World championships bronze medallist Rushell Clayton and 2018 Commonwealth Games Champion Janieve Russell advanced to the finals of the 400m hurdles on Thursday’s opening day of the Jamaica National Senior Athletics Championships at the National Stadium in Kingston.

However, the fastest woman heading into the final on Friday was the 2018 World U20 silver medallist Shian Salmon, who won the opening heat in a season’s best 54.10. Clayton, who missed the last year of competition because of injury, clocked an encouraging 54.67 to also advance while Russell eased into the final clocking 55.04 that was good enough to win the second of the two heats.

Also through to the final is Andrenette Knight, the fastest Jamaican woman in the world this year. Knight, whose 53.39 makes her the third fastest in the world this year, was third in the first heat in 54.55.

Also through to the finals are Kimesha Chambers (56.03), former national champion Ronda Whyte (56.50), Garriel White (58.16) and Abigail Schaaffe (59.03).

Jereem Richards, the 2022 World Indoor 400m champion, will contest only the half-lap sprint at the Trinidad and Tobago National Championships set for June 25-26 at the Hasley Crawford Stadium in Trinidad and Tobago.

Newly minted Jamaica 800m record holder Navasky Anderson says he is feeling fresh and confident as he prepares to bow into battle against the best of his compatriots at the Jamaica National Senior Championships set to get underway at the National Stadium in Kingston Thursday afternoon.

Eight-time national 800m champion Natoya Goule was announced as a second brand ambassador for Recycling Partners of Jamaica at the company’s offices on Retirement Road in Kingston on Wednesday. Veteran entertainer Sasco is RPJ’s other ambassador and he continues in that role but Goule, the Olympic and World Championships finalist in 2019 and 2021, respectively, will be the face of the company at sporting events.

The announcement was made by RPJ Marketing and Communications Manager Candice Ming, who explained what Goule’s role will be during the initial one-year agreement.

“We decided to partner with Natoya for sporting events in particular,” Ming said, “she will be our face in sports as we expand our reach from having the bins and having Sasco’s jingle on the radio. We have been at sporting events. We have been at sporting events, I am not sure if you are familiar with us partnering with the Carifta Games earlier this year for the collection of plastic bottles and so we are expanding the initiative off the success of the Carifta Games including to the National trials this weekend.

“All four days we will be collecting plastics so as we move further into the field of sport you will be seeing a lot more of us, particularly through Natoya and her efforts.”

RPJ Chairman Dr Damien King explained that selecting Goule to be a brand ambassador was a straightforward decision.

“Our proudest moments as a nation have to do with what we have achieved on the track. We want Jamaica to be known just as well for environmental management. We want all Jamaicans and the entire rest of the world to know that Jamaica is serious about having a clean and inviting, beautiful environment. It is natural that our ambitions to be number-one on the track and number-one on the environment come together,” he said.

The 31-year-old Goule, who is on the island for the 2022 National Senior Athletics Championships where she will go for a ninth consecutive title, expressed her delight at being selected for such an important role.

“It is a great pleasure that I am a part of this and I am going to be here to do my part and contribute as much as I can,” said Goule, who RPJ will engage in a number of initiatives islandwide that they intend to roll out. Some of those initiatives will unfold in Goule’s home parish of Manchester, Ming disclosed.

Expect the unexpected!

That’s the word from 2021 World U20 champion Ackera Nugent, who was responding to a question about who she thinks will emerge victorious in the 100m hurdles at Jamaica’s National Senior Championships that get underway at the National Stadium in Kingston on Thursday, June 23.

Nugent, who turned 20 in April, will miss the championships because of injury but is already on the mend as she targets a triumphant return to the track for her junior year at Baylor University. As the second fastest Jamaican woman in the world this year, Nugent will be missed but the field that will assemble is stacked.

