World Athletics and Sony Corporation (Sony) today (23) announced a new three-year agreement that will see Sony sponsor World Athletics Series events from 2024 to 2026.

As part of the sponsorship, Sony will support all World Athletics Series events starting from the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24 in March. The agreement will also include the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 to be held in Tokyo, Japan, in September 2025.

Sony Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation and is responsible for the Entertainment, Technology & Services (ET&S) business. With the vision to "continue to deliver Kando and Anshin* to people and society across the world through the pursuit of technology and new challenges," Sony Corporation supports the Sony Group with technology to create the entertainment of the future together with creators.

Both parties came to this agreement based on a mutual understanding of each other’s philosophy.

Sony aims to work with creators and leverage the power of technology to generate emotion-filled experiences for sports fans across the globe and capture them on film and in photographs.

Sony will further enhance emotion from athletes’ awe-inspiring achievements captured by content creators, including photographers, and deliver them to the world through cutting-edge technologies like the Alpha™ mirrorless interchangeable lens camera and versatile interchangeable lens including G Master™, system cameras and broadcast solutions.

 

In addition, Hawk-Eye Innovations, which has a proven track record of providing services for international events in a variety of sports, will contribute to fair competition management through its officiating services.

“We are entering an exciting few years for our sport and I can think of no better partner than Sony to help us capture the excitement, the thrill and the breathtaking performances our sport promises to bring,” said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe. “As the No.1 Olympic sport, the eyes of the world will be squarely focused on athletics this year as our athletes compete across our five World Athletics Series events, plus Paris.

“We look forward to the outstanding photographs Sony will capture at our events to immortalise these many moments in our sport’s history.”

Hiroki Totoki, President, COO and CFO of Sony Group Corporation, said: “We are delighted to have reached an agreement with World Athletics to sponsor their World Athletics Series events, which are known as the world's top competitions in athletics.

“Based on our purpose to ‘fill the world with emotion, through the power of creativity and technology’, Sony will contribute to the development of sports by leveraging technology to enhance the emotion generated by sports and deliver it to sports fans around the world.”

Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson is among 11 athletes nominated for Women’s World Athlete of the Year.

The athletes were selected by an international panel of athletics experts, comprising representatives from all six continental areas of World Athletics.

In what has been another memorable year for the sport, the nominations reflect some of the standout performances achieved at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23, one-day meeting circuits, Label road races and other events around the world.

In August, Jackson, 29, won her second 200m title at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest where she also won silver medals in the 100m and 4x100m relay. She capped off her impressive season by winning Diamond League trophies in both 100m and 200m at the season-ending meet in Eugene, Oregon.

The impressive list of nominees also includes Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa, winner of the Berlin marathon winner and who set the world marathon record this past season.

Femke Bol of the Netherlands won the 400m hurdles in Budapest and set a world indoor 400m record during the season.

The strong favourite to walk away with the award this year is Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon, the World 1500m and 5000m champion, who set world records 1500m, mile and 5000m in 2023.

Japan’s Haruka Kitaguchi is the World champion at the javelin. She is also the Diamond League champion.

Also among the nominees is Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine who is the World champion and Diamond League champion at the high jump.

Spain’s Maria Perez is the World 20km and 35km race walk world champion, who established a new world record at the 35km race walk.

Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay is the World 10,000m champion, who won the Diamond League 5000m title with a new world record.

The USA’s Sha’Carri Richardson is the newly crowned World champion at 100m and bronze medallist at 200m.

Venezuela’s Yulimar Rojas won her fourth consecutive world title at the triple jump and also added the Diamond League title to her extraordinary exploits during the season.

Bahrain’s Winfed Yavi is the 3000m steeplechase World champion, who also won the Diamond League title with a world-leading performance.

A three-way voting process will determine the finalists.

The World Athletics Council and the World Athletics Family will cast their votes by email, while fans can vote online via the World Athletics social media platforms. Individual graphics for each nominee will be posted on Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube this week; a 'like' on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube or a retweet on X will count as one vote.

