World U20 Champs team sets off for Eugene tomorrow

Forty-two of the country’s young athletes, 25 males and 17 females, will leave the island tomorrow to compete at the World Under-20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon, where a record 1,800 athletes will be on show at the five-day championships, which begin on Wednesday at Hayward Field in what is its 40th staging.

As usual, The Gleaner takes a look at Jamaica’s likely medal prospects.

The country’s best performance came in 2022 in Cali, Colombia, where the team won 16 medals – six gold, seven silver, and three bronze – to finish second overall on the medal table.

With a very youthful team, particularly among the women, it will be very difficult for Jamaica to come close to that record medal haul. Instead, the team will be hoping to better its performance from two years ago in Lima, Peru, where it ended with five medals – four gold and one silver.

Based on the rankings heading into the championships, Jamaica will face a difficult task in the individual events, with only three athletes – Shanoya Douglas, Gary Card and Joseph Salmon –ranked in the top three of their respective events, and all three sitting at number one.

Douglas will once again carry Jamaica’s hopes and looks set to improve on her silver medal in the 200 metres in Lima, where she was promoted to second after initially finishing third. She is ranked number one in both events with personal bests of 10.98 seconds in the 100 metres and 22.14 seconds in the 200. She will be hoping to join Veronica Campbell Brown and Brianna Williams as Jamaica’s only women’s World Under-20 double sprint champions.

Douglas looks the favourite in the 200 metres but will face a much tougher challenge in the blue-riband 100 metres. Her biggest threat is expected to come from American Mia Maxwell, whose personal best of 11.08 seconds makes her a serious contender. Competing before her home crowd, Maxwell could spring a surprise and is given the slight edge, with Douglas expected to take silver.

Ranked number one in the men’s discus with a personal best of 67.55 metres, Salmon looks primed to win gold. His best throw is more than four metres farther than that of his nearest rival, Estonia’s Stem-Erik IIR, making him the overwhelming favourite. A victory would see him join Federick Dacres (Barcelona 2012) and Kai Chang (Tampere 2018) as Jamaican winners of the event.

New national junior men’s 100-metre record holder Gary Card, who stunned several senior stars at the National Championships with his 9.93-second run, tops the world rankings and will be aiming to join two-time champion Dexter Lee as a winner of the event. However, despite his number-one ranking, victory will not come easily. Outstanding American Tate Taylor and South Africa’s Marko Ferreira have both clocked 10.04 seconds, while Great Britain’s Jake Odey Jordan has run 10.07, setting up what should be one of the most competitive finals of the championships. Card, however, should finish among the medals.

Based on the entry list, Card could also contend for a medal in the 200 metres, where his personal best of 20.28 seconds ranking him third. Taylor leads the rankings with 19.75 seconds, ahead of Blake Hamilton with 20.02.

Douglas and Card will return for the sprint relay teams that captured gold in Lima, making them strong medal contenders.

In the other individual events, Tiana Marshall, ranked fourth in the women’s 100 metres hurdles with 12.98 seconds, and Michael Andre Edwards, ranked fourth in the men’s triple jump with 16.30 metres, could also work their way onto the podium.

At the end of the championships, Jamaica is projected to finish with five medals once again, although the colours could be different. Douglas is tipped to win gold in the 200 metres and silver in the 100 metres, Salmon is expected to strike gold in the discus, Card is favoured for silver in the 100 metres, while the women’s 4x100-metre relay team is expected to win gold and extend Jamaica’s winning streak to four consecutive titles. The men’s relay team also has a strong chance of securing silver.

Overall, Jamaica is projected to win three gold and two silver medals for a total of five. However, with a little luck and a few outstanding performances, the team could increase its tally to as many as eight medals.