiness,” said Fraser-Pryce, who has a degree in Child and Adolescent Development from the University of Technology.

“We have a lot of athletes that are here from different sports and a lot of them will need help in transitioning because it is not as easy as it seems. It definitely takes a while to transition and some of the things we want also want to be able to offer them is mental health support because for a lot of persons there are different ways that they cope and I want to assist as best as possible, helping them to cope. It’s not just about giving them cash and kind but it is to be readily available to cater to different needs that we don’t know of or money can’t buy.”

These are among the reasons why the five-time World 100m champion will be asking patrons of the gala to make the sacrifice and turn out for the occasion because every dollar raised will go towards building these student-athletes into productive citizens of Jamaica.

“How it works is that you just empty your bank account, give it us and we can continue to invest in student-athletes,” she said breaking out into laughter.

“The ticket costs USD$350 and also, as a company, you can be a sponsor of the gala and you can have a table for your company to have up to 10 persons to attend. We’ll have items for auction and raffle items,” she said.

“Sportsmax will also be there to live-stream the event so wherever you are in the world you will be able to participate. It will be a night of excellence.”

The MICO University College, with a rich history of nurturing both academic and athletic talents, has embarked on an inspiring five-year plan to revitalize its sports program, with the vision of becoming the premier collegiate sports program in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean.

This exciting development was unveiled last week during a special ceremony where MICO announced a significant milestone in this journey: the offering of a four-year scholarship to World U20 100m hurdles silver medalist, Alexis James, generously funded by Island Grill. James will pursue a Bachelor's Degree in Physical Education and Sports at the institution.

Speaking at the event, Karren Foster, Dean in the Faculty of Education, elaborated on the strategic plan they have initiated to reinvigorate the sports program at MICO. She highlighted the first four hurdles of this ambitious nine-hurdle plan four of which were already being executed.

MICO has already entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Jamaica Football Federation under which 30 MICO students will become elite football referees. “These referees will officiate in local football and potentially on regional and international stages, significantly contributing to the growth of football in the region,” Foster revealed.

The plans also include the recruitment of world-class athletic talent.

“MICO's commitment to training and certifying outstanding athletes is exemplified by the inclusion of Alexis James, the world-renowned 100m hurdles silver medalist, into this institution,” she stated with confidence. She added that this can only be achieved through the engagement of the best coaches.

 “MICO is proud to have hired some of the best coaches in Jamaica for their sports program,” Dean Foster revealed. To date, MICO has hired national volleyball coach Gatasheu Bonner, former national netball coach Connie Francis, who recently guided Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls to the bronze medal at the Netball World Cup in South Africa.

MICO has also brought on board Shane Brooks, the national women’s cricket coach and Mr. O’Neil Brown, Jamaica’s national basketball coach.

“These coaches bring a wealth of experience and expertise to nurture the next generation of sports stars,” Dean Foster said.

The next phase, she said, is only just beginning but is a critical part of the over-arching plan.

“We face the challenge of securing nutritional sponsors to enhance their athletes' performance. Many of these dedicated athletes, who excel both academically and athletically, rely on work-study programs to meet their financial obligations. Corporate support in the form of financial assistance, technological resources, and apparel sponsorship is essential to empower these talented individuals,” the dean explained.

The other phases will include engaging partners to provide nutritional support, financial support, technological support and apparel support.

“By doing so, MICO aims to foster not only successful athletes but also individuals committed to serving their communities and contributing to the nation's growth and development,” Dean Foster said.

This plan became a reality, Dean Foster explained, by bringing in the necessary personnel that would help establish a platform from which they would launch this ambitious initiative.

“What happened is that we have changed our personnel. We brought in a sports manager. That personnel have been tasked to develop a strategic plan for the sports program.  So there's a structure in place and there is an operational plan in place to facilitate the movements in that department. We can see what the budget should be, what is it we need to do from month one to month two, if you will, to be successful,” she explained.

“They are developing a five-year plan. They have identified what the goals are. We need the assistance of the outside support groups to make this a reality. So we are at three and we have since today (last Wednesday) crossed over into four, somewhat.

“We at the MICO, we offer some scholarships which are very costly to the institution because, remember now, we are a government-funded institution. Government doesn't give us money for these things, not a cent for these things.

“And so we have to creatively source funds to help these students who come from some very challenging backgrounds, who want to make good of themselves and their God-given talents.”

Former West Indies Women’s player Eugena Gregg was inducted into the Hartford Connecticut Cricket Hall of Fame on Saturday, October 7.