 

 

The World Athletics Council’s vote will count for 50 per cent of the result, while the World Athletics Family’s votes and the public votes will each count for 25 per cent of the final result.

Voting for the World Athletes of the Year closes at midnight on Saturday 28 October. At the conclusion of the voting process, five women and five men finalists will be announced by World Athletics on 13-14 November.

The winners will be revealed on World Athletics’ social media platforms on 11 December.

 

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe was elected for a third term at the 54th World Athletics Congress in Budapest on Thursday. Meanwhile, Cydonie Mothersill of the Cayman Islands and Bermuda’s Donna Raynor were elected to the World Athletics Council.

Ximena Restrepo was re-elected as a Vice President and will be joined by newly elected Vice Presidents Raul Chapado, Adille Sumariwalla and Jackson Tuwei.

A total of 192 voting members of Congress voted for Coe and three abstained. Under the World Athletics Constitution, this will be Coe’s final term as President.

In 2019, Restrepo, the 1992 Olympic 400m bronze medallist from Colombia, became the first woman to be elected as a World Athletics Vice President.

As part of the widespread reforms adopted by the World Athletics Congress at the end of 2016, World Athletics added minimum gender targets into its constitution to establish parity at all levels in the sport’s governance.

The reforms detailed a requirement to have 13 members of each gender elected to the World Athletics Council at the 2027 Congress. This target has been met four years earlier than the reform roadmap prescribed.

The remaining requirement to be met at the 2027 Congress is the election of two Vice Presidents of each gender.

"I’m grateful for the support of my colleagues and delighted to see that more of the commitments we made during the governance reform process in 2016 have come to fruition with the election of World Athletics’ first gender equal Council four years ahead of schedule," said Coe. "But the job is not done yet and we need to keep pushing for gender parity throughout our representative bodies. The strength of our sport is in its diversity and that should be reflected in our governance at all levels."

The newly elected members of the World Athletics Council are: Yuko Arimori (JPN), Anna Riccardi (ITA), Annette Purvis (NZL), Nawal El Moutawakel (MAR), Nan Wang (CHN), Abby Hoffman (CAN), Nataliia Dobrynska (UKR), Sylvia Barlag (NED), Beatrice Ayikoru (UGA), Willie Banks (USA), Antti Pihlakoski (FIN), Cydonie Mothersill (CAY) and Donna Raynor (BER).

On the 26-strong World Athletics Council, the 13 newly elected members will be joined by six Area Presidents and two members of the Athletes' Commission, one woman and one man, including the Chair.

Two-time Olympic 800 metres champion Caster Semenya is “elated” to have won her case at the European Court of Human Rights, saying the ruling had been “a long time coming”.

The 32-year-old South African – who won Olympic gold in 2012 and 2016 – was legally identified as female at birth, but has a condition which means her body naturally produces higher levels of testosterone than women without the condition.

Semenya has been unable to compete at her favoured distance since 2019, following the introduction of limits on testosterone levels for female athletes by World Athletics which would have forced her to use medication.

Earlier legal challenges at the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the Swiss Federal Court had been rejected.

However, on Tuesday, the ECHR found Switzerland had not afforded Semenya “sufficient institutional and procedural safeguards” to allow her to have her complaints examined effectively.

The court said because of the “high stakes” involved for Semenya, it “should have led to a thorough institutional and procedural review”.

Semenya had been unable to obtain such a review, therefore the ECHR was “unable to determine whether the DSD (differences in sex development) regulations, as applied in the applicant’s case, could be considered a measure that was objective and proportionate to the aim pursued (of protecting fair competition for female athletes”.

It said her complaints of discrimination as a result of World Athletics’ regulations were “substantiated and credible”.

The judgment does not bring into question DSD regulations, nor will it allow Semenya to compete over 800m, but Semenya believes it is a significant step in her continuing legal fight.

