The upcoming appearance will be the first for the 28-year-old sprinter since she pulled the plug on her 2020 season, in May, when the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on the international track and field schedule.
The American Track League, which is part of the World Athletics Silver Tour, gives professional athletes an opportunity to return to competition as preparations begin for an Olympic year.
The meet, which is staged in four-parts, ran off in Fayetteville, Arkansas on Sunday. 2016 Olympic gold medalist in the 110m hurdles, Omar McLeod, who raced in the 60 metres, was one of several Jamaicans who took part on the opening weekend. The list also included the likes of Tyquendo Tracey, Senoj-Jay Givans, and Christopher Taylor. The meet will continue with the next three installments on January 31st, February 7th, and February 14th.
Williams, the 2019 Diamond League champion, is based in South Carolina in the USA where she trains with coach Lennox Graham at Clemson University.
On Friday night, Miller-Uibo won the 100m in a new personal best of 10.98 and the 200m in 21.98 – both world-leading times for 2020. The performances now mean she is ranked among the very best female combined sprinters in history.
Among the women, Miller-Uibo is ranked fourth with her new personal best of 10.98 in the 100m, good for 1204 points; 21.74 (1265) and 48.37 (1272). The weekend performances moved her into fourth all-time and bumped Jamaica’s Merlene Ottey out of the top 10 for the first time.
Ottey’s 10.74, 21.64 and 51.12 sees her fall to 11th on the all-time rankings.
The lists of combined sprinters are based on the World Athletics scoring tables and the most recent personal best times of the athletes. The lists use the World Athletics scoring tables, which assign a points value to athletics performances.
Among the men athletes like Usain Bolt, Michael Johnson, and Tyson Gay and the fast-rising Michael Norman, are among those who have run exceptional times at the 100m, 200m and 400m. For example, Bolt leads the list with times of 9.58 (1356 points), 19.19 (1351 points) and 45.28 (1160 points).
Despite falling out of the top 10, Ottey is still the highest-ranked Jamaican woman.
Grace Jackson (11.02, 21.72, 49.57) is ranked 14th while Veronica Campbell Brown (10.76, 21.74 and 52.24 (indoors) is ranked 16th. Sherone Simpson, Shericka Jackson and Kerron Stewart are ranked 21, 22, and 23, respectively.
Pauline Davis of the Bahamas is ranked 18th.
“I came back home with a fire,” the 33-year-old icon told former Miss Jamaica Universe and Miss Universe runner-up Yendi Phillips on Phillips’ YouTube show Odyssey.
In the video that has so far garnered almost 55,000 views, Fraser-Pryce revealed that when she joined MVP Track Club, she was still not certain that a career in track and field is what she wanted to pursue.
Even when she was selected to be a member of the Jamaican team, she was still uncertain that this was her path in life.
“I only wanted to go, to go. I was so nervous. I was unsure of who I was at the time…still wasn’t sure what I wanted to do,” she said.
“If anybody had asked me at the time what I wanted to do, I wouldn’t say an athlete. It was just there; an opportunity.”
Her indecision about what path she wanted to follow manifested in how she trained during those early days.
“I got to training late most days, didn’t go to the gym because me did believe me was a go get tough. I went to practise and never completed the workouts. That changed when I went to the World Championships,” she said.
However, before the change occurred, Osaka proved to be quite difficult for the then 19-year-old upstart from Wolmer’s Girls. In Japan, she was a member of Jamaica’s 4x100m relay team that won the silver medal that year.
However, when she was told that she was running she said she cried because she didn’t want to run. The occasion also unsettled her.
“Separate and apart from that you’re thinking that this is a big thing and I didn’t want to mess it up,” she said.
History will recall that she did not mess things up. Instead, a new reality dawned on her.
“I think what it did for me was that I saw something different. It is almost as if my eyes opened up to a reality that ‘them people ya wuk hard, you nuh’. You see the grit, the glory, you see defeat, you see so many different things, emotions, people crying when they crossed the line.”