Among the women contending for the top three spots will be Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Megan Tapper, 2015 World Championships gold medalist Danielle Williams, who is also the 2019 bronze medallist, 2022 Big 12 Conference Champion Demisha Roswell, Britany Anderson, Crystal Morrison, and Trishauna Hemmings among others.

However, Nugent perhaps one of the most talented hurdlers in her country’s history, was not willing to put her neck on the block given how keenly contested Sunday’s final is expected to be.

“Well, the hurdles is an event that you can’t really have expectations on it because anything can happen in those 12-13-seconds of the race,” she reasoned.

“So it’s a thing where you have to expect the unexpected.”

She does expect to be back better and stronger than ever for the coming 2022/2023 NCAA season.

Mere days after running a personal best 12.45 to finish second to Roswell at the Big 12 Championships, Nugent, citing injury, shut down her season in early June. It was a decision that meant that she would miss the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships in Oregon as well as Jamaica’s National Championships where she was expected to be among the athletes making the team to the World Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, where the NCAA Championships were also held.

She revealed the circumstances that led to her decision.

“I had been having ankle problems this season more than normal but I was able to compete but at regionals, running the 4x100m I tore my plantar fascia (the thick tendon that connects the heel and the toes) and it was really bad,” she recalled.

Despite the injury, she said, she soldiered on, which made things worse.

“Knowing me as somebody that’s like ‘I have a next race to go do, let’s knock it out the way. I took some pain killers and I wrapped my leg up and went out there to compete and when I realized in the race it was getting really bad I slowed up and was still able to make nationals and then I looked and saw how swollen my foot was and I was like ‘I don’t think I have enough time to recover and make it for nationals’ so I decided to close my season down.”

As it stands, she is now able to walk and can run a little but thinks it best to give herself time to heal ahead of next season. “I don’t think it’s a smart decision to run so now I will be focusing on recovering, rehabbing and getting stronger. I have enough time to get better, to get stronger so I will be ready for next year,” she said.

Pakistan captain and talisman Babar Azam scored a century to help steer Pakistan to a five-wicket victory over the West Indies in a keenly contested ODI in Multan on Wednesday.

The Jamaica Gymnastics Association has received a boost in the form of well-needed equipment from the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).

Jamaica Football Federation General Secretary Dalton Wint appears to have yielded to the demand of the Reggae Boyz that he resigns his position.

Wint has been the target of the players’ ire after being left stranded in Suriname on Saturday night, June 4, after their 1-1 draw with the host country. The JFF had failed to make proper arrangements for the players to return to Jamaica, an embarrassing situation that the players laid squarely at the feet of the beleaguered general secretary.

According to a statement reportedly coming from the players, “it was the straw that broke the camel’s back” and they refused to go on unless Wint resigned from his post. JFF President Michael Ricketts confirmed on Monday that the board had met to discuss the situation but up to later that day, there was no official word regarding the board’s position on the demand made by the players, who Sportsmax.TV understands refused to train in preparation for the return match against Suriname on Tuesday evening.

However, in a statement released late Monday night, the JFF signalled that an end to the impasse is in sight.

“The General Secretary of the Jamaica Football Federation, Mr Dalton Wint, has given his unequivocal and irreversible commitment to submit his resignation from the post,” the JFF said. “The Board of Directors of the JFF look forward to receiving same soonest. Other relevant information regarding this matter, will be shared with the country in the coming days.”

Meantime, Jamaica’s Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sports, revealed its part in getting the players home from Suriname early Monday morning.

Minister Olivia Grange revealed that her ministry intervened to facilitate the safe return of the irate players, who returned to Jamaica at approximately 7:15 am Monday.

“On Saturday, June 4, 2022, I was advised of challenges being experienced by the Reggae Boyz delegation in Suriname. I was made to understand that travel arrangements for their return to Jamaica, after the match against Suriname on Saturday, had been cancelled and my assistance was being sought,” the minister said in a statement.

