Michael Frater

Powell, renowned for his blistering speed having held the 100m world record at 9.77 and 9.74s, missed out on the opportunity to join the likes of Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Yohan Blake, and Usain Bolt in that record-breaking relay team due to a groin injury sustained during the final of the 100m.

Gatlin, reflecting on the potential of the Jamaican squad, speculated that adding Powell to the mix could have propelled them to an astonishing 36.5-second mark.

"Adding Asafa Powell to that already formidable lineup of Bolt, Blake, Carter, and Frater could have pushed the team to an even faster time," Gatlin remarked on his podcast. Powell's absence, while the team still delivered Olympic gold, left room for speculation on just how much quicker they could have been.

Gatlin, a seasoned sprinter himself, understands the unique pressure and responsibility that comes with relay events. "There is a difference between being an individual runner at the Olympics or world championships and being part of a relay team," he explained. "If you falter as an individual, it's on you; but in a relay, it's on the country's back."

Reflecting on the challenges of breaking a world record in relay events, Gatlin emphasized the need for everything to align perfectly. "36.8 is a gigantic order. 37 low is a tall order," he admitted. "Everyone needs to be in peak condition and ready to run."

Looking ahead to the future, Gatlin also weighed in on Team USA's chances of breaking the 12-year-long Jamaican 4x100m relay world record in 2024. "It's going to take a near-perfect performance from a team firing on all cylinders to surpass what Jamaica achieved in 2012," Gatlin predicted.

The 20-year-old star will join Michael Frater and Gregory Little at the Kingston-based Titans International Track Club with the blessing of her now former coach and mentor Ato Boldon. She retains her agent HSI Sports and managers LEEP Marketing.

“Briana, by her own admission, has grown comfortable over the last season and needs to be more challenged, so with my blessing and encouragement, she’ll be joining Michael Frater and Gregory Little’s group,” Boldon said.

“From the beginning, she and I knew I’d have to hand her off to someone who could coach her full time and as she turns 21 soon, now is the time.

This is the next chapter in her development and I’ll continue to advise and guide her, as I have since she was 10.”

Boldon has been Williams’ mentor and coach for the past decade. During that time, she ran a World U15 age-group 100m record of 11.13 in 2018.

That same year, she won three gold medals -100m, 200m and 4x100m - in the U17 category at the Carifta Games and was named winner of the coveted Austin Sealy Award.

Later that year, at age 16 and competing at the U20 World Championships in Tampere, Finland, Williams won the 100m in 11.16 before setting a new national U20 record of 22.50 while winning the 200m.

In doing so, she broke the previous U20 championship record of 22.53 held by the Bahamian Anthonique Strachan.

Williams won three more gold medals at the 2019 Carifta Games.

But according to the young star, it was time for a change.

“I'm excited about this new chapter and happy to be training in Jamaica,” said Williams.

“I have to thank Coach Ato for how much he has done for me and my career so far. He will always be a father figure to me.”

Titans International boasts an impressive roster that includes Yohan Blake, the 2011 World 100m champion and second-fastest man of all time, and Akeem Blake, the 2022 NACAC 100m champion, who was also a semi-finalist in the 100m at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Under the guidance of Frater and Little, Kemar Bailey-Cole, the 2014 Commonwealth Games 100m champion, has been resurrected after years of injury and illness threatened to end his once-promising career.

Williams, a Nike athlete, is a Digicel Brand Ambassador and a Brand Ambassador for Grace Foods.

Correction: In the original story published we mentioned that at the World U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland, Briana Williams broke the championship record held by Veronica Campbell Brown. That was incorrect. The record of 22.53 was held by Anthonique Strachan of the Bahamas. Strachan set the record at the 2012 championships.

Expressing her enthusiasm for this new chapter in her career, Williams remarked, "I'm excited to join a new team and work with coaches who will help me reach my full potential. I've achieved a lot so far, but I know I can do even better with the right support and training. I'm looking forward to pushing myself and seeing how far I can go."

She expressed her gratitude to her previous coach Michael Frater stating, "I am extremely grateful to Coach Frater for the work he has done to help my progress so far this season and I wish him and the members of the Dynamic Athletics team the very best going forward.”

 Williams' decision to join Coach John Smith's training group is regarded as a strategic step towards realizing her long-term goals, which include vying for gold at future Olympics and World Championships. With her exceptional talent, experience, and unwavering determination, Williams is poised to leave an indelible mark in the world of track and field.

