SHOWTIME - Quarrie backs athletes to impress at World Champs
Published:Friday | September 27, 2019 | 12:00 AMAndrÈ Lowe/Sports Editor
DOHA, Qatar:
The 2019 IAAF World Championships, in a sense, represents a crossroads for Jamaica’s track and field programme.
Missing is the star power that personalities such as Usain Bolt, Veronica Campbell-Brown, and Asafa Powell brought for years.
Case in point: there was no glitzy introductory ‘Team Jamaica’ event ahead of today’s start of competition as had become the norm over the past few championships. It’s a clear indication that the brand has slipped a bit down the totem pole of international appeal.
However, the team boasts the presence of world stars such as Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Elaine Thompson, and Omar McLeod. The still-relevant Yohan Blake and medal candidates Shanieka Ricketts, Natoya Goule, Shericka Jackson, Daniel Thomas-Dodd, and Fedrick Dacres are also part of team Jamaica. With promising talent such as Tajay Gayle also among the ranks, technical leader Donald Quarrie is quite confident that the team will bounce back from the disappointing four-medal showing at the 2017 World Championships and show that the island’s track and field programme remains among the strongest on the planet.
“I must say that most of our athletes have adjusted to the weather. It is hot, but they have not been complaining, and that’s a good thing because they are going to be more focused on competing and going to do what they can to perform at their best,” said Quarrie from the team’s hotel in Doha yesterday.
“I never like to predict medals, but I am hoping that we will perform beyond expectations. I saw the athletes training, and they are more motivated and enthusiastic about competing, and I think we have a very fair chance of doing a lot better than what others are thinking, and that will be a plus,” added Quarrie, echoing the understated confidence that has come out of the camp in recent days.
JAMAICANS IN ACTION
Six Jamaicans will take the field on today’s opening day of competition at the Khalifa International Stadium, with long jumper Tajay Gayle getting things started in the qualifying round of the competition at 4:30 p.m. (8:30 a.m. Jamaica time). Gayle’s 8.32m makes him the joint sixth best competitor in the event here in Doha, and there is optimism about his chances to make it on the podium here.
Also competing today are 100m sprinters Blake and Tyquendo Tracey, who line up in the heats of the event, which get started at 6:05 p.m. (10:05 a.m.).
Goule, the second fastest athlete in the 800m in Doha, will start her podium campaign in heat four at 5:10 p.m. (9:10 a.m.), where she is expected to begin her quest to become the first Jamaican to medal in the event at a major, senior global outdoor championships.
Jordan Scott will represent the island in the triple jump qualifiers, beginning at 7:25 p.m. (11:25 a.m.), while Kemar Mowatt will carry the flag in the heats of the 400m hurdles, which get under way at 8:35 p.m. (12:35 p.m.).
Meanwhile, Quarrie underlined his belief that the team’s quality remains high and that their performances in Doha will show this.
“The quality of the team remains the same. We are missing some key individuals, but we still have Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Elaine Thompson and persons who have maintained a very high standard for us. Yohan (Blake) has been training very well, and I am hoping that he comes through in flying colours, and if he does, it won’t be a surprise,” said Quarrie.
Jamaica’s best-ever medal return at a World Championships came in the 2009 instalment in Berlin, Germany, where 13 medals (7 gold, 4 silver, 2 bronze) were won.