“The European Court of Human Rights ruled (on Tuesday morning) that I was discriminated against, that my human rights were violated and that there are ‘serious questions’ about the validity of the rules set out by World Athletics,” Semenya said on Wednesday in a statement via her legal team in South Africa.

“I am elated at the outcome of the ruling. It has been a long time coming. I have and will always stand up for discrimination of any kind in sports.

“I have suffered a lot at the hands of the powers that be and have been treated poorly.

 

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“The hard work that I have put in to being the athlete I am, has been questioned, my rights violated, my career impacted. All of it so damaging – mentally, emotionally, physically and financially.”

Semenya added: “Justice has spoken, but this is only the beginning.

“My case at the European Court of Human Rights was against the ruling handed down by the government of Switzerland, and not World Athletics itself, but this decision will still be significant for all sportspersons in throwing doubt on the future of all similar rules.

“My hope is that Word Athletics, and indeed all sporting bodies, reflect on the statements made by the European Court of Human Rights and ensure that they respect the dignity and human rights of the athletes they deal with.”

The seven ECHR judges found by a majority of four to three that Semenya’s rights under article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which concerns discrimination, had been violated by Switzerland.

The Swiss state was also found to have violated article 13 in not providing Semenya effective remedy against discrimination.

World Athletics released a statement on Tuesday saying its regulations were “a necessary, reasonable and proportionate means of protecting fair competition in the female category”.

The governing body said it would encourage the Swiss state to refer the matter to the Grand Chamber of the ECHR for a final judgment.

Jamaica’s Sprint Legend Usain Bolt says he remains eager to play another impactful role in track and field’s growth and, as such, is awaiting a position from World Athletics to hit the ground running.

The 36-year-old, who shot to fame by winning eight Olympic titles and 11 World Championships gold medals, while breaking records in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m, believes the track and field has experienced somewhat of a decline since his retirement in 2017, but stands ready to assist in the sport’s revival, if asked to do so.

“I’m still waiting on a position from (World Athletics), I’ve reached out to them and let them know I would love to make a bigger impact in sports, as long as they want me to,” Bolt said in an interview with Reuters.

“We’ve been in talks, but we’ll have to wait and see what comes around,” the global phenom and one of Jamaica’s most recognizable figures, added.

Bolt is aware that his personality was a vital ingredient in the sport’s success during his era but pointed out to indications that athletes like US sprinter Noah Lyles, might be starting to fill the charisma gap.

“It’s going to be a process. After me, it kind of went down because of who I was as a person and how big my personality was,” the iconic sprinter shared. 

“But I think over time, it will be better. I think young athletes are coming up and I see a few personalities that are needed in sport; hopefully, in the upcoming years, it will change. Hopefully, I can play a part and help the sport to grow,” Bolt stated.

While there was some disappointment about the crowd turnout at last year’s World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, Bolt is of the view that next year’s Olympic Games in Paris, France, could be a special moment for the sport.

“Sometimes, it’s all about where it is. America is not the biggest track and field place,” Bolt said.

“I think Paris will be big because it’s accessible and I know Paris always has a good team and good athletes over the years. So, I look forward to that,” he noted.

After a decade of Bolt-inspired global dominance, Jamaica’s men have failed to win a single track gold medal at the last two World Championships.

However, with rising young sprinters Oblique Seville and Ackeem Blake both showing considerable promise of success, Bolt believes there is a good platform for that medal drought to be broken at this year’s championships in Budapest, Hungary.

“Last year, Seville came fourth (in the 100m), so I was very impressed. Also now, there’s a young kid, Ackeem Blake, who is also stepping up. So, I think that’s a good start,” the 11-time world champion said.

“Hopefully, these two will motivate other youngsters to want to step up and want to train harder and dedicate themselves,” he reasoned.

On that note, Bolt said he would be keeping a close eye on compatriot Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce at the World Championships in August.

