World Under-20 record holder Jaydon Hibbert produced a world leading 17.75m to win the triple jump at the Racers Grand Prix at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday.

Hibbert opened his competition with 16.45m in the first round before going out to 17.14m in the second round, giving the National Stadium crowd a sign of things to come.

The third round saw him produce a then-meet record of 17.30m before, in round four, he produced a stadium record and world leading 17.75m to secure the victory.

O’Brien Wasome produced 16.64m for second while Jordan Scott was third with 16.06m.

“I was satisfied with the third and fourth jump of the series,” Hibbert said after the competition.

Oblique Seville and Julien Alfred produced a pair of scintillating performances to claim the 100m titles at the Racers Grand Prix at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday.

Seville produced a personal best and world leading 9.82 to claim the men’s race ahead of American World champion Noah Lyles and Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala.

Lyles’s time in second was a season’s best 9.85 while Omanyala ran 10.02 in third.

“I came out here in front of my Jamaican fans looking for a personal best and to get it today means a lot to me,” Seville said after the race.

“I just came out here to deliver. You’re always going to have ups and downs with the wind but you just have to run through it,” he added.

“As long as I’m healthy, expect good things,” was Seville’s response when asked about what fans can expect from him at Jamaica’s Olympic trials set for June 27-30.

In the women’s equivalent, St. Lucian World Indoor champion Julien Alfred sped to a personal best and meet record 10.78 to win ahead of Krystal Sloley who broke 11 seconds for the first time with 10.99 in second and Shashalee Forbes who ran a season’s best 11.05 in third.

Alfred says she didn’t expect to run that fast.

“I wanted to come out here and just work on execution. I didn’t expect that time and that’s why I was smiling so much,” she said.

Reigning Jamaican national champion Traves Smikle took the win in the men’s discus throw at the Racers Grand Prix at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday.

Smikle, a five-time national champion, produced 65.65m to win ahead of Samoa’s Alex Rose who threw 65.02m and American Reggie Jagers III who threw 64.64m.

Despite the win, Smikle admitted that his performance wasn’t up to his usual world class standards.

“I wasn’t my best today based on my standard and how I know I am but, at the same time, I’m in a competition where I have to go out there and do it, I’m competing against some of the best in the world and I am in my home town so I had to deliver,” Smikle said.

Lanae-Tava Thomas looked impressive on her way to a new personal best to win the 200m title at the Racers Grand Prix at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday.

The 23-year-old produced 22.36, bettering her previous lifetime best 22.38 done in 2023, to win ahead of fellow Jamaicans Ashanti Moore who ran a season’s best 22.74 in second and Jodean Williams who ran 22.95, also a season’s best.

Her coach Edrick Floreal previously told SportsMax.tv earlier this season that he believes Thomas can run as fast as 21.7 this season.

“He knows. Even if I don’t believe I can do it, if he says I can do it I’m stepping on the track and I’m going to do it,” Thomas said when asked about that prediction after the race.

“All my coach told me to come here and do was execute the first 150, and I did that and I ended up finishing as strong as I could so that makes me know that, the last 50, all I needed to do was execute the last 50 to dominate the race,” she added.

The men’s equivalent saw Trinidadian World Championship bronze medallist Jereem Richards run 20.13 to take the win ahead of Nigeria’s Udodi Onwuzurike (20.27) and Jamaica’s Bryan Levell who ran a season’s best 20.48 in third.

Richards, who has competed in both the 200m and 400m this season, says he has yet to decide on which event he will focus on in Paris.

“I’m just going to run both events throughout the season and see which is the best one. As late as possible, I will make my pick,” he said.

Richards says his plan was to use his 400m strength to outlast his competitors.

“Udodi is my training partner. I know he’s very fast but I know I’m very strong right no too. I just tried my best to stay relaxed even though somebody tried to pull away from me. I could slowly see my speed getting there so I’m excited for what the rest of the season holds,” Richards added.

Jamaican Stacey-Ann Williams and Nigerian Emmanuel Bamidele emerged victorious in the women’s and men’s 400m, respectively, at the Racers Grand Prix at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday.

Williams reeled in American Lynna Irby-Jackson in the final stages of the race to win in 50.86. Irby-Jackson’s time in second was 51.05 while Charokee Young was third in 51.86.

“It has been a season of many ups and downs so to get the win tonight, it feels pretty good. I’m excited about the time. It’s a stepping stone to national trials,” Williams said after the race.

