Is Seville Jamaica’s male athlete of the year?

An informal poll at Sunday’s Burger King 5K has pinpointed sprinter Oblique Seville as a leading candidate for the title of Jamaica’s male athlete of 2022.

Chris Harley, the Vere Technical sprint expert, advanced similar reasoning. “I think he has made a tremendous improvement this year compared to last year’s performance,” said the man who coached Jaheel Hyde to two World Under-20 400m hurdles victories and the 2018 Commonwealth bronze medal.

Seville lowered his personal best to 9.86 seconds in Kingston and placed fourth in the 100m at the World Championships, the best finish by a Jamaican man in Eugene.

St Catherine High School’s head coach Marlon James spoke in a similar vein.

“The big improvement that he made over the year and although he didn’t win the national title the fact that he came fourth at the World Championship, I would go with him”, James argued.

“Seville went to the finals, World Championships finals, as a youngster, produced and was one step below the medals,” Orville Thompson, a stalwart timekeeper, said in praising the sprinter.

Jamaica College’s middle-distance maestro Duane Johnson put forward Navasky Anderson who lowered a 45-year-old Jamaican 800 metres record to one minute 45.02 seconds with a runner-up performance at the NCAA Championships. Asked if he felt Anderson had the credentials to match Eugene finalists Seville, Chris Taylor, Jaheel Hyde, Hansle Parchment, Fedrick Dacres and Traves Smikle, Johnson said: “Those other guys made the finals, yes, but looking at a national record that’s been there for a while and, although it’s not a popular event, 1.45.0 is nothing to scoff about. So I would give him the nod.”

Burger 5K race organiser Alfred Francis picked 110 metres hurdler Rasheed Broadbell. Eliminated in the Eugene semis, Broadbell later took the Commonwealth Games title, beat World Champion Grant Holloway and broke the 13 seconds barrier. Asked to defend his choice, Francis was decisive.

“Broadbell has defeated the best in the world,” said the veteran official.

James places Broadbell highly too.

“He did very well, especially on the circuit, excellent on the circuit beating the World champion, so I would give him second place,” said James.

Now part of the coaching staff at Munro College, 2017 World 400 metres hurdles semifinalist Ricardo Cunningham put in a vote for Dacres and Smikle, who won the Jamaica title, placed third at the Commonwealth Games and closed 2022 with a gold medal at the North American Central American and Caribbean Championships.

“It’s a bit hard for me to pick but honestly, for the 100m, Seville stepped up. He did well because you know, Jamaica is going through a little drought in the sprints, with the males, but I think I would maybe swing with the throwers,” Cunningham said.