Fraser-Pryce, also 36, who has led Jamaica’s dominance in the women’s sprints, will be seeking a record-extending sixth world 100m title in Hungary, 14 years after making her debut in the global showpiece of track and field.

“I follow Shelly a lot because we came through the same era, so to see her continue sprinting and coming back from having a child, that’s impressive,” said Bolt.

The World Athletics Council agreed to update the eligibility regulations for transgender and DSD athletes to compete in the female category.

For DSD athletes, the new regulations will require any relevant athletes to reduce their testosterone levels below a limit of 2.5 nmol/L for a minimum of 24 months to compete internationally in the female category in any event, not just the events that were restricted (400m to one mile) under the previous regulations.

The principle of restricted events has been removed from the regulations.

Interim provisions will be introduced for those relevant athletes who are already competing in what were the unrestricted events (distances below 400m and above one mile, plus field events). These provisions include a requirement to suppress their testosterone levels below 2.5nmol/L for a minimum of six months, before they are eligible to compete again.

The six months period is consistent with the previous regulations, which required six months of testosterone suppression (below 5nmol/L) for DSD athletes to compete in the restricted events. The interim provisions do not apply to the previously restricted events (400m to one mile) where two years of testosterone suppression will be required before the relevant athlete is eligible to compete.

These regulations will come into effect on 31 March 2023.

In regard to transgender athletes, the Council has agreed to exclude male-to-female transgender athletes who have been through male puberty from female World Rankings competition from 31 March 2023.

World Athletics conducted a consultation period with various stakeholders in the first two months of this year, including Member Federations, the Global Athletics Coaches Academy and Athletes’ Commission, the IOC as well as representative transgender and human rights groups.

It became apparent that there was little support within the sport for the option that was first presented to stakeholders, which required transgender athletes to maintain their testosterone levels below 2.5nmol/L for 24 months to be eligible to compete internationally in the female category.

In terms of DSD regulations, World Athletics has more than ten years of research and evidence of the physical advantages that these athletes bring to the female category.

However, there are currently no transgender athletes competing internationally in athletics and consequently no athletics-specific evidence of the impact these athletes would have on the fairness of female competition in athletics.

In these circumstances, the Council decided to prioritise fairness and the integrity of the female competition before inclusion.

However the Council agreed to set up a Working Group for 12 months to further consider the issue of transgender inclusion.

This Working Group will include an independent chair, up to three Council Members, two athletes from the Athletes’ Commission, a transgender athlete, three representatives of the Member Federations and representatives of the World Athletics Health and Science Department.

Its remit will be to consult specifically with transgender athletes to seek their views on competing in athletics; to review and/or commission additional research where there is currently limited research and to put forward recommendations to Council.

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said: “Decisions are always difficult when they involve conflicting needs and rights between different groups, but we continue to take the view that we must maintain fairness for female athletes above all other considerations. We will be guided in this by the science around physical performance and male advantage which will inevitably develop over the coming years. As more evidence becomes available, we will review our position, but we believe the integrity of the female category in athletics is paramount."

World champions and world record-breakers Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Mondo Duplantis have been named the World Athletes of the Year.

They were the final winners to be revealed as part of the World Athletics Awards 2022, along with the winners of the Rising Stars awards: Serbian javelin thrower Adriana Vilagos and US sprinter Erriyon Knighton.

McLaughlin-Levrone and Duplantis – winners of the Rising Stars awards just four years ago – broke the world records in their respective disciplines on more than one occasion this year, with their final record-breaking performances coming at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.

McLaughlin-Levrone improved her own world 400m hurdles record by 0.78, first to 51.41 at the US Championships and then to an awe-inspiring 50.68 at the World Championships. That secured her a first individual senior world title, and she followed it by anchoring the US team to another 4x400m victory.

The 23-year-old made a statement with her first 400m hurdles race of the year, clocking 51.61 in Nashville in early June. At that point it was the third-fastest time ever recorded, but the all-time list soon underwent further revisions.