It wasn’t all bad though. There were great benefits to being a member of a medal-winning team.
She remembers sitting in the stands cheering teammate Veronica Campbell chasing down the USA’s Tori Edwards but just coming up short at the line. The USA won gold in 41.98 while Jamaica was a mere 0.03s behind in 42.01. Belgium was third.
She happy for what was her first medal but also because “Me inna di money,” she said laughing.
As a member of the relay squad, Fraser-Pryce collected her share of US$40,000.
Many pundits and fans alike have predicted a clean sweep of the medals for the women in the 100m, by no means a stretch with the Jamaican trio of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Elaine Thompson-Herah and Shericka Jackson having run the fastest times this year.
Two-time winner of the event Fraser-Pryce leads the way with her time of 10.63, which is the second-fastest ever run over the distance. Reigning Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah is next, having run her best of 10.71 last week.
Finally, is Jackson, whose 10.77 puts her in elite company and is the third-fastest time, per athlete, this year. American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson has gone faster than Jackson this year, with a best of 10.72, but will miss out on the Games after testing positive for marijuana.
Some believe the 200m could provide a similar result but that event looks like a different kettle of fish entirely. Six women have run below 22 seconds this year. The list is led by the USA’s Gabrielle Thomas, who clocked 21.61 last month, the second-fastest time ever recorded over the distance. Fraser-Pryce (21.79) and Jackson (21.82) are next on the list but Jeanna Prandini (21.89), Anavia Battle (21.95), and Tamara Clark (21.98) have also achieved the feat.
Reigning Olympic champion Thompson (22.02) is seventh on the list with World Champion Dina Asher-Smith (22.08) and Shaunae MIiller-Uibo (22.03) certain to be in contention.
“All of these women have run below 22 seconds, five of them this year. Who will win, nobody has a clear picture of that,” Levy said on this week’s episode.
"You can’t discount 21.61 and even though I don’t see Gabby Thomas running another personal best in Toyko, even if she doesn’t, she’ll be good enough to be on the podium,” he added.
“When we factor in Miller-Uibo’s personal best of 21.74, coupled with her 47.38 capability in the 400m, it’s hard to imagine her not being on the podium either. That leaves one spot and we have not mentioned any of the Jamaicans yet.”
Lyles broke Michael Johnson's long-standing American Record when he sped to 19.31 to win gold in Oregon last year while Jackson ran 21.45 to her first World title, becoming the fastest woman alive in the process.
The World Athletics Tour-Gold meet is happening for the first time since 2019, with the three-year hiatus being attributed to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is with great enthusiasm that I can announce the return of the Racers Grand Prix,” said Racers Track Club President and Head Coach Glen Mills at the official launch of the meet at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on Tuesday.
“It is a meet you don’t want to miss. Three-and-a-half hours of pulsating action in 12 events,” added Mills who also serves as director for the meet.
The meet will host over 150 athletes from all over the world including the likes of reigning 100m hurdles World Champion and World Record holder Tobi Amusan of Nigeria, Olympic Champion and 400m World Record holder Wayde Van Niekerk of South Africa and British European 200m Champion Zharnel Hughes to name a few.
The future of Jamaican sprinting will also be on display at the National Stadium including the likes of World Championship finalist Oblique Seville, World Junior Champions Tina Clayton and Kerrica Hill as well as National Under-20 100m Record holder Bouwahjgie Nkrumie.
The field events also promise to be exciting for the fans with the likes of 2019 World Championship gold medallist Tajay Gayle and silver medallists Shanieka Ricketts and Fedrick Dacres set to showcase their skills.
“Over the four years of staging the Grand Prix, the standard and quality has been unquestionable and the meet has had some of the greatest athletes in track and field taking part here in Jamaica,” Mills said.
The 12 events set to be contested are the 100m (Men and Women), 200m (Men), 400m (Men and Women), 400m hurdles (Women), 100m hurdles (Women), 110m hurdles (Men), Triple Jump (Women), High Jump (Women), Long Jump (Men) and Discus (Men).