Williams says there are still things she needs to work on before she can compete with the top runners in the world.

“There’s always things to work on. The times for the other women are way ahead and I feel like I want to be where they are so I have so many things to work on going forward,” she said.

The men’s equivalent was won by Nigeria’s Bamidele, the 2023 NCAA 400m champion, in 45.49, narrowly ahead of reigning national 400m hurdles champion Roshawn Clarke who ran a season’s best 45.57 in second and Zandrion Barnes who ran 45.62 for third.

“I think the preparation for me is the same. I have the same mindset; the same goals. I’m trying to get better every single day,” Bamidele said after the race.

“I’m trying to learn from my mistakes in every race. I’m hoping to break my personal best before the end of the season,” he added.

For the second year in a row, Shiann Salmon took top spot in the women’s 400m hurdles at the Racers Grand Prix at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday.

Salmon, a silver medallist at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, produced 55.41 to win on Saturday ahead of 2015 World Championship bronze medallist Cassandra Tate (55.60) and 2017 Jamaican national champion Ronda Whyte who ran a season’s best 56.19.

“I’m very happy. The conditions were not as I expected them but I came out here and I did the best that I could with it,” Salmon said after the race.

“It was much windier than I expected it to be but my aim was to win and I did just that so I’m pleased," Salmon added.

Heading into the Jamaican trials from June 27-30, Salmon says she is where she wants to be at this point in the season.

“I’m definitely where I’m supposed to be. I’ve already done 54.2 this season and it’s the fastest I’ve ever gone before trials. Trials are about three weeks away and I’m ready,” she said.

Two-time World 200m champion Shericka Jackson is looking to bounce back from a fifth-place finish in the 200m at the Oslo Diamond League on Thursday when she competes in the event at the Stockholm Diamond League on Sunday.

Jackson opened her season in the half lap event on May 19 at the Marrakech Diamond League with 22.82 to win before running 22.97 for fifth in Oslo two days ago.

“I would say it’s an okay year, so far. Have not run my best 200m yet but I’ve been working. I just need to put a good 200m together before the Jamaica trials. Hopefully, I can do that tomorrow,” she said at the pre-meet press conference on Saturday.

Jackson says that her focus is also on getting in good enough shape to get through the Jamaica trials set for June 27-30.

“Once I compete at the trials then everything afterwards matters. Once I get through that, we’ll take it from there,” she said.

Her apparent lack of competition sharpness is coming from running less races up to this point this season than she did last year.

“I think last year I was running a lot more and this year I’ve only run two races, so far. I’m trying to put the pieces together and coach and I have been working so I’m definitely hoping for a better race tomorrow than in Oslo,” she added.

The 29-year-old has no specific time in mind for tomorrow, with her only objective being to execute a good 200m.

“I just want to execute a good 200m. Once I do that a season’s best is possible,” she said.

The 2024 ICC T20 World Cup will get underway on Saturday, June 1 with an exciting clash between North American neighbours the USA and Canada at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Texas.

This will be the second appearance at a T20 World Cup for the Canadians while this will be the joint-hosts first time appearing at a T20 World Cup.

The teams most recently played a five-match T20I series from April 7-13 in the USA with the hosts coming out 4-0 winners.

The top run-scorer in that series was Jamaican-born Canada batsman Aaron Johnson with 124 runs in four innings at an average of 31 and a strike rate of 144.18.

The next two best batsmen were India-born USA skipper Monank Patel and Steven Taylor, both of the USA, who finished with 120 runs and 115 runs in three innings each.

Overall, Patel has 441 runs in 25 T20Is at an average of 22.05 including a pair of fifties.

Taylor, in 24 T20Is, has 742 runs at an average of 41.22 with a hundred and four fifties. He can also contribute with ball in hand having taken 11 wickets at an economy of 5.32 during his 24 games.

South Africa-born ISA batsman Andries Gous was the only other batsman to score more than 100 runs in the series with 11 runs in three innings.

Gous has appeared in just six T20Is, scoring 161 runs at an average of 26.83 with two fifties.

Another key player for the Americans will be former New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson. Although he didn't light the world on fire when the two teams last met, his ability to hit the ball a long way and send down sone overs of left arm pace could be vital to the American charge.