At the ceremony held at the Marriott Hotel in Hartford, the 57-year-old Gregg was inducted in acknowledgment of her outstanding contributions to cricket including her input towards growth and development, her service to the community and the many lives she impacted both as a player and administrator.

Gregg, a right-arm medium-fast bowler and right-handed batter, was the first St Lucian to represent the West Indies Women and appeared in 10 One Day Internationals between 1993 and 1997. She was captain of the St Lucia Women’s team.

She made her ODI debut for the West Indies at the 1993 World Cup in England. At the World Cup, Gregg played in six of her team's seven matches, taking three wickets.

 She was retained in the squad for the 1997 World Cup in India, and appeared in every match at the tournament and took a career best 3-35 from seven overs against Denmark.

She and Patricia Felicien were the only Saint Lucians in the squad, and the first Saint Lucians to be selected in any West Indies squad.

Gregg was named St Lucia’s Women’s Cricketer of the Year in 1988, 1990, 1991, 1993 and in 1997 when she was named St Lucia’s Sportswoman of the Year.

In 2006, she was elected President of the South Castries Cricket Association. Two years later she won the Ministry of Youth Development Award for outstanding administrative roles and contributions to the development of cricket in St Lucia.

She was named manager of St Lucia’s  Women’s Junior and Senior Cricket teams and between 2017 and 2019 was the manager of the West Indies Women’s team.

In what was a magnificent display of gymnastic excellence, a team of young gymnasts from Jamaica shone brightly at the COPA IGA tournament that concluded in Panama on Sunday. The team of 11 emerging talents wowed judges and spectators alike with several members of the team topping several disciplines.

Among the standouts was Selah Price, who while competing in the Beginners Group 2 category, was first in the All Around after topping the Floor Exercise (9.350), Beam (9.550) while finishing second in the Vault (9.375).

Also in that category, Marisol Hogarth finished third in the All Around having claimed second place in the Floor Exercise (9.350) and third in the Vault (9.300). She also did well on the Beam exercise. Joelle Williams placed fourth in the All Around. She was third on the Beam (9.400), fourth in the Vault (9.175) and sixth in her Floor exercise (8.550).

Harmony Burton finished in a commendable seventh place in the All Around. She was third in the Floor exercise (9.100) and sixth in the Vault (9.000). She scored an 8.75 on the Beam.

Not to be outdone, Dojanae Garwood, competing in the Beginners Group 3 category, was first in the All Around having topped the Vault with an impressive score of 9.8000 while finishing third in the Beam and Floor exercises with scores of 9.375 and 9.275, respectively.

Adriannah Bailey was second in the All Around in Group 3. She scored an impressive 9.550 to win the Beam and generated a score of 9.300 to finish in second place on the Floor. She was fifth in the Vault with a score of 9.500.

Not far behind was Leah Cowan, who finished in fourth place in the All Around. She impressed the judges while winning the Floor with a score of 9.350 and fourth in the Vault, scoring 9.525. She had a score of 8.900 on the Beam.

Emma-Marie Donaldson finished in sixth place in the All Around and had scores of 9.275 for fourth on the Beam, 9.250 for fifth place on the Floor and 9.175 in the Vault.

Lashay Chutcan shone brightly in the 12-plus category. She was first in the All Around and had excellent scores of 9.575 to finish first on the Beam, 9.450 to emerge victorious on the Floor and 9.700 for second place in the Vault.

Among the Beginners in Group 1, Harmonie-Jade Johnson was sixth in the All Around. She was fourth on the Floor (8.550), sixth in the Vault (8.675) and scored 9.110m on the Beam.

Meanwhile, Roshanique Ricketts was seventh in the All Around while finishing third in the Vault (9.350), fourth on the Beam (9.220) and seventh on the Floor (7.750).

The successful gymnasts are expected to return to Jamaica early Monday afternoon.

Last week was a memorable one for two-time world championships bronze medalist Sada Williams.

Williams won a bronze medal in the 400m at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest in August, becoming the first Barbadian athlete to win medals at consecutive global athletics championships. She won a bronze medal in the same event at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Also in 2022, Williams won the gold medal in the 400m at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England and a silver medal at the NACAC Senior Championships in Freeport, Bahamas.

Last week, the government of Barbados, in acknowledgement of those accomplishments, unveiled two billboards bearing her image and rewarded her with a cash award of $150,000. That same week, Williams was also made a brand ambassador for Sagicor in Barbados.

“I am proud to announce that I have officially become a brand ambassador for Sagicor, Barbados and I will be part of their family,” the proud athlete posted on her Instagram page.

