Jamaica and Texas A&M high jumper Lamara Distin set the field alight with a new national record and world-leading mark at the Don Kirby Invitational on Friday.

The 21-year-old sophomore recorded a clearance of 1.92m, which bettered her own previous best of 1.88m that had seen her tied on the country’s national best list with two other jumpers, Kimberly Williamson and Sheree Ruff, for second place. 

Her new mark broke the record of 1.90m set in March 2002 by Maresa Cadienhead.  On the way to the record, Distin cleared heights of 1.78m, 1.83m, 1.86m, and 1.89m before soaring to the record and the event title.

The jump also moved Distin ahead of Texas Tech's Sydney Sapp in the NCAA leaders table after both were previously tied at 1.88m.

Jamaica Olympic bronze medallist Shericka Jackson clocked the fastest indoor time of her career over 60m for second place at the Tyson Invitational, held at the Randal Tyson Track Center on Friday.

Making her indoor debut for the season, Jackson clocked a new best of 7.12 but was well behind winner Mary Beth Sant-Price of the United States who clocked 7.04 to win the event. 

Sant-Price’s time is the second-fastest in the world this year behind Eva Swoboda who clocked 7.00 at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Silver meeting in Lodz.  Another Jamaican, Natasha Morrison finished third in 7.35, with the Bahamas’ Anthonique Strachan fifth in 7.41.  A third Jamaican in the race Shockoria Wallace finished 6^th in 7.47.

The men’s equivalent was captured by another Jamaica, Nigel Ellis, who took top spot in 6.90.  His compatriot long jumper Tajya Gayle, who is expected to do more sprinting this season, was second with 6.95, which was also his personal best.

In other events, Jamaica’s Ronald Levy finished third in the men’s 60m hurdles with a time of 7.98.  The event was won by Australia’s Chris Douglas in 7.64, with Jamal Britt second in 7.83.

Danielle Williams stormed to a world-leading 7.75 to win the 60m hurdles at the Tiger Paw Invitational on Friday. In winning, she lowered her previous lifetime best of 7.83 set at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in New York last Sunday.

Tokyo Olympics triple gold medallist Elaine Thompson-Herah says she has no intention of going after the World Indoor 60m record this season but based on how well she has been training she would not rule out the possibility.

Aston Villa winger and Jamaica international, Leon Bailey, is in contention to return to the team’s line-up ahead of its match-up with a resurgent Newcastle on Sunday.

The 24-year-old, who moved to the club from Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen last summer, has not featured for the team since December when he was forced to leave the field after sustaining a thigh injury against league leaders Manchester City.

Aston Villa manager Stephen Gerrard had insisted that the player would not be rushed back into action but confirmed earlier this week that Bailey was back in full training and likely to feature soon.

“He’s back in the group and back in full training. He’ll continue to be pushed in the coming days. He has an outside chance of being involved at the weekend, but we’ll assess that in the coming days,” Gerrard said.

Bailey has had a stop-start season to life with the Villans after sitting out the early weeks of the club’s campaign with injury issues and then picking up a thigh injury, during a high-octane cameo against Everton in September.

He has a goal and two assists in nine Premier League games this term and has started on four occasions.

The issue of whether or not spectators will be allowed to attend the upcoming Carifta Games is yet to be resolved and remains a key area of focus for organisers.

The regional junior track and field event is expected to be staged in Jamaica for the first time since 2011 and more specifically return to the city of Kingston for the first time since 1996, in April of this year.

With the country and globe still in the midst of battling the coronavirus pandemic, however, the situation regarding the possibility of spectators and the number of spectators that can attend a given event, as always, remains a fluid and often tenuous process.

For example, recently it was announced that another upcoming track meet, the Gibson Relays, would be allowed to have spectators in attendance.  Only a few weeks ago, however, the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) was denied permission for fans to enter the National Stadium for the country’s World Cup qualifiers.

Chairman of the local organising committee of the 2022 Carifta Games, Mike Fennell, revealed negotiations regarding the situation of fans were ongoing.

“We have a meeting set up with the agencies and ministries in providing the sort of regulations that will exist,” Fennell said.

“We have not finalized anything yet because we know that that is a moving target and the times are not static, but we continue to have meetings and there is goodwill all around,” he added.

“Everyone accepts the importance of having these games.  They're not for the seniors, they’re for the juniors but it is critical in the development of the sport.”

Reggae Girlz Head Coach Vin Blaine is to name his squad on Thursday that is to face Bermuda in the preliminary rounds of the Concacaf Women’s World Cup Qualifier on February 17 at the National Stadium in Kingston.

 Match time is 7:00 pm.

 Jamaica will have to win Group C which comprises Bermuda, Grenada, the Dominican Republic and the Cayman Islands to advance to the next round of qualifiers.

 Following the Bermuda match on February 17, Jamaica will travel to face Grenada on February 20. The remaining games against the Dominican Republic and the Cayman Islands will be played in April.

 The top finisher in each group will advance to the Concacaf W Championship joining the top-ranked CONCACAF nations, the USA and Canada – that have each received a bye straight to the W Championship which takes place in July 2022.

 The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) has received approval to accommodate up to 2500 fully vaccinated fans in the Grand Stand of the National Stadium.

 Interested fans will have to be validated by the government’s electronic system which will open soon. Following the validation process, fans will be able to purchase tickets for J$3000.

 Those fans who were already validated by the system can simply enter and purchase a ticket.

Below are the respective groups for CONCACAF qualifiers.