As far as wickets go, former India Under-19 representative Harmeet Singh finished with six wickets in four games for the hosts while South Africa-born Shadley van Schalkwyk finished with similar returns for the USA.

Canada’s best bowler in the series was Pakistan-born Saad Bin Zafar with five wickets from four games.

All these players will be crucial to the chances of either team kicking off the World Cup with a win.

The hosts should also come into the game with a world of confidence after producing a 2-1 series victory over Bangladesh from May 21-25 in the USA.

The Canadians won their only warm-up fixture ahead of the showpiece event with a 63-run win over Nepal in Dallas on May 27 while the Americans have had both their scheduled warm-up games abandoned without a ball being bowled.

The World Cup is scheduled to run from June 1-29 in the West Indies and the USA.

Jamaican Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight Randy Brown will get another chance to display his skills when he competes at UFC 302 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Saturday.

The 33-year-old will take on Brazilian Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos in a three-round bout to open up the five-fight main card of the event to be headlined by a UFC Lightweight Championship main event between current champion Islam Makhachev (25-1) and former interim champion Dustin Poirier (30-8).

Makhachev is currently ranked as the number one pound-for-pound MMA fighter in the world.

Brown enters this fight with a record of 18-5 including wins in six of his last seven fights with his only loss coming by submission against Australian Jack Della Maddalena, currently the UFC’s fifth-ranked welterweight, at UFC 284 in Perth last February.

“Just being more deliberate,” was Brown’s response when asked what has led to his recent success at UFC 302 media day on Wednesday.

“Not really just throwing out different things at once. Having a better understanding of the tools that I have and being able be deliberate with those things instead of doing too much. Sometimes less is more,” he added.

His opponent Dos Santos is four years his elder and has more experience, coming in with a record of 24-7. His last three fights have earned him two wins and a draw.

Brown, while acknowledging the edge dos Santos has in experience, believes his style will be too much for the veteran.

“I think he’s good. He’s a crafty vet who’s been around a long time. He’s experienced, seen it all. I think our styles match up well and I think the fans are in for a treat,” he said.

“I’m expecting top form. Like I said, he’s been around and seen it all. Styles make fights and I think I have a great style to hinder his abilities and he has a great style to bring the best out of me. It’s a matter of who can go out there and initiate their game plan,” he added.

Bahamian Olympic champion Steven Gardiner produced his best run of the season to hold off a fast finishing Alexander Doom and take top spot in the 400m at the 63^rd Ostrava Golden Spike in the Czech Republic on Tuesday.

Gardiner’s time of 44.39 was just ahead of the Belgian’s personal best 44.44 in second. Reigning Jamaican national champion Sean Bailey was third in a season’s best 44.93.

Jamaican 2023 World Championship finalists Ryiem Forde and Andrew Hudson finished second in the 100m and 200m, respectively.

Forde’s time in second was 10.17 while Hudson ran 20.56. Both races were won by Canadian Olympic champion Andre De Grasse. He ran 10.10 in the 100m before returning to the track to run a season’s best 20.09 in the 200m.

Olympic champion Lamont Jacobs ran 10.19 for third in the 100m while Great Britain's Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake ran 20.63 for third in the 200m.

In the field, two-time World champion Anderson Peters was third in the javelin.

The Grenadian battled windy conditions to produce a best throw of 78.60m, far behind Germany’s Julian Weber and the Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch who produced 87.26m and 86.06m for first and second, respectively.

South Africa stand-in Captain Rassie van der Dussen gave his West Indian counterparts all the praise in the world after his side suffered a dominant 0-3 defeat in their three T20Is from May 23-26 at Sabina Park in Kingston.

The hosts won last Thursday’s first encounter by 28 runs, their biggest win over South Africa in T20Is, and followed it up with a 16-run win in the second game on Saturday and a dominant eight-wicket triumph in the third match on Sunday.

The skipper put the South African performance down to an inability to quickly adapt to the conditions of the Sabina Park pitch.

“We just couldn’t adapt early enough. Yes, we had a long week in terms of layovers in Miami and so forth. I think we saw that in the first match but you can’t keep making the same mistakes,” van der Dussen said after Sunday’s game.

“I think we just got taught a lesson on how to play in Caribbean conditions, especially from a bowling front. It was a difficult wicket to bat on. I think they just out-skilled us, especially with the ball,” he added.