“Last night (Thursday) was the official welcome where I met so many wonderful and fun people. I cannot wait to start this journey with you guys.

She expressed her gratitude to Sagicor’s management team who put the deal together.

“Special thanks to Mr Paul Innis, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Sagicor Life Inc. and Chief Executive Officer Mr George Thomas of Sagicor Bank for making this partnership possible.”

Williams is expected to return to training in the coming week as she prepares for what is expected to be another successful year as she hunts for her first Olympic medal in Paris, France.

Marland Nattie, Vice President of the Jamaica Basketball Association (JABA) died on Sunday after suffering a stroke just over two months ago.

In his early 60s, Nattie, who was also a former president of the association, spent most of his adult life serving the sport of basketball as a player, coach and administrator. He leaves behind his widow, Oberon Pitterson-Nattie, former national netball player and coach. They had been married for about 10 years.

His sudden passing early Sunday afternoon came as a shock because, according to JABA president Paulton Gordon, based on information he had been receiving, his vice president was making progress in his recovery.

“The basketball family is saddened at his passing. Nattie has served basketball at various levels over the years. He dedicated his life to basketball as a player, as a coach at Kingston College and elsewhere and in administration in various roles,” Gordon told Sportsmax.TV on Sunday.

“He was president for a couple of terms, in other capacities as general secretary and he was the current vice president. He also served regionally, most recently as a vice president in charge of development at the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) and prior to his passing he sat on the CBC Council so he is a true basketball man right throughout his life he had dedicated himself to serving basketball and youth development.

“He will be sadly missed as an administrator; his experience. You could always call on Nattie for advice, he has details that because of his skills in basketball, you could call on him for things that are useful in terms of planning, so we will certainly miss Nattie.”

Jamaica’s Sports Minister Olivia Grange expressed her regret at Nattie’s passing, saying she, too, was surprised at the tragic news.

“With Marland’s death, I again must express my deep regret at the loss of another of our outstanding sports persons,” she said.

“I spoke with his wife, Oberon, who was a former national netballer and coach of the Sunshine Girls, who said his death was unexpected as he seemed to be recovering from a stroke he had suffered. As I expressed my condolences to Oberon, I told her that I was sure that the entire basketball community and all of his friends and associates would join the family in mourning Marland’s death. Our prayers are with her, the rest of the family and the basketball fraternity.”

A US green-card holder, Nattie and his wife migrated to the United States some time ago but as vice president he would often return to Jamaica to carry out his administrative duties. After being in hospital for some time, Nattie was moved to a rehabilitation facility to continue his recovery and was reportedly doing well.

Hence, it was a shock to all concerned when he died on Sunday.

In recognition of her stellar athletic career, Jamaican Olympian Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn was honoured by the Guyana Jamaica Friendship Association in New York on Saturday, October 7.

The 59-year-old Cuthbert-Flynn famously won two silver medals at the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992 running a lifetime best time of 10.82 in the 100m final won by American Gail Devers. She ran 22.02 for her second silver medal of the Games in the 200m final.

She won a bronze medal as a member of Jamaica’s 4x100m relay team at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta in the United States. Also among her many global accolades is a gold medal that she won as a member of Jamaica’s sprint relay team at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan.

On Saturday night, those significant accomplishments among others were recognized by the association  formed in January 2014 with the goal of fostering friendly relationships between the two Caricom countries.

Cuthbert, who is now State Minister in Jamaica’s Ministry of National Security, was gracious in her acceptance of the award.

“I am humbled to receive recognition for my athletic achievements by the Guyana Jamaica Friendship Association. I wish to thank Dr Frank Benbow, Claudenette Powell and their members,” the Jamaican icon said in a post on Instagram.

Cuthbert-Flynn also acknowledged the tremendous work being done by the association.

“I was inspired listening to the any stories and the impact of the association on numerous young lives. I thank you all for presenting me with an award.”

"My sister, Shelly, won't let me give up on running," reveals Marie-Josee Ta Lou, the fastest woman in Africa, as she reflects on a remarkable season she describes as "great for me."

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, a three-time Olympic and 10-time world champion, serves as a constant source of motivation for Ta Lou. She reveals that the soon-to-be 37-year-old Jamaican icon is among the main reasons she plans to show up in Paris next year.

"She is constantly reminding me that she is older than me and she is still going strong. Her words are loud in my head every single day and she never gets exhausted of motivating me to wake every morning and do what I like,” the Ivorian speedster said. “Shelly-Ann is one of the many reasons you will see me in Paris for what could be my last Olympic Games."

While her love for the track spans a decade, Ta Lou acknowledges that her calling in athletics is greater than merely amassing medals.