Group A: Mexico, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Antigua and Barbuda and Anguilla
Group B: Costa Rica, Guatemala, Saint Kitts and Nevis, US Virgin Islands, and Curacao
Group C: Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Bermuda, Grenada and Cayman Islands
Group D: Panama, El Salvador, Barbados, Belize and Aruba
Group E: Haiti, Cuba, Honduras, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the British Virgin Islands
Group F: Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, Nicaragua, Dominica and Turks and Caicos Islands

Jamaica Scorpions head coach, Andre Coley, has backed the team to improve its output at the crease for the new season of the Regional Four Day Competition, with the addition of new blood.

The franchise which has not won the tournament since the 2011-2012 season, has struggled to find consistency in recent editions, particularly at the crease.

“We have gone for younger investment at the top of the order to partner John and we have brought in young wicketkeeper-batsman Romaine Morris with the intention of strengthening the batting,” Coley told members of the media on Tuesday.

“The discussion that we have had with our senior batters is if they can even replicate or do better than what they did last year, along with some production from the younger guys then we should have more consistency in our batting,” he added.

Led by Jermaine Blackwood’s 768 runs, the team had a fair showing at the crease at the last edition of the tournament and scored the second-most in the competition with 3730.  The tally saw the Scorpions finish in third spot overall behind Trinidad and Tobago and champions Barbados.  Morris has been selected ahead of Aldane Thomas to partner with the team captain Campbell at the top of the order.  The Scorpions will bowl things off against the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force on Wednesday.

President of the Jamaica Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, Chris Stoke, insists the team will now shift all its attention into competition mode following an unsuccessful appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) on behalf of the country’s two-woman team.

On Monday, a CAS panel rejected an appeal filed by woman bobsledder Jazmine Fenlator-Victorian who had called for a recalculation of the point rankings for the Beijing 2022 Quota Allocation for the two-woman event, based only on races that actually took place. 

The appeal was based on the decision made by the Olympic organisers after inclement weather had led to the cancelation of a meet scheduled for Germany on December 4.  According to the filing, the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation instead counted a December 5 competition twice, which allowed a sled piloted by France’s Margot Boch to qualify for the final spot in the two-woman bobsled competition at the Olympics. The decision meant Audra Segree, Fenlator-Victorian's brakewoman, missed out on a spot via a tiebreak.  The court, however, rejected the appeal.

While insisting it was important to air their grouses, Stokes insists the team is ready to move on.

“The decision has come down as dismissed, we accept that wholeheartedly.  Winning is one thing but the more important thing is to speak up and I’m very proud of Jazmine for speaking up,” Stokes said.

“We maintain that it is better sports results be determined on the field of play and not in administration but we put that behind us and we are now in a high-performance zone and we are getting ready for competition.”

Fenlator-Victorian will compete in the Women’s Monobob, which gets underway on February 11.  Jamaica’s men’s team will compete in both the Two-Man and Four-Man events, which get underway a few days later.

The appeal by Jamaica’s Winter Olympic athlete Jazmine Fenlator-Victorian concerning the reallocation of quota places in bobsleigh/skeleton for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 has been rejected by the Ad hoc Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Richard Pandohie, the Chief Executive Officer of the Seprod Group of Companies, has been named patron of the 2022 Carifta Games.

 As the patron, Pandohie will be the primary spokesperson for the event and will use his traditional and social media platforms to promote the Games scheduled for Kingston from April 16 - 18.

An estimated 500 athletes from across the region are expected to compete at what will be the 49^th staging of the event.

 Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee, Mikel Fennell, made the announcement at the weekly meeting on Friday.

 “It’s a happy day when on behalf of the LOC, we can welcome our patron. He is one of the brightest minds representing business in the corporate sector, having transformed the Seprod Group of Companies into one of the most dynamic companies in the region,” Fennell said. 

 “His association with the Games which seeks to convert the lives of young people in the same way as he has done with the manufacturing and distribution company makes him a natural fit for this role.”

 In accepting, Pandohie said he is aware of the magnitude of the appointment.

 “I understand fully the role I have to perform,” he said. “There is so much in Jamaica that comes with what sport (track and field) has to offer in the process of developing world-beaters.

 JAAA President Garth Gayle acknowledged Pandohie’s appointment saying that his contribution will be of “tremendous value, not just to the Games, but to track and field in Jamaica.” 

Jamaica’s Sports Minister Olivia Grange has pledged JMD$10 million in support to the country’s Premier League clubs for the 2022 season.

A goal from Joel Campbell in the 62nd minute gave Costa Rica a critical 1-0 victory over Jamaica at the National Stadium in Kingston on Wednesday night. The defeat effectively scuppers Jamaica’s chances of qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

After a scoreless first half that saw Costa Rica GK Keylor Navas called into action several times, both teams dialled up more attacking postures in the second half.

In the 50th minute, Jamaica MF Devon Williams had an opportunity at the top of the box after a move down the right wing but sent his effort over Navas’ goal.

In the 61st minute, Jamaica’s stopper Andre Blake was given his turn to come through, with Kevin Stewart whistled for a penalty on Campbell. Veteran Costa Rica Celso Borges stepped up but was denied by Blake.

The celebrations on the Jamaica bench had barely concluded, however, when Campbell found the winner. Borges played a ball over the top to the 29-year-old attacker, and he took a touch with his left to move inside and beat Blake to his back post.

Jamaica manager Paul Hall modified his lineup in search of an equalizer, with one of the best chances coming in the 71st minute when Andre Gray narrowly missed a chance to apply a finishing touch to a cross toward the back post.

The Costa Rica win moves the Ticos within a point of the playoff position, pending later results.

When Costa Rica returns to action in the final window of qualification, it will host Canada, while Jamaica will be back in the National Stadium for a contest against El Salvador.

Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah is in line for another major global award following her nomination for the Sportswoman of the Year at this year’s Laureus Awards.