 As one of the most promising young sprinters globally, Williams has already established herself as a formidable force on the international stage. Her stellar performances have earned her recognition among the sport's elite, inspiring fans and fellow athletes alike with her dedication to excellence.

 With access to top-notch coaching and resources within her new training group, Williams is poised to refine her technique and elevate her performance to unprecedented heights. Her decision underscores her unwavering commitment to excellence and her relentless pursuit of greatness in the sport of track and field.

Smith has coach an impressive list of athletes in his career that has spanned decades. Among the luminaries he has coached are Ato Boldon (Williams' former coach), Olympic champion Maurice Greene, World champion Carmelita Jeter and Olympic champion Marie Jose Perec. He also conditions Marie Josee Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast.

Williams encountered a challenging season in 2023, contending with injuries after transitioning from Coach Ato Boldon in Miramar, Florida to Titans International in Jamaica, where she was coached by Gregory Little and Michael Frater. Following the split of her coaches late in 2023, Williams continued under Coach Frater until making the decision to join Coach John Smith's program in March this year.

Smith, who currently coaches Marie Jose Ta Lou Smith, the fastest woman from Africa and a two-time World Championship silver medalist, brings a wealth of expertise to Williams' training regimen. Ta Lou Smith provided a glimpse of what Williams could become by winning the 100m in 10.91 at the Jamaica Athletics Invitational, where Williams achieved a season's best of 11.39, finishing seventh.

The time reflected a significant improvement on her 11.54 season opener at the Occidental Invitational in Los Angeles just over a week ago.

Reflecting on her transition to Coach Smith's program, Williams emphasized her commitment to the process and the progress she's making.

"Training, I am taking it day by day. I’m learning new things; it’s a new program so I’m getting adjusted every day, loving the progress," Williams shared post-race. "I’m just taking my time, we have six weeks to go to trials so I want to get everything in, start running every week, and just getting race ready, taking it one day at a time to prepare and make the team."

Williams also highlighted the positive impact of training alongside Marie Jose Ta Lou Smith and the supportive group dynamics.

"It’s the best. I have a great group, great training, great coach. Marie, I learn so much from her and I really appreciate her as a teammate and all the rest of my teammates, and I really do adore the group," Williams commented on her training environment.

Regarding the transition to Coach John Smith, who was once the coach of her former mentor Ato Boldon, Williams expressed enthusiasm for the training regimen and the mentorship she receives.

"It’s amazing! The workouts are not too different. John is like the guru of track and field, so it’s really great learning from him and I learn a lot from him; he makes me strong mentally and physically as well," Williams remarked.

Despite the recent race result, Williams remains focused on the journey ahead, acknowledging the challenges of adapting to a new program mid-season.

"It wasn’t my best race, but I was just working on the things that I need to work on. Getting into a new program in the middle of the season is not easy but it’s what’s best for me right now so I am just taking it one race at a time," she concluded.

The 22-year-old Williams is expecting to be racing over 200m next week in Los Angeles.

Frater, 38, represented Jamaica at the senior level for more than a decade, winning gold medals as a member of Jamaica’s world-record-setting 4x100m relay teams at the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea in 2011 and again at the London Olympics in 2012.

He also won a silver medal in the 100m at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland. He was also a 100m champion at the 2003 Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic.

However, about five years ago persistent problems with his knees forced him to retire.

At Saturday’s launch, he explained how those knee problems introduced him to the healing properties of cannabis.

“I had very bad knees, and I remember waking up one day, and my knees were swollen, and I couldn’t walk. I went to the University Hospital (of the West Indies) where I met with Dr (Carl) Bruce and ran some tests but nobody could figure out what was wrong,” he told the gathering that included Jamaica’s Minister of Sports Olivia Grange, former world record holder Asafa Powell and Jamaica and West Indies cricketer Chris Gayle.

Christopher Samuda, President of the Jamaica Olympic Association and Ali McNab, an advisor to the sports minister were also in attendance and were in rapt attention as Frater shared his harrowing experience.

“I had an IAAF (World Athletics) function in Monaco. I remember leaving on Monday and got there on Tuesday and I couldn’t even walk off the plane. They had to send a wheelchair for me,” he recalled.

Initially, doctors in Monaco believed his condition was the result of doping, he said, but subsequent tests disproved their theories even though they were still unable to determine what was the cause of the constant swelling and fluid build-up in his knees.

He spent two weeks in hospital there where doctors ‘patched’ him up enough to enable him to fly home.

