Budapest team spots still up for grabs

The race for spots on Jamaica’s team to the 19th World Athletics Championships isn’t over. While last week’s National Championships clarified the selections in many events, the roster remains incomplete in others. The race in disciplines like the men’s 200 and 400 metres will continue until July 30.

That’s when the World Athletics window for qualifying performances closes. In the men’s 200m, only repeat national champion Andrew Hudson has surpassed the standard of 20.16 seconds but runner-up Rasheed Dwyer, third-placed Tyquendo Tracey and 2012 Olympic silver medallist Yohan Blake could all get past the standard before the end of the month. Failing that, Dwyer’s 2023 best of 20.22 might suffice if the qualifying standard is beyond the rest of the world’s sprinters.

The Jamaican situation is similar in the men’s 400m. Gloriously, Sean Bailey and Antonio Watson ran 44.48 and 44.54 seconds, respectively, at the national championships. However, third-place finisher Jevaughn Powell hasn’t yet made it past 45.00, which is the qualifying standard. Powell, national champion last year, ran 44.87 before the window opened on July 30, 2022. He needs to get his time down from a 2023 best of 45.02 seconds.

As things stand, 21-year-old Zandrian Barnes is in pole position for the third team slot. Barnes placed sixth in the final at the national championships but is the only finalist, other than Bailey and Watson, with a sub-45 during the qualifying window. The GC Foster College student-athlete sped 44.90 seconds at the Racers Grand Prix.

The 2022 World 800/1500m semifinalist Adelle Tracey is in with Natoya Goule at 800m, with Tracey scoring qualifiers in the 800m and 1500m last year. On the flip side, 2018 Commonwealth Games steeple chase winner Aisha Praught-Leer is away from the standard in the 1500m.

In many cases, there are no such concerns. In the men’s 100m, the 110m hurdles, 400m hurdles, discus throw and long jump, the Trials top three all are safe. The same goes for the women’s 100m, 200m, 400m, 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles.

For those who run out of time to punch their tickets to Budapest, the Hungarian city hosting the World Championships this time, via the qualifying standard, there is still hope. World Athletics will fill out the field with those closest to the standards and those who have sufficient world ranking points. This route might save upcoming men’s shot putter Rajindra Campbell whose 2023 best of 21.31 metres is only eight centimetres short of the qualifying standard.

Campbell, a former Kingston College thrower, is 23rd in the world performance list in 2023. Only 16 men threw past 21.40m last year and just 20 have done it this outdoor season.

Of course, the safest bet for Dwyer, Canada’s Olympic champion Andre deGrasse and Powell is to find the races that will push them to sub-20.16, for deGrasse and Dwyer, and sub-45 for Powell before July 30 ends.