 “I was told that because the players had to return in time for another match, normal flight schedules would not allow for their return. On my instructions, a number of steps were taken by my Permanent Secretary and the General Manager of the Sports Development Foundation (SDF) to assist in addressing the problem.

 “A company was identified from which we could charter a flight in the short time frame. Reggae Boy Leon Bailey was instrumental in identifying the charter company.

“We were advised by the company identified that the charter flight would cost US$105,000.00 which had to be paid immediately in order for the aircraft which was in Mexico to be released to pick up the team in Suriname. Unfortunately, with this taking place over the weekend, the circumstances prevented the SDF from accessing the required banking services.”

 As a result, Minister Grange said, JFF President Michael Ricketts contacted Christopher Williams, CEO of PROVEN and Chairman of the Premier Football Jamaica League (PFJL) to assist with the identification of the required funds and the Government of Jamaica through the SDF committed to ensuring that the funds advanced would be repaid.

“Based on the commitment of the Government, Mr Williams put the necessary mechanisms in place to advance the payment for the charter flight, with the firm understanding that he would be reimbursed in the shortest possible time,” the minister explained.

“All the parties involved were aware of the urgent need to act, bearing in mind the risk of the Jamaican delegation being stranded in Suriname, and the players not being able to honour the fixture scheduled for Tuesday, June 7, 2022,” the minister continued, adding that she spoke directly to the players, who she said were upset with the JFF Administration which they blamed for the crisis.

The players, she said, then agreed to play the game in Suriname on schedule.

“The Under Secretary for the Diaspora, Protocol and Consular Affairs Division in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade (MFAFT) played a critical role in securing the landing and fly over permits. The team from the Ministries were in negotiations from Saturday afternoon until early Monday morning to ensure that the permits were received,” the minister said.

  “I will be writing to the JFF requesting a detailed report on the matter and my team and I will continue to work closely with the JFF and the Reggae Boyz as we are also aware of other matters of concern related to the management of what is possibly the most popular sport in Jamaica.”

When Briana Williams finished ninth in the 100m dash at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon on May 28, she could not have imagined the wave of negative reaction that was to follow on social media.

After a successful indoor season during which she ran a new lifetime best of 7.04 while finishing fifth in the 60m final at the World Indoor Championships in Serbia in March, Williams and her coach Ato Boldon turned their attention to preparing to compete in Jamaica’s National Senior Championships at the end of June with the intention of making Jamaica’s team to the World Athletics Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene in July.

Apparently, the heavy workload had taken its toll and Williams, who won gold in the 4x100m relay at the Tokyo Olympics last summer, was clearly not at her best. Following the run in Oregon, social media blew up with toxic narratives. She was not progressing fast enough. She needs to leave Boldon. Other Jamaican women had surpassed her now.

Those criticisms stung and were partly behind her decision to travel to Jamaica to compete at the JAAA/SDF Jubilee Meet at Jamaica College in Kingston on Saturday. There, she ran a wind-assisted 10.91 (3.4m/s) in the preliminary round and then returned for the final where she ran a season's best 10.98 which went a long way toward silencing the armchair coaches.

“I definitely did,” said Williams while speaking with Sportsmax.TV after her triumphant performance on Saturday night.

“We don’t always have perfect races. Last week (Oregon) wasn’t my best. I wasn’t feeling my best but I am glad I got this meet in, was able to have a prelim and a final and finish healthy with a new season’s best.”

In truth, following her performance at the Prefontaine Classic when she clocked a relatively pedestrian 11.20, Williams did begin to doubt herself. However, those doubts were quickly extinguished by Coach Boldon.

“Well, I only had Prefontaine that was really bad. After the race, I was like ‘Oh My God, what’s going on? I am putting in the work’, but my coach said just trust the process. The work is there in training; you just have to wait. Everyone has their time, and we will not always have the best races,” she said.