The meet is scheduled to get underway at 6:30pm Jamaica time (7:30pm ECT).
Tickets go on sale in the first week of May. Prices will be announced at a later date.
The Kenyan has been banned by the Athletics Integrity Unit due to irregularities in his biological passport.
Wanjiru won the London Marathon three years ago in a time of two hours, five minutes and 56 seconds.
A statement from the 27-year-old's management company said Wanjiru denied the accusation.
"This statement comes from the heart, I am clean in the sports I do," he said.
"The ABP [athlete biological passport] finding is confusing and frustrating me. Specialists have informed me about how this can happen and I have come to realise there can be hundreds of reasons found why HB [haemoglobin] is fluctuating.
"I feel I am already seen as a sinner of doping, but I am not. I am innocent.
"It's very painful what's happening to me now. I've always believed that those athletes who are suspended because of a doping violation, were indeed guilty of what they did.
"But I've realised that being charged of guilt is just easy and now proving being unguilty is hard.
"I stand for clean sports. My results of the past came through hard work only. I have never used doping.
"We are currently investigating the case. Knowing I have never used anything, I have faith everything will be all right."
Brown, 22, is the second-fastest Jamaican woman ever over the 100m hurdles by virtue of the 12.40s she ran to win the NCAA national title in June 2019. Only Danielle Williams’ 12.32 is faster.
The University of Arkansas alum goes to MVP International with a stellar collegiate record.
Her 100-meter hurdles time of 12.40 40 is tied for the second-fastest performance in the 100-meter hurdles in NCAA history. Only Briana Rollins’ 12.39 is faster.
In 2019, Brown, a former student at Wolmer’s High School for Girls in Jamaica, was also the SEC Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year and is the only woman in NCAA history with four performances of 12.57 or better in a single season.
Brown, who signed a professional contract with Puma in the summer of 2019, was seventh in the 2019 World Championships finals that featured two other Jamaican women – Williams and Megan Tapper.
At MVP International she joins a number of rising Caribbean track stars including Antigua's Cejhae Green, Teray Smith of the Bahamas as well as fellow Jamaicans Natalliah Whyte and Jonielle Smith, 2019 World Championship sprint relay gold medalist as well as 400m finalists Akeem Bloomfield and Nathon Allen.
Peters just happens to be from the same island as Kirani James, who won Grenada’s first-ever World title in the 400m at Daegu in 2011 and then its first Olympic gold medal in 2012, inspiring an entire generation of Caribbean children in the process.
Not to be outdone, Anderson is also a proven winner. He won five javelin titles at the Carifta Games and was a CAC Junior champion. He is also the two-time NCAA Division 1 champion and the NACAC champion. However, he believes that winning his first world title could let kids know that there is more to track and field than the sprints.
“Being able to become a world champion, means a lot to my country, especially to young athletes. I believe it will open their eyes to see that you don’t have to be a sprinter. Sprints or jumps are not the only events in track and field,” said Peters.
“You can become a World Champion or an Olympic in a different event rather than the sprints or the jumps. So it just opens up eyes to see all the possibilities.”
No reason has been given as to why the 2019 RJRGleaner National Sportsman of the year left the club based at the University of Technology in Kingston.
However, the 28-year-old national record holder looks set to start working with St. Elizabeth-based jumps coach Kerry-Lee Ricketts, husband of Shanieka Ricketts.
Ricketts has guided the career of his wife to silver medals at the 2019 and 2022 World Championships as well as silver at this summer's Paris Olympics.
Gayle struggled with knee injuries in the 2021 and 2022 seasons before returning to take bronze at last year’s World Championships in Budapest behind teammate Wayne Pinnock and Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglu.
The Relays that enjoyed growing participation from a number of Jamaican high schools were scheduled to be held May 23 and 24, 2020 at the McEachern High School Track in Powder Springs, Georgia.