Lining up at the US Championships at Hayward Field, McLaughlin-Levrone stormed to victory in the 400m hurdles in 51.41, taking 0.05 off the mark she set at last year’s Tokyo Olympics.

“I think there’s a little bit more in the tank there,” she said after her US Championships win. “Hopefully when it’s time we can just empty it completely.”

Back at Hayward Field a month later, McLaughlin-Levrone obliterated her previous best, running 50.68 as the home crowd and the rest of the world watched on in amazement.

"All of my goals were accomplished this year," said McLaughlin-Levrone. "We were able to accomplish everything we set out to do. It couldn’t have been any better, and I was so grateful that I was able to produce that performance in front of a home crowd."

Just when you think Duplantis could not be more dominant, the Swedish pole vaulter has a season like 2022, during which he set three world records, won two global titles, won 18 of his 19 competitions, and vaulted six metres or higher 23 times.

Duplantis, despite only just turning 23, now has more six-metre clearances than any other pole vaulter in history.

His record-breaking 2022 campaign began with an undefeated indoor season, during which he set a world record of 6.19m in Belgrade. He returned to the Serbian capital two weeks later for the World Athletics Indoor Championships, where he struck gold with 6.20m, another improvement on his own world record.

He was then victorious on the Wanda Diamond League circuit, including a 6.16m vault in Stockholm, the highest ever outdoor vault in history. It was the perfect warm-up for the World Championships three weeks later.

As the last athlete competing on the final day of competition at the World Championships in Oregon, Duplantis soared over a world record of 6.21m with room to spare.

Less than a month later, he retained his European title with a championship record of 6.06m in a competition where he registered no misses. He then wrapped up his season with a victory at the Wanda Diamond League Final in Zurich.

"Going into the year, I had really high expectations of myself and I had some really big goals," said Duplantis. "I wanted to win the world indoors, the world outdoors, the Europeans, the Diamond League final, and I wanted to break the world record a few times.

"I was able to do that and it was a bonus, the cherry on top, to do be able to do it (break the world record) at the right times, to do it at world indoors and do it at world outdoors. I can’t complain."

Vilagos and Knighton named Rising Stars of 2022

It was a season of back-to-back successes for this year’s Rising Stars.

Vilagos successfully defended her world U20 javelin title, doing so with a championship record of 63.52m and breaking the European U20 record in the process. Less than three months later, she claimed silver at the senior European Championships in Munich.

“Defending my world U20 title in Colombia was my main goal, but winning a medal at the European Championships was the biggest surprise,” said Vilagos. “It was a good year and this award crowns it.”

Knighton, meanwhile, has been named Rising Star for the second year in a row. He clocked a lifetime best of 19.49 in April which couldn’t be ratified as a world U20 record, but he went on to break the mark officially at the US Championships, where he ran 19.69. He followed that with a bronze medal at the World Championships in Oregon, then went on to achieve victories on the Continental Tour and Diamond League circuit.

Remarkably, both Rising Stars will still be U20 athletes for 2023.

“Winning this award back to back means my talent is getting recognized on a bigger stage,” said Knighton, the first athlete ever to win two Rising Star awards. “I’ve put in the work to achieve this and I’m very grateful.”

 

The Jamaica Athletic Administrative Association (JAAA) is among six federations nominated for World Athletics’ Member Federation Award.

The World Athletics Council has decided to postpone the World Athletics Relays Guangzhou 23, scheduled for 13-14 May 2023, until April/May 2025 (exact dates to be confirmed).

Due to the ongoing pandemic conditions, this decision was taken with the agreement of the Guangzhou organising committee (LOC) and the Chinese Athletics Association (CAA).

The decision to delay the World Athletics Relays impacts the qualification system for the relay events at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23. Therefore, the World Athletics Competition Commission, upon approval of the Council, has revised the qualification system to include the top eight teams from the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 and the top eight teams from the performance lists.

The philosophy is to replicate a similar qualification system by still qualifying part of the field through direct competition and part through performance in the qualification period.