When asked about positives he could take from the three games, he singled out openers Quinton de Kock and Reeza Hendricks as well as young leg-spinner Nqaba Peter who played the last two games, the first two T20Is of his career.

The 35-year-old, who was left out of South Africa’s squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup, says an adjustment he hopes the team makes with the bat is to take a few more chances up front.

“Maybe just be a bit braver. We saw the way the West Indies play, especially in the power play. They really take it on and when the ball’s newer, it’s easier to score than in the back end when the ball gets soft,” he said.

Two-time Olympic sprint double champion Elaine Thompson-Herah had a far from ideal start to her 2024 season at the Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday.

The 31-year-old lined up in the 100m at the fifth meet on this season’s Diamond League calendar and had a race to forget, running 11.30 for a ninth-place finish as hometown hero Sha’Carri Richardson sped away to a season’s best 10.83 for victory.

“Definitely not what I expected today but grateful,” Thompson-Herah said after the race on Instagram.

“Journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step,” she added.

Thompson-Herah, who is now being coached by Reynaldo Walcott at Elite Performance Track Club, is looking to rediscover the form that led her to Olympic glory in 2016 and 2021.

She endured an injury-riddled 2023 season that saw her fail to make the team for any individual event at the World Championships in Budapest. She did leave those championships with a silver medal, however, as part of the 4x100m quartet.

Thompson-Herah had much better returns in the second half of the 2023 season.

She ran times of 10.92 and 10.84 on September 4 and 8 to win at the Gala dei Castelli and the Brussels Diamond League, respectively, before closing out her season with 10.79 for third at the Prefontaine Classic on September 16.

Roston Chase and Gudakesh Motie played starring roles to lead the West Indies to a 16-run win over South Africa and an unassailable 2-0 series lead at Sabina Park in Kingston on Saturday.

The hosts, after winning the toss and batting first, made an imposing 207-7 from their 20 overs on a much-improved Sabina Park pitch.

Stand-in Captain Brandon King, who stood out with a top score of 79 in the first T20I, got the ball rolling quickly on Saturday with a 13-run third over off the bowling of Anrich Nortje, who South Africa brought in for this game in place of Gerald Coetzee.

Johnson Charles, playing his 50^th T20I, once again failed to make any inroads with the bat as he was first to fall, caught in the deep off the bowling of Bjorn Fortuin for seven.

Kyle Mayers joined the skipper and the pair brought the score up to 51-1 at the end of the first powerplay with King 35* off 20 balls and looking set for another big one and Mayers on nine from seven balls.

Unfortunately for the hosts and the Sabina Park crowd, King’s knock didn’t last much longer as he became the first T20I wicket for debutant Nqaba Peter when he was caught at long on for 36 in the seventh over.

Peter got his second wicket not long after when Mayers, after hitting a six the ball before, became the third West Indies batsman to get out caught in the deep. He made a 16-ball 32 including two fours and three sixes. The score at the time of his wicket was 83-3 with one ball left in the ninth over.

At the halfway point, the hosts were 88-3 with Roston Chase and Andre Fletcher at the crease on 10 and three, respectively.

The pair then batted beautifully to put on a further 56 in short time before Fletcher fell for 29 to leave the West Indies 139-4 with five overs left.

Not long after, Chase brought up an excellent maiden T20I fifty with a flat six over mid-wicket off Lungi Ngidi in the 17^th over. His milestone came off 30 balls.

The 19^th over proved to be the most crucial for the West Indies as a trio of sixes from Romario Shepherd brought the score past the 200 mark before he fell off the last ball of that over for 26 off just 13 balls.

In the end, Chase finished 67* off just 38 balls including seven fours and two sixes.

Peter was the pick of the South African bowlers with 2-32 from his four overs while Ngidi and Andile Phehlukwayo took 2-41 and 2-51 from their respective four over spells.

The start from South Africa then had Sabina Park silent as openers Reeza Hendricks and Quinton De Kock absolutely hammered the West Indian bowling around the park on the way to an opening partnership of 81 in the first five overs.

The last ball of that fifth over proved to be the start of the West Indian fightback as De Kock took one risk too many and was bowled by Akeal Hosein for 41 off just 17 balls including four fours and as many sixes.

Three balls later, one became two for the Windies as Reeza Hendricks, who made 87 in the first game on Thursday, was dismissed by Chase for 34 to leave the tourists 83-2 at the halfway point of the sixth over.