However, due to the rampant spread of the Coronavirus, said they will now shift their focus to the 2021 season.
“The decision, a difficult one, was taken against the spread of the Coronavirus and the resultant increase in cases across the country with many states being affected,” organisers said. “We would not be able to host the event without putting the lives of our athletes and fans at risk.”
The organisers said when they issued their first advisory in March, they were hopeful of the slightest possibility of staging the relays.
“We carefully considered what that means for our athletes, whose general health and well-being are of paramount concern to us. Many of our athletes and supporters held out hope with us. Many pleaded with us to make the event a reality to give the athletes a final shot for the season. And we wanted to. It is now apparent however that it won’t be possible. We also have to adhere to State and Federal guidelines which have been implemented to protect the general public,” the statement said.
“We would like to thank wholeheartedly our committed (AGR) team; our customers, partners, ambassadors, sponsors, stakeholders, the media and friends for supporting and believing in the AGR Brand. It’s been six years of hard work. We thank you for your continued patience, loyalty and understanding. Our success to date is because of you.”
They said are planning to implement initiatives to assist athletes from the Atlanta, Georgia community, who will be displaced because of the pandemic and will make announcements in that regard soon.
In recent weeks, the Wanda Diamond League has been forced to suspend a number of its early-season meetings as a result of health and logistical concerns brought about by the global coronavirus crisis.
Today the series announced the postponement of further meetings in Eugene, scheduled for 7 June, and Paris, June 13.
As with previous suspensions, this decision was reached in close consultation with all relevant parties and based on concerns over athlete safety as well as widespread travel restrictions which make it impossible to stage the competitions as planned.
Meanwhile, the Bislett Games also announced plans to host an alternative athletics competition, an exhibition event dubbed 'The Impossible Games', on June 11, the original date of this year’s Oslo Diamond League meeting.
The concept will see a number of world-class athletes take part in a one-off showpiece event in full observation of Norway’s coronavirus regulations and social distancing rules.
The programme is currently set to include a world record attempt from Norwegian hurdles star Karsten Warholm and a long-distance pole vault battle between world record holder Mondo Duplantis and record Diamond League Champion Renaud Lavillenie.
Organisers were nonetheless keen to stress that the full programme is yet to be confirmed and subject to changes.
The hour-long event will be shown live by Norway’s public broadcaster NRK and will be partly financed by the Norwegian National Athletics Association and World Athletics.
“This is really positive news for athletes and fans and promises, even in this early stage, to be another great night of athletics from the Bislett stadium. Congratulations to the Oslo Bislett Games for dreaming this up and following it through, working within the pandemic guidelines set out in Norway,” said World Athletics president Sebastian Coe.
“We are delighted to support the event by releasing the funds World Athletics makes to each Diamond League event but with one caveat, which is that the entire amount we are contributing goes to prize money for the athletes competing.”
Oslo meeting director and Bislett Alliance CEO Steinar Hoen said the athletes were “hungry for competitions”.
“We want to give them a high-class event. We have had a very positive dialogue with both the municipality of Oslo and the infection prevention superior in Oslo, and have confirmed a concept that is well within the government's infection control requirements,” he added.
The meet, which was originally scheduled for June 13, 2020, in Kingston, was one of 10 meets in the new series designed to accommodate athletes from several disciplines cut from the Diamond League for 2020. The events - the triple jump, discus, 3000m steeplechase and 200m. are thee core disciplines for which ranking points would have been allotted at the same level as the Diamond League.
Meet organiser Glen Mills, in a letter to World Athletics, said the ferocity of the virus, the local and global restrictions on travelling and gatherings, quarantine procedures, as well as the inconclusive timeline of the impact of the virus were the reasons behind the postponement of the Continental World Series gold standard meet.
“It is now clear that our only choice is to postpone the date of this year’s meeting of the Racers Grand Prix – Kingston Continental Tour Gold meeting,” said Mills in the letter dated April 2.