Details of the changes to the Budapest qualification system are outlined here.

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said: “It is regrettable when we have to postpone an event. However, World Athletics and the local organising committee are committed to the responsible planning and delivery of the World Athletics Relays, which includes ensuring that athletes from all international federations can participate in and enjoy an experience in a safe and healthy environment.

“I want to thank our colleagues at the Chinese Athletics Association and the LOC for their efforts and cooperation in resolving this situation and look forward to 2025 when our hosts are able to stage a spectacular World Athletics Relays.”

The host of the 2024 World Athletics Relays is set to be awarded by the World Athletics Council at their meeting in Rome, Italy, on 30 November.

Anderson Peters is the only Caribbean male athlete nominated for the 2022 World Athletics Male Athlete of the Year.

The 10 nominees were announced on Thursday. The athletes were selected by an international panel of athletics experts, comprising representatives from all six continental areas of World Athletics.

It has been another memorable year for the sport and the nominations reflect some of the standout performances achieved at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22, World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22, one-day meeting circuits and other events around the world.

The nominees for 2022 Men’s World Athlete of the Year are (in alphabetical order):

Kristjan Ceh, SLO

- World discus champion

- Diamond League discus champion, throwing a national record 71.27m on the circuit in Birmingham

- European discus silver medallist

 

Alison dos Santos, BRA

- World 400m hurdles champion

- Diamond League 400m hurdles champion

- Ran a world-leading South American record of 46.29

 

 Mondo Duplantis, SWE

- World pole vault champion indoors and outdoors

- Diamond League and European pole vault champion

- Improved his world record to 6.19m and 6.20m indoors, and then 6.21m outdoors

 

 Soufiane El Bakkali, MAR

- World 3000m steeplechase champion

- Diamond League 3000m steeplechase champion

- Unbeaten in 2022, running a world-leading 7:58.28 in Rabat

 

Grant Holloway, USA

- World 110m hurdles champion

- World indoor 60m hurdles champion

- Diamond League 110m hurdles champion

 

 Jakob Ingebrigtsen, NOR

- World 5000m champion, world 1500m silver medallist indoors and outdoors

- European 1500m and 5000m champion

- Diamond League 1500m champion in a world-leading 3:29.02

  

Eliud Kipchoge, KEN

- Improved his world marathon record to 2:01:09

- Berlin Marathon champion

- Tokyo Marathon champion

  

Noah Lyles, USA

- World 200m champion

- Diamond League 200m champion

- Ran a world-leading national record of 19.31 to move to third on the world all-time list

 

 Anderson Peters, GRN

- World javelin champion

- Commonwealth javelin silver medallist

- Threw a world-leading NACAC record of 93.07m, moving to fifth on the world all-time list

 

 Pedro Pichardo, POR

- World triple jump champion with a world-leading leap of 17.95m

- World indoor triple jump silver medallist

- European triple jump champion

 

 A three-way voting process will determine the finalists.

 The World Athletics Council and the World Athletics Family will cast their votes by email, while fans can vote online via the World Athletics social media platforms. Individual graphics for each nominee will be posted on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube this week; a 'like' on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube or a retweet on Twitter will count as one vote.

 The World Athletics Council’s vote will count for 50% of the result, while the World Athletics Family’s votes and the public votes will each count for 25% of the final result.

 Voting for the World Athletes of the Year closes at midnight on Monday 31 October. At the conclusion of the voting process, five women and five men finalists will be announced by World Athletics.

 The winners will be revealed on World Athletics’ social media platforms in early December.

 

 

 

The World Athletics Council has approved an innovation to the regular competition format for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, introducing a repechage round to all individual track events from 200m to 1500m in distance, including the hurdles events.

In the new repechage format, athletes who do not qualify by place in round one heats will have a second chance to qualify for the semi-finals by participating in repechage heats.

This will replace the former system of athletes advancing through the fastest times (q) in addition to the top placings in the first round heats (Q).

