Gaye ‘ready to go’

Former National 400 metres champion Demish Gaye says he is determined to reclaim his title at next week’s National Track and Field Championships, but he admits that his execution will have to be spot on for him to achieve this.

Gaye, who has been having a subpar season, will enter the championships with a season’s best time of 46.04 seconds, which is much slower than his personal best time of 44.46.

In fact, Gaye’s season’s best ranks outside of the top 10 among Jamaica’s quarter-milers this season, with Jevaughn Powell being the fastest over the distance with a time of 44.87.

Gaye told The Gleaner that he has been having some race “issues” this season, and he is still working on them in training ahead of the Trials. He said he has been working on a new running style, and once he is able to perfect his race, then he should be in the mix for one of the top three spots and a place on Jamaica’s team to the July 15-24 World Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

“Right now, I am feeling pretty good because I have been putting in the work in training and I am ready to go,” said Gaye. “I am not going to say what sort of time that I will be targeting at the Trials, and so I am just going out there to do my best,” he said.

“I have had a couple bad races, and I had some things to work on. Also I have been having a couple issues, but the greatest thing is that I still can race at the Trials,” Gaye said.

The 29-year-old Gaye, who is a former GC Foster College student, will be aiming to represent the country at his third consecutive World Championships, having made the finals of the event in London 2017 and Doha 2019. He finished sixth in London and fourth in Doha.

Gaye added that this year’s 400m event at the championships is going to be very competitive.

“I cannot say what is going to happen at the Trials, but I am just going out there to focus on myself, and that is what matters right now,” Gaye said. “Training has been going good so far, but I am not putting any pressure on myself because I am just going out there to try to execute as best as possible.”

“I think that once I execute each race how I want to, then I should be there for one of the top spots at the Trials because that will be the key,” he said.