“We are now hoping to be able to reschedule the meeting for a date in the latter half of August. Of course, this is subject to the agreement of World Athletics, in keeping with your overall schedule. It is also subject to the availability of the stadium and the hotel on this new date.”
The meet was intended to be a major boon for the Racers Grand Prix that over the past four years has established itself as one of the best track and field meetings in the Western Hemisphere.
“We remain grateful that the world body recognised the type of meet that we were putting on, which has been of the highest quality,” said Mills. “And though the postponement of the event is unfortunate, once we receive the all-clear, we will ensure the meet delivers on every level.”
“We encourage athletes to follow the World Health Organisation guidelines and those of their local leadership to reduce the risk of catching the coronavirus. And we also encourage them to focus on their wellbeing and to find innovative methods to stay fit during this period.”
The Continental series was set to begin on May 10 in Tokyo, Japan and would also include the Fanny Blankers Koen Games in Hengelo, Netherlands; the Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland; and the Skolimowska Memorial in Silesia, Poland.
The 49th edition of the games that were scheduled to be held in Bermuda in August, was cancelled because the host country was not willing to amend its Covid-19 regulations to accommodate athletes arriving for competition.
According to the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC), they arrived at the decision to cancel as the Government of Bermuda maintained that the 14-day quarantine for unvaccinated visitors is non-negotiable, making it highly impractical for there to be an Under-17 category as is the norm and for NACAC to stage the region’s premier junior track and field meet.
Carifta 2020 was not staged because of the global pandemic and Bermuda transferred its hosting responsibilities to 2021. Originally scheduled for Easter weekend, this year’s edition was first postponed to July 2-4 and then to August 13-15. Now, Carifta 2021 has been struck from the NACAC calendar.
“The NACAC Council regrets the decision to cancel Carifta 2021. For the second year running, young, hard-working athletes have been denied the opportunity to represent their respective territories at the world’s premier junior track and field competition,” said a statement from the association.
“To the region’s young athletes, keep training. For those who are eligible for the July 9-11 NACAC U18 & U23 Championships in San Jose, Costa Rica, we encourage you to maintain focus on this competition.”
The regional junior track and field championship, which will celebrate its 49th edition, was to have taken place from April 3-5 but was moved to July 2-4 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, according to the NACAC president, the decision to push the dates to August stems from the move by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) to have external examinations between June 14 and July 16, dates which overlap the previously scheduled dates for the Carifta Games. CXC's decision was forced by adjusted school times across the region caused by the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Donna Raynor, President of the Bermuda Athletics Association and Bermuda’s Carifta Games Local Organizing Committee (LOC) said she was ‘floored’ by the decision to move the games to August but indicated that there are several upsides to hosting the games then.
She indicated that by then, member countries should have been able to bring infections under control and that most, if not all, would have had access to the vaccines. The athletes will also have more time to prepare, she said.
Raynor also advised that hotels in the country have also indicated that they will have rooms available to accommodate the visiting teams.
That said, she indicated the safety protocols were being prepared that will be forwarded to the Bermudan government for approval. Those protocols would include that athletes are tested three days prior to arriving in Bermuda. Of course, that could change, depending on what the state of the pandemic is in the weeks leading up to the games, she said.
At this point, she said, no fans would be allowed into the stadium hosting the games but said that also could change depending on the prevailing conditions in the weeks leading up to the Games.
Raynor also indicated that the delay would not necessarily significantly add to the costs of hosting the games, indicating that she only envisions additional expenses in the form of enhanced medical facilities and personnel.
With that in mind, there will either be no opening ceremony or a significantly scaled-down one, in an effort to contain spending.
Sands said that NACAC would lend financial support to offset additional costs associated with the delays.
The president said work was ongoing behind the scenes to help member nations minimize costs associated with travelling to Bermuda. He said NACAC was considering having athletes travel to a centralized location from where they would be flown directly to Bermuda.
The Queen’s Baton Relay is a Games tradition that celebrates, connects and excites communities from across the Commonwealth during the build up to the Games.