“I would love for people to actually understand that we’re human beings and we’re athletes and we go through a lot and one bad race, we bounce back into a good race and we move forward.”

In fact, Williams believes that despite what the naysayers believe, she has been having a really good season.

“This season has been going well so far, especially indoors, my first full season indoors, 7.04. No one at 19 has done that and just to be the youngest at the World Indoor Championships and to place fifth really meant a lot,” she said.

“After indoors I went straight into training, heavy training, and I think that was where I was feeling it, at Prefontaine.”

Now with that disappointing performance clearly behind her, Williams is now firmly focused on being at her best for Jamaica’s National Senior Championships from June 23-26, when she will face off against some of the fastest women in the world with the aim of booking a ticket to Oregon in July.

To do that she will face as deep a field as she has ever faced in Jamaica. In addition to the usual suspects, Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who will compete despite having a bye to Oregon as the defending 100m champion and Shericka Jackson, Williams will come up against an in-form Kevona Davis, Natasha Morrison, Remona Burchell, Natalliah Whyte, Kemba Nelson and Shockoria Wallace all of whom have been having strong seasons.

Notwithstanding the depth of talent, the Olympic gold medallist said nothing will change in how she prepares for the fierce battles ahead.

“Never, it is always the same. It is always a hot field and I always perform my best when the time is right,” she said.

“I know that trials will be hard. Everyone is running fast. That is how it’s supposed to be. I am looking forward to trials.”

Grenada’s Anderson Peters and Jamaica’s Britany Anderson pulled off impressive victories at the 2022 FBK Games Hengelo in The Netherlands on Monday.

Elaine Thompson-Herah was a happy camper after cruising to victory in the 100m at the Diamond League meeting in Rabat, Morocco on Sunday. The Tokyo Olympics 100m champion clocked an easy-looking 10.83 that was a new meet record, eclipsing her own meet record of 10.87 set back in 2017.

“I feel amazing about the race today. This is my third time in Rabat and I'm super excited about the new meeting record of 10.83,” said the fastest woman alive while promising more of the same when she competes in Rome on Thursday, June 9.

“For the next event in Rome, I'm following the same process and keeping up the same pace.”

Meanwhile, Marie Jose Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast produced a late surge to overtake Jamaica’s Natasha Morrison, crossing the finish line in a season-best 11.04. Morrison also ran a season best 11.22 for the final podium spot.

The Women’s 400m was an all-Caribbean affair that was won by the Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino, who timed her finish to perfection storming past Jamaica’s McPherson and Barbados’ Sada Williams at the top of the final straight to win 50.10.

“I am happy to get this win here in Rabat. It is an important achievement for me and for my country, especially in the eyes of the world,” the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist said afterwards.

“The race was quick, but I managed to cross the line first. I trained well and this helped me to do my best. For me, my participation in Rabat is good preparation for the world championship.”

McPherson, who went out hard, had little left down the home straight and was overtaken by Williams, who clocked a season best 50.74 for second place while McPherson also ran a season-best time, 51.37, despite fading badly over the final 50m of the race.

Dominica’s Thea LaFond produced a late winning jump of 14.46m to win the triple jump competition ahead of Jamaica’s Shanieka Ricketts, who had a season-best 14.43 and Slovenia’s Neja Filipic, who produced a lifetime best of 14.42m for third.

Ackeem Blake ran a brand new personal best of 9.92s while winning the 100m at the Music City Track Carnival in Nashville, Tennessee on Sunday.

Reports are emerging that Reggae Boyz Head Coach Paul Hall has resigned his position and the players have refused to move forward unless Jamaica Football Federation General Secretary Dalton Wint tenders his resignation.

It is a position with which JFF President Michael Ricketts appears to agree. Sportsmax.TV has obtained a Whatsapp voice note created Saturday night in which a player speaking on behalf of the team, is heard demanding Wint’s resignation and President Ricketts seemingly agreeing with the players.

