The Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) and Jamaica’s Minister of Sport Olivia Grange have expressed regret at the passing of Jamaican Olympian Bryon LaBeach, who died in California on Sunday, December 12, at the age of 91.
LaBeach was a member of Jamaica’s 4x100m relay team at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki as well as the 4x400m relay team that won gold.
He was also a member of Jamaica's 4 x 100m relay team that won gold at the CAC Games in Mexico City in 1954.
“Byron LaBeach, an Olympian and a servant son of the soil, has departed this mortal life and is now clothed in immortality. The Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) mourns the loss of a revered son of our household but will always remember the character that he infused in the life of our home,” said JOA President Christopher Samuda in a statement on Wednesday.
“I salute Byron LaBeach not only for his achievements in the athletic arena but also for the selfless spirit and valour he embodied which, for successive generations of athletes, should be an invaluable lesson in life in sport and beyond.
“These attributes earned him coveted places in the Helsinki 1952 Olympic Games and Mexico City 1954 Central American and Caribbean Games. The Olympic pin which he received officially in June 2019 was for us, more than a symbolic act. The conferment represented the soul of Olympism which he exemplified with ineffable humility.”
Meanwhile, Minister Grange said despite not being as famous as his other relay teammates, LaBeach deserved the country’s recognition.
“From early, he was promising with good performances at Gaynstead private school from where he got a scholarship to St George's College and later fulfilled his promise, representing Jamaica well.
“Deservedly, Byron LaBeach was among the first eight persons inducted into its Hall of Fame, by the then Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association (JAAA) and he also received an Olympic Pin from the Jamaica Olympic Association.
“My deepest sympathy to his three children and four grandchildren and to his friends and associates. Jamaican track and field have lost another of its stalwarts but Byron LaBeach played a long innings doing his best for his country.”
LaBeach was the second Jamaican Olympian from the 1952 Games to die this year. Les Laing passed away in February at the age of 96.
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Former BAAA President Alpheus Finlayson passes away at 76
Veteran sports advocate, broadcaster and former BAAA (Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations) president Alpheus Finlayson has died, aged 76, just weeks after the death of his wife, Dawn.
Finlayson served as co-captain of the St John’s University Track Team, President of the Pioneer’s Sporting Club, and of the Bahamas Amateur Athletic Association from 1989 to 1997.
He was also elected Vice President of the Central American Central American and Caribbean Athletic Confederation as well as Vice President of the North American, Central American, and Caribbean Area Athletic Associations.
It was during Finlayson’s administration of the Bahamas Amateur Athletic Association in 1992 that the first Bahamian Olympic medal in Track & Field was won, and in 1995 and 1997 the first three World Championship medals were won.
Finlayson, affectionately nicknamed “Hawk,” made history when he became the first Bahamian elected to the 27-member Council of the IAAF, the World governing body of Track & Field.
He also held the distinction of being the only Bahamian to attend every IAAF World Championships, from Helsinki in 1983 to London in 2017.
His book From Vancouver to Athens: Finlayson Fifty Years of Bahamian International Track & Field Competition is a best-seller.
He also authored weekly columns on “Track World” from 1980 to 1986 in The Tribune and produced a television show on ZNS called Track World with Alpheus Finlayson. Finlayson also wrote international newsletters with the same name.
He also hosted the weekly radio show called Track World with Alpheus Finlayson on Guardian Radio 96.9 FM.
Shericka Jackson stuns as she collects 2022 RJR/Gleaner Honour Award for Sports
In acknowledgement of her incredible exploits on the track in 2022, Shericka Jackson, the 2023 World 200m champion, was awarded the Gleaner Honour Awards at a ceremony held at the studios of Television Jamaica on Tuesday.
Jackson, who won the 200m world title in Eugene, Oregon, last year in a then championship record of 21.45, which at the time was the second fastest time ever run by a woman over the distance, also won a silver medal in the 100m behind compatriot Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. She was also a silver medallist in the 4x100m relay.
The 29-year-old track and field superstar, who successfully defended her title in Budapest last month, was one of 11 recipients of the award that the Gleaner bestows on Jamaicans who were outstanding in their respective fields of pursuit.
Stunningly beautiful and statuesque, dressed in a black strapless sequined gown and white track shoes, Jackson collected her award in during the ceremony that was recorded Tuesday night and is to be aired on Television Jamaica later Wednesday evening.
“Thank you to the RJR/Gleaner Communications Group for acknowledging my hard work by presenting me with the RJR/Gleaner Honour Award in the field of Sports for my World Championships performance of 21.45. It was a pleasure,” she wrote on Instagram.
At the world championships in Budapest in August, Jackson smashed her own championship record when she ran 21.41 to win her second world title and capped her season by winning the 100m in 10.70 and the 200m in 21.57s at the Diamond League finals in Eugene on September 16 and 17.
Goule-Toppin delighted to end season with national record
Jamaican 800m specialist Natoya Goule-Toppin rebounded from a disappointing outing at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest where she failed to reach the final by establishing a new national 800m record at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon on Sunday.
Goule-Toppin finished third in the race behind American superstar Athing Mu, who rebounded from a bronze medal at the World Championships with an American Record 1:54.97 to win, and British World Championship silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson who ran a British Record 1:55.19 in second.
Goule-Toppin’s time in third was 1:55.96, bettering her own previous national record 1:56.15 set back in 2018.
Despite not taking the win on Sunday, the 32-year-old was delighted to end her season with that performance.
“I wanted the win because I know I have the ability to do it but I’m really happy with the third especially the national record,” Goule-Toppin said.
“I’ve been longing to run 1:55 and today was the day. The last one was the best one. It’s the last race of the season and I’m going home happy,” she added.
Goule-Toppin had been flirting with a sub 1:56 time for a number of years and she says the presence of competitors like Mu, Hodgkinson and World Champion Mary Moraa, who finished fourth, pushed her to this time.
“I kept saying once I stay with them I know I’ll run fast as well so when I saw 1:54, I knew I ran something fast but I didn’t know what it was. I was congratulating the girls then I looked back, saw my name and started rejoicing,” she said.
The 2018 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist also gave credit to the man above for her exploits on Sunday.
“I was patient and I prayed a lot. I said God, let your will be done and just help me to go out there and be strong and smart,” she said.
“All day I was talking to myself. It sounds crazy but I kept saying run through the line. Before I went out, my coach said the same thing,” she added.
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