Birmingham 2022 is staging the 16th official Queen’s Baton Relay – an epic journey across the Commonwealth, with The Queen’s Baton visiting all 72 nations and territories, reaching Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, the Caribbean and the Americas.
Arriving from Caymans Islands, the Baton has officially touched down at Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston.
The Queen’s Baton, which carries a message from Her Majesty the Queen, arrived in Jamaica as part of its journey to the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, which will be held in England from July 28 until 8 August 2022.
It will be in Jamaica for three days and during it’s time here, it will be carried by baton bearers, including current and legacy athletes, and will visit landmarks such as the Usain Bolt Track, Emancipation Park and the Donald Quarrie High School.
"Jamaica welcomes the Queen's Baton which symbolizes the spirit of goodwill and brotherhood among Commonwealth nations and as we look towards Birmingham our people will embrace the rich experience of being a part of the Queen's Baton Relay," said the President of the Jamaica Olympic Association Christopher Samuda.
The Queen’s Baton will be carried by various sporting federations such as Track and Field, Cycling, Para-taekwondo and the legend Mr Donald Quarrie, CD, who is a Jamaican former track and field athlete, one of the world's top sprinters during the 1970s.
Below is the schedule for the Queen's Baton:
The Queen’s Baton Relay activities in Jamaica include:
● Baton Receival Ceremony at the Norman Manley International Airport on Friday,
April 15, 2022 @ 7:00P.M.
● Baton Presentation Ceremony at the UWI Regional Headquarters on Saturday,
April 16, 2022 @ 8:30 am
● A mock relay at the Usain Bolt Track on Saturday, April 16, 2022, 10:30 am
● University of Technology to mark the partnership between the UTECH and the
The University of Birmingham on Saturday, April 17, 2022, @ 12:00 p.m.
● The Emancipation Park on Saturday, April 16, 2022 @ 1:00 p.m.
● Netball House Ceremony on Saturday, April 16, 2022, @ 2:00 p.m.
● Spanish Town Cathedral Church Service on Sunday, April 17, 2022, @ 8:30 a.m.
● Donald Quarrie High School on Sunday, April 17, 2022, @ 11:00 am.
● Ceremony with the Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guard in Port Royal on Sunday,
April 17, 2022 @ 12:30 p.m.
Since its inaugural appearance at the Cardiff 1958 Commonwealth Games, the Queen’s
Baton Relay has been a tradition for the Commonwealth Games.
The Relay started at Buckingham Palace on 7 October 2021, when Her Majesty The Queen
placed her Message to the Commonwealth into the Baton and passed it to four-time
Paralympic gold medallist and Team England athlete Kadeena Cox, who had the honour of
being the first of thousands of Baton bearers to carry the Baton through the Commonwealth.
The 16th official Queen’s Baton Relay is an epic journey covering the entirety of the
Commonwealth as it will travel to all 72 nations and territories, covering a distance of 140,000
kilometres. For 269 days, the Baton will travel to Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, the Caribbean
and the Americas, before it embarks on the final stretch of its journey across England for 25
days.
The Queen’s Baton Relay will complete its journey at the Opening Ceremony of the
Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games on 28 July 2022. This is a traditional and
fundamental part of the Games and the Opening Ceremony, as the final Baton bearer will
pass the Baton back to The Queen. The Queen’s message to the Commonwealth will then be
removed from the Baton and read aloud, marking the official start of the Birmingham 2022
Commonwealth Games.
Barbadian journalist Mike King described the omission of Williams from the list of awardees as “shocking” and “inexcusable” in a Facebook post.
“To leave World Championship bronze medallist Sada Williams out of the Independence Awards is a national scandal. Members of Cabinet should hold their heads down in shame,” he added.
Williams enjoyed a career best 2022 season in the one lap event.
In July, she ran a personal best and national record 49.75 for bronze at the World Championships in Eugene. She followed that up in August by winning gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 49.90 and silver at the NACAC Championships in Freeport in 49.86.
