Golden throw

Rojé Stona’s Olympic début will be unforgettable, and the most historic for Jamaica in an Olympics where the field has taken centre stage.

Stona claimed Jamaica’s first major global men’s discus title, in an Olympic record performance of 70.00m to win Jamaica’s first gold medal at the Games.

Mykolas Alekna of Lithuanian was second in 69.97 while Australia’s Matthew Denny took bronze in 69.31. History was already made before the final, with Stona’s teammates Ralford Mullings (65.61) and Traves Smikle (64.97), who finished ninth and 10th, respectively. Never before have three Jamaicans made an Olympic final in the event, much less as the only country to have three representatives in a final.

A throwing corps which represents the strongest the event has been in Jamaica was displayed in front of the world with Stona as champion. His fourth throw drew celebrations from both Smikle and Mullings on the field, as well as his coach, Olympic shot put champion Ryan Crouser. For Stona, it was a moment that he savoured, especially as his first two throws had him outside the podium.

“This is what I have been praying for. To come out there and actually do it, it is one of the best feelings of my life. It is the best day. To get it here, I knew it would take a lot. The situation that I was in going from seventh place, it doesn’t get more difficult than that. So I had nothing to lose,” Stona said.

As Stona stands as the competition’s first non-European champion, he took time to acknowledge the one who paved the way for Jamaica’s finest throwing hour and sounded the call to back the field events.

“The country should be proud. But we have to give thanks to who was there before. You have the likes of Fedrick (Dacres), you had the likes of Smikle who was also in the competition. You had a bunch more discus throwers that passed through. To be here at this time, we should all celebrate and we should put more support into the field events,” Stona said.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Andrew Holness congratulated Stona on his accomplishment.

“Rojé has done his family proud and he has brought tremendous joy to our country,” Holness said. “Indeed, he has reminded the world that Jamaicans are resilient people, we are talented people and we are capable of not only doing well on the track but also shining in field events.”

In his own message of congratulations, Opposition Leader Mark Golding said: “It is wonderful to see the broadening out of Jamaica’s prowess across so many different categories of athletic events.

“This success has been years in the making, with three dedicated coaches taking this on as a labour of love. Their hard work has produced at the junior level and now, for the first time, a medal at the senior level - a phenomenal achievement.”

Stona’s success increases Jamaica’s medal tally to five, with four of them in the field.

The field continued to take centre stage at these Games as Romaine Beckford qualified for the men’s high jump final after finishing eighth in qualifying. Beckford’s leap of 2.24 was enough to make him the first Olympic finalist in the event in 68 years.

It will be a Jamaica vs USA showdown in today’s men’s 110m hurdles final, as all three Jamaicans advanced from their semi-finals yesterday. Commonwealth Games champion Rasheed Broadbell and Orlando Bennett won their semi-finals, while reigning Olympic champion Hansle Parchment advanced as a non-automatic qualifier. Reigning World Champion Grant Holloway, as well as Freddie Crittenden and Daniel Roberts, all progressed to the final as Jamaica’s bid for a third straight Olympic title.

However, it was a disappointing out for the women in the 400m, as all three Jamaicans did not advance to the semi-final. The most shocking result was world leader and national champion Nickisha Pryce finishing fourth in 50.77 seconds, her time not fast enough to progress. Junelle Bromfield and Stacey Ann Williams finished eighth and seventh, respectively.

Reigning world 100m hurdles champion Danielle Williams, national champion Ackera Nugent, and Janeek Brown all secured places in tomorrow’s semi-finals of the 100m hurdles, after successful qualifying performances in their first-round heats. Williams won her heat in 12.59 while Nugent won her heat in 12.65. Brown was third in her heat in 12.84 to advance.

National record holder Adelle Tracey did not advance to the semi-finals of the women’s 1500m after finishing 11th in 4:14.52 in her heat. Navasky Anderson had returned this morning in the repechage round of the men’s 800m after finishing fifth in his 800m first-round heat in 1:46.83.

editorial@gleanerjm.com