Blake says ‘it is possible’ to get past 100 medals in Paris

PARIS, Francis

It is not a matter of if but when Jamaica will get to 100 Olympic Games medals won.

The Jamaican team wants to complete that objective in Paris as the track and field programme begins at the Stade de France today.

Jamaica only needs 12 medals to reach 100 medals. A Jamaican team first competed at the Olympic Games in London in 1948 and all but one of the medals have been won in track and field.

Former Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association President Dr Warren Blake says that while the stars need to align to achieve the feat this year, he feels that this team has every chance to attain the milestone.

“It is possible. We have the material, but it would mean that everything would have to go right,” Blake told The Gleaner. “It would be quite significant for us as a nation. We would be the first Caribbean nation to achieve anything near that milestone. And I think it would be good for the programme of track and field and for the Olympic movement going forward.”

MVP head coach Stephen Francis was cautious in his assessment of the number of medals that Jamaica could leave with this year, believing that expectations should be tempered about a possible double-digit finish.

“The number of medals I hear everyone talking about we are probably not going to get there, but I think we will do OK. We need everybody to do as best as they can given the situation, and whatever total that happens, that’s it,” Francis said.

Jamaica has averaged 11 medals since 2008, with their highest ever haul being 13 at the London 2012 Games. Jamaica won nine in Tokyo in 2021, four of them gold.