In addition to those medals, Williams also enjoyed four top three finishes on the Diamond League circuit last season. She finished third in Monaco and second in Lausanne and Brussels before crossing the line third once again at the Diamond League final in Zurich.
Dwyer competed on the NJCAA circuit for the last two seasons for South Plains Community College in Texas.
In 2023, Dwyer ran 2:10.63 to take top spot in the 800m at the NJCAA Championships in New Mexico while also running as part of South Plains’ title-winning 4x400m relay quartet.
This year, Dwyer established new personal best in the 400m both indoors and outdoors.
Her outdoor personal best of 53.68 came in a winning effort at the Texas Tech Corky/Crofoot Shootout in Texas in April while her indoor mark of 55.64 came in a third-place finish at the Jarvis Scott Open, also in Texas, in February.
Her 800m personal best 2:08.27 came back in 2022.
“It is with regret that the World Athletics Council has decided to postpone the World Athletics Indoor Championships Nanjing 2023, scheduled for 17-19 March 2023, until March 2025 (exact dates to be confirmed).
“This decision was taken with the agreement of both the Nanjing organizing committee and the Chinese Athletics Association (CAA), due to the ongoing pandemic conditions. Nanjing was originally selected to host the 2020 World Athletics Indoor Championships, which were first postponed until March 2021, and then to March 2023, as the pandemic continued.”
The next edition of the World Athletics Indoor Championships will now be in Glasgow on 1-3 March 2024, and the bid process has already commenced for the 2026 edition of the championships, which is why 2025 has been designated as the year for the Nanjing championships.
“We’re disappointed that we have had to postpone this event again due to circumstances beyond our control, but we have done so to give certainty to athletes and Member Federations preparing for the 2023 competition season,” World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said. “Unfortunately, the timeframe will prevent us from relocating the 2023 event, but the indoor championships will return in 2024 in Glasgow.
“We have offered Nanjing the 2025 edition because we are mindful of the substantial preparations the LOC has already done to host the event and we want to avoid potential financial losses for all parties. I want to thank CAA and the LOC for their cooperation in resolving this situation.”
Despite this postponement, athletes will still have substantial competitive opportunities available in the early part of 2023 through the World Athletics Indoor Tour, which will offer a full calendar of events from late January to March (more events to be added) and is organized across four different tiers of competition – Gold, Silver, Bronze and Challenger.
The 22-year-old former Calabar High standout has swapped Iowa City for Fayetteville after transferring to the University of Arkansas from the University of Iowa where he spent his Junior season.
Prior to transferring to Iowa last year, Marshall went to Indian Hills Community College where he enjoyed a lot of success on the NJCAA circuit.
He won the 2022 NJCAA Outdoor 800m title before winning the NJCAA Indoor 800m title a year later.
Marshall was also a seven-time NJCAA All-American.
He has personal bests of 1:45.86 outdoors and 1:46.86 indoors. Both those times were achieved in 2024.
The meet which begins at 8:30 am is one of the earliest in the track and field calendar each season and is used by most coaches as a testing ground for a number of their athletes.
The Full size 9-Lane 400m grass Track, newly refurbished at a cost of $1.5 million, on which the athletes will run, will see them compete in running shoes as spikes will only be allowed for field events. The stance is being taken by the event organizers based on recent research.
There will be a separate warm-up and marshalling area and a Separate area for the Javelin throw and Shot put.
The meet was first held on December 5, 1998, as the demand for development meets in Jamaica became apparent and it has continued strong ever since.
The first meet saw 21 schools and 53 athletes competing and now participation has swelled to 1700 athletes representing 51 schools.
There will be 48 track events and 32 field events for both boys and girls.
The track events include the 150m, 300m, 600m, 1000m, 3000m Open for girls, the 5000m Open for boys and the 4x300m.
The field events contested will be the shot put, long jump, high jump, javelin throw and the pole vault Open for men.