These events will now have four rounds – round one, repechage round, semi-finals and the final, with schedules varying according to the specific nature of the event.

The new format means that every athlete competing in the events with a repechage round will have at least two races at the Olympic Games.

As the 100m already has preliminary heats, before round one, the repechage will not be introduced in this event. In addition, the repechage will not be introduced in distance events as the need for proper recovery between rounds makes the format impractical.

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said: “After consulting with our athletes and broadcasters, we believe this is an innovation which will make progression in these events more straightforward for athletes and will build anticipation for fans and broadcasters. The repechage rounds will give more exposure to our sport during the peak Olympic period and will be carefully scheduled to ensure that every event on our Olympic programme retains its share of the spotlight.”

The final regulations of the format, including the timetable as well as a system of advancement in each event, will be announced well in advance of the Olympic Games.

 

The Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association has laid the blame squarely at the feet of the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission for World Athletics' decision not to ratify the World U20 Women 4x100m relay record set on April 17, 2022, during the 49th staging of the Carifta Games at the National Stadium in Kingston.

On that night, the quartet of Serena Cole, Tina Clayton, Brianna Lyston and Tia Clayton scorched the track in 42.58s eclipsing the time of 42.94 also set by Jamaica at the World U20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya in August 2021.

However, World Athletics rejected the time set in Kingston citing that not all four athletes were subjected to anti-doping control. JADCO, in a statement on Wednesday, said they only tested three athletes after the record was set because one of the athletes had been tested the day before after she had won her event. Hence, they took the decision not to test her again.

However, in a statement released later Wednesday, the JAAA, which had contracted JADCO for the three-day meet, made it clear that the Jamaican anti-doping agency did not adhere to their instructions.

“It is a fact that all four athletes were notified by the Jamaica Anti-doping Commission (JADCO) officials and presented themselves to the anti-doping station within the required time window to be tested. Unfortunately, JADCO took the decision, unknown to the JAAA and the NACAC’s Anti-Doping Delegate, not to test the athlete based on a JADCO standard. This was in direct contradiction to oral and written instructions by the JAAA,” the athletics governing body stated.

“It is to be noted that JADCO is the agency that performs anti-doping testing on our athletes both in and out of competition on behalf of the JAAA and was contracted to do so at the NACAC 2022 Carifta Games.”

The JAAA said it sent the performance along with the supporting documentation to World Athletics for ratification and it was only after they did so that it was pointed it that one of the athletes, Tina Clayton, who won the U20 Girls 100m, was not tested on the night of the relay world record.

Jamaica’s Women’s U20 4x100m relay team has been denied the ratification of the world record set at the 2022 Carifta Games at the National Stadium in Kingston in April.

The record of 42.58 set by Serena Cole, Brianna Lyston, Tia and Tina Clayton while winning gold on April 17, 2022, will not be ratified, World Athletics said, because ‘not all team members were subjected to doping control’ at the completion of the race.

The Executive Director of the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) did not respond to calls from Sportsmax.TV. JADCO was responsible for anti-doping controls during the championships/

 Chairman of the JADCO Board Alexander Williams was unable to comment on the matter when he spoke with Sportsmax.TV Wednesday morning. However, he promised to respond to questions once he received the relevant information pertaining to the matter.

Calls to Garth Gayle, President of the Jamaica Athletic Administrative Association (JAAA) went unanswered.

Despite the setback, Jamaica still holds the U20 world record. At the World U20 Championships in Kenya in August 2021, Serena Cole, Tina and Tia Clayton as well as Kerrica Hill established a time of 42.94, which was the time surpassed at the National Stadium in Kingston last month.

Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo’s U20 record of 9.96 set in Gaborone on April 22, was also not ratified because no zero gun test was performed for the timing equipment.”

Hearing dates for the consolidated appeals of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and World Athletics against 2019 400m World Champions Salwa Eid Naser have been set for Thursday, April 22 and Friday, April 23, 2021.

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