Ta Lou, who achieved an African record time of 10.72 seconds during the 2022 Monaco Diamond League, making her the sixth-fastest woman of all time, has faced the heartache of coming agonizingly close to the podium at major championships. This season, she concluded the World Athletics Championships in Budapest with a fourth-place finish, a result that still stings.

"I wanted to get a medal but finished fourth. I have been in a situation where I have been crying alone in my room," Ta Lou reveals in an interview with the BBC. "The support I received from fans across the world and my fellow competitors has been my saving grace."

While Ta Lou is no stranger to narrowly missing out on top honors in athletics, she understands the profound impact she can have beyond the podium. She believes her calling extends to inspiring others to persevere and overcome the fear of failure.

"Sometimes I feel like my calling is different and way bigger than always being on the podium," she states. "It's about the hope I give to people to keep trying and about the legacy that I want to leave behind. I know there are people beyond athletics who see themselves through me in their daily struggles."

Ta Lou emphasizes that winning is not solely about crossing the finish line first but rather about the impact an athlete can have on people's lives. She aspires to be a beacon of the never-give-up spirit, encouraging others to pursue their dreams relentlessly.

Her journey has been marked by challenges, but Ta Lou maintains a positive outlook. She acknowledges the role of faith in her resilience, stating, "My strength comes from God," and sharing how quiet moments of meditation and prayer provide her with the vigor to persevere.

Despite moments of doubt and contemplating giving up, Ta Lou's motivation stems from the desire to make her mother proud, represent Africa, and inspire young girls on the continent to pursue their dreams. She sees herself as a source of light and hope for those facing complex challenges.

Jamaican quarter-miler Sean Bailey has signed a professional contract with Adidas. Bailey, a finalist in the 400m at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary in August, made the announcement on Instagram on Thursday, explaining that the development is a dream come true.

“Lost for words. These past two years out of college, I wanted to run track and field professionally. Two years later I am Adidas athlete,” Bailey said in his post.

The younger brother of Jamaican Olympian icon Veronica Campbell-Brown, Bailey enjoyed perhaps his most successful season. In May, he ran a personal best 44.43 to win at the Drake Relays defeating the 2012 Olympic champion Kirani James and then won his first national title at the Jamaica National Championships in July.

In winning the national title, Bailey defeated Antonio Watson, who would go on to win the 400m at the championships in Budapest. Bailey made it to the final where he finished fifth in 44.96. An injury prevented him from participating in the 4x400m relay. His presence was missed as Jamaica finished fourth.

However, he has had his fair share of injuries which have hampered his progress and at one point had him thinking about giving up.

“The journey has not been an easy one by any means. I wanted to give up so many times because I felt as if I was not good enough. I stuck with it and I’m here to tell anyone out there chasing a goal that it is possible. It’s not a cliché, work hard and dedicate yourself.”

He expressed gratitude to his management team, OntrackManagement, “for believing in me and working with me through all my rough patches. I am grateful to have you all by my side.” He also thanked his coaxh Mickael Hanany for believing in him and giving him the opportunity to lean every day. “We have a lot more work to get done,” he said.

In celebration of her second global medal and consistent performances throughout the season, the government of Barbados on Wednesday unveiled two billboards bearing the image of the now two-time World Championships bronze medallist, Sada Williams.

The star athlete was also given a cash award of Bdos$150,000 in recognition of her milestone achievements. Williams, who trains with the MVP track club in Jamaica, is the first Barbadian athlete to win back-to-back medals at a global championship.

The 25-year-old Williams has been magnificent form over the last two seasons. In 2022, she won bronze at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon running what was then a national record of 49.75. She followed up two weeks later with a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.

That year, she also won a silver medal at the NACAC Senior Championships in the Bahamas.

Williams carried that momentum into 2023 when, despite a slow start to the season, peaked at the World Championships in Budapest to win another bronze medal in the final of the 400m. On route to the final, she set a new national record of 49.58.

Deservedly, her exemplary performances have been recognized and rewarded by her country, a gesture which Williams expressed her gratitude in a post on Instagram.

“Today, the Government of Barbados unveiled two billboards and a portrait of me and my achievements. I was also awarded $150,000 as a token of appreciation,” she said.

“Thank you to the government of Barbados, Ministry of Youth Sports and Community Empowerment, the National Sports Council, the Barbados Olympic Association, and the Athletic Association of Barbados for the support and continued support.

Special thanks to my entire team and management @the_real_MVPz for having brought me this far. And of course the love, appreciation and support from my fellow Bajans.”