Ryan Rickelton and Matthew Breetzke then added a further 30 before the latter went for an ill-advised second run and was run out thanks to a brilliant throw from the deep mid-wicket boundary by Shamar Joseph for 12 off the penultimate ball of the 10^th over.

Rickelton was next to go, caught off the bowling of Romario Shepherd for 19 to leave the score at 124-4 off 12 overs.

Not long after, Andile Phehlukwayo fell to another brilliant piece of fielding from Joseph, this time a catch in the deep off the bowling of Gudakesh Motie for three to leave the South Africans reeling at 138-5 in the 15^th over.

Any chance South Africa had of pulling off the chase was dashed when Gudakesh Motie dismissed both Rassie Van Der Dussen (30) and Wiaan Mulder (9) in the 17^th over.

In the end, South Africa reached 191-7 from their 20 overs, 16 runs short of their target.

Motie ended with 3-22 from his four overs while Shepherd bowled a crucial spell with 1-21 from his four.

Chase, who was named man of the match, completed a fine all-round performance with 1-26 from his four overs.

Chase says the team has eyes on a series sweep.

“Obviously we’ve started the series well being 2-0 up but three is better than two. I just think it’s for us to look at some of the areas where we were weak today and plan to execute them better tomorrow and improve on the areas we did well in as well,” he said.

“The guys have been playing some good cricket, we just had a camp in Antigua and we’ve put in a lot of hard work so it’s just for us to come out and execute and mostly, enjoy the cricket. I think once you go out there to enjoy the cricket, it becomes a lot easier and takes a bit of pressure off of you so it’s just to go out there and have fun,” he added.

The third T20I is set for Sunday.

Reigning champion Ackelia Smith will get an opportunity to defend her NCAA Division I Outdoor long jump title after securing her spot at this year’s championships at the NCAA West First Round in Fayetteville, Arkansas on Thursday.

Smith needed only one legal attempt to produce 6.86m (3.4 m/s) and advance to the NCAA Championships set for June 5-8 at Hayward Field in Oregon.

The 22-year-old Texas junior produced 6.88m to win the NCAA title last year.

On the track, reigning national champion Nickisha Pryce ran 50.31 to secure her spot in Saturday’s 400m quarterfinals.

The Arkansas senior became the second-fastest Jamaican ever in the distance when she ran 49.32 to win the SEC Outdoor title on May 11.

Jamaican San Diego State sophomore Shaquena Foote (51.35), Jamaican Arkansas junior Joanne Reid (52.54) and Guyanese Kansas junior Deshana Skeete (52.70) also made it through to the quarters.

A pair of Jamaican Texas standouts, sophomore Dejanea Oakley and senior Kevona Davis, advanced to the quarterfinals in the 200m.

Oakley, who recently won the SEC 200m title, ran 22.73 while Davis ran 22.97.

Opener Brandon King will captain the West Indies for the first time when they take on South Africa in three T20Is from May 23-26 at Sabina Park in Kingston.

The 29-year-old has scored 1150 runs in 47 T20Is at an average of 28.04 since his debut against Afghanistan in Lucknow in 2019.

Captaincy is not new for King as he most recently captained the Jamaica Scorpions in the West Indies Championship after leading the Jamaica Tallawahs in last season’s Caribbean Premier League.

“Definitely,” was King’s response when asked about whether or not it is an honor to lead the regional side for the first time.

“It couldn’t be scripted better. It’s an honour to lead the West Indies in any capacity and even more to do it at home so I’m very happy,” he added.

In addition to leading the Windies for the first time, King also expressed joy at getting to do it in his home country Jamaica.

“Obviously, extremely happy. I’m always excited to play at home. It’s good that we get some cricket in especially leading up to the world cup. It brings some excitement to the fans so I’m happy about it,” he said.

The squad recently had a training camp and King is looking forward to the squad getting an opportunity to get some match practice ahead of the world cup set for June 1-29.

“Match practice is something that you can’t replicate in training. We’re coming from a training camp and this is our opportunity to put those plans and skills in place so we’re very much looking forward to it,” he said.

Despite some regular squad members being missing from the squad due to the IPL playoffs, King says the players present are looking to implement some of the plans that many hope will lead to West Indian success at the world cup.

“A few of the guys aren’t here as yet but I think the communication has been clear with the whole group. We know how we want to play and the guys that are here, we’re looking to implement that in this series and see how it goes,” he said.