“On behalf of the team, captain, vice captain, we are asking Mr Wint to resign. That’s the only way we move forward. Can we get your word on that?” said an unidentified player.

A voice sounding like the JFF president responded, “I am saying I agree.”

“You agree as the president. Okay,” the player said in reply.

This latest fallout stems from a situation that developed in Suriname on Saturday night where the Reggae Boyz played to a 1-1 draw with the home side in their opening match of the CONCACAF Nations League.

After the match, the players came to the realization that they did not have a return flight to Jamaica for the return match on June 7. Unconfirmed reports indicate that Jamaica was to have shared a charter flight with the Suriname national team back to Jamaica on Saturday night. However, Jamaica is alleged to have failed to come up with their share of the cost of the flight.

The players are reportedly still in Suriname.

Calls to both JFF President Ricketts and General Secretary Wint went unanswered up to the time of publication on Sunday.

It is unknown what arrangements are being made for the players to get back to Jamaica to prepare for their match against Suriname and their upcoming match against Mexico on June 14.

Ackera Nugent will miss the 2022 NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships set for June 8-11 in Eugene, Oregon and Jamaica’s National Championships in Kingston from June 23-26, because of an ongoing ankle injury.

Nugent, the reigning World U20 champion, is the second fastest Jamaican woman in the world this year after running a personal best of 12.45 at the Big 12 Championships at Lubbock, Texas on May 15. Only fellow Jamaican, Demisha Roswell of Texas Tech, who ran 12.44 to beat Nugent at the Big 12 Conference Championships, has run faster this season.

The 20-year-old Nugent, a sophomore at Baylor University revealed on social media Thursday that the severity of the injury makes it impossible for her to carry on this season.

“With my ankle, this year has been a roller coaster but that has never stopped me from going out there and giving it my all,” she posted on Instagram.

“As a fighter, you have to know when to stop fighting and let go and I just wanted to let you know my season is over. I will not be competing in the NCAA Championship not will I be competing in the national senior trials this year.

“However, God has helped me along the way to have accomplished my main goal this year and I am at peace.”

Nugent’s absence will take away from the much-anticipated clashes at the NCAA Championships against the likes of the LSU pair of Alia Armstrong and Tonea Marshall as well as Roswell.

At the Jamaica National Senior Championships, she would have faced Roswell as well as 2015 World Champion Danielle Williams and Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Megan Tapper.

Jamaican Olympian Kerron Stewart has been appointed Head Coach – Sprints, Hurdles and Middle Distance at SPIRE Academy in the United States. SPIRE Academy is an international, high school and postgraduate sports performance training and education academy in Geneva, Ohio.

The 38-year-old Stewart takes the position as head coach, a year after signing with Buena Vista as an assistant coach for their Track & Field/Cross Country programs.

“I am elated to join this dynamic and evolving team that’s invested in developing and inspiring young men and women. I can’t wait to start this new position and contribute my wealth of experience and knowledge to growing and developing our student-athletes,” said Stewart, who won a silver in the 100m behind Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

 “With any new position, I know there will be challenges, but I am ready and committed.”

Stewart, who won a silver medal as a member of Jamaica’s 4x100m team at the London 2012 Games, will be working with Coach Tim Mack as well as SPIRE’s Director of Track & Field Kibwe Johnson.

"I am thrilled to have Kerron join our coaching staff at SPIRE,” Mack said of Stewart’s appointment. “She brings a ton of experience, knowledge and enthusiasm to our track & field program.”

Meanwhile, Johnson said Stewart completes the ‘Dream Team’  coaching staff at SPIRE.

"I'm incredibly humbled to be able to add a coach with the vast wealth of knowledge and experience that Kerron will bring to the student-athletes of the SPIRE Track & Field program,” Johnson said.

“It's one thing to be a coach with vast personal experience. It's quite another to also align with the principles of leadership and teaching that I expect from this coaching staff. We're happy to have her.”