A subsequent visit to a medical facility in Florida was also unable to help him get any closer to identifying what was wrong with his knees, he said which left him fearing he would spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

It was then that his father, Lindel Frater, suggested he tried cannabis oil. He tried it and within a month he felt ‘brand new’, he said.

“I started studying a lot about it and realized that a drug that has been taboo for most of my life is really a miracle drug. It’s really a drug that once taken properly with the proper prescription, the medicinal purposes are exponential.”

Minister Grange applauded the retired Olympian and praised him for his initiative in opening the dispensary. She eventually made the first purchase of medicinal marijuana. Samuda also shared similar sentiments while praising Frater for his venture into the cannabis industry.

Gayle, meanwhile, said Frater’s venture was an example for other retired athletes to emulate.

“I am a big supporter of Michael's career and now his business venture, and from a sportsman's point of view, there is life after your original career and to actually venture in a business is good for him and we are here to support him 100 per cent,” said Gayle.

Powell, who was Frater’s teammate on several national teams, said, his friend and colleague, was always a budding entrepreneur.

“From ever since, Michael has always been the brains among all of us. He has always been driven, business-oriented. I have always admired that about him,” said the former 100m world record holder who brought his wife Alyshia along.

“It’s kind of intimidating sometimes when you’re talking to him, and he is saying some stuff I don’t even know about, so I have always known he would make this step into business.

“He keeps pushing and I am very, very happy for him.”

Speaking after a press conference in Jamaica last week Thursday before he participated in the Jamaica Athletics Invitational on Saturday, Coleman emphasized the USA's recent relay performance of 37.40 at recent World Relays in the Bahamas, despite key athletes like himself, Fred Kerley, and Erriyon Knighton missing from the team.

A member of the USA team that ran 37.10 at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Coleman suggested that his country’s top sprinters executing the essential elements of relay running like smoother baton exchanges, could lead to significant improvements.

"I think it's really not that difficult. It's not that hard. We make it a lot harder than it needs to be," Coleman explained. "If we just space those zones out, everybody focuses on their job, I think we have all the speed and talent to tackle that world record."

Coleman's confidence in the team's abilities underscores their ambitions for the upcoming track and field season, especially at the Olympic Games in Paris where the USA will start as hot favourites to win the gold medal.

While breaking records isn't the primary focus, Coleman believes that with proper execution and teamwork, they can challenge historic achievements like Jamaica's 4x100m world record.

With that in mind, what leg does Coleman believe is the best fit for him?

"We talk about it all the time because I feel like I can do first leg just because I know what I'm gonna do. I feel like when I do my thing, it takes a lot of the pressure off the rest of the team because I'm gonna get us out and I know when the stick is moving through that zone and second leg is going down the back-stretch and we already in the lead, everybody else can just kind of relax and just bring it home.

“But I feel if we just going in terms of trying to just run our absolute best time, I don't know if it might be suitable for me to run first leg, ‘because I feel like I'm full well capable of running any leg. I trust myself more than anybody when it comes to working the zone and getting it through. So I don't know, second, third, fourth, whatever they need me at, obviously I'm gonna do it.”

On Saturday, Coleman was fifth in the 200m in 20.46. Great Britain’s Zharnel Hughes claimed victory with a sizzling run of 19.96. The USA’s Fred Kerley was second in 20.17 with Frenchman Pablo Mateo not far behind in 20.20 for third.

The 20-year-old Williams recently announced the decision to part ways with long-time coach Ato Boldon and join Frater and Gregory Little at Titans.  As a junior, Williams was a world champion in both the 100m and 200m.  Since turning pro in 2020, however, the athlete has failed to engineer anything close to similar success at the senior level.

Williams has made both the Olympics and World Championship teams, going on to win 4x100m relay gold, but has only managed to secure a spot in the relay pool to date and missed out on individual appearances.  At the Jamaica national trials, earlier this year, her time of 10.94, a new personal best, was only good enough for fourth spot.

In track and field, it isn’t uncommon for junior stars to fail to make the grade at the senior level but Frater believes Williams has the mindset to join the likes of Usain Bolt and Veronica Campbell-Brown as world juniors champions who went on to excel at the senior level.

“It’s hard for a lot of these athletes that do great things at young ages, a lot of them never surpass what they do,” Frater told the SportsMax Zone.

“That's why most people will tell you that they prefer athletes who weren’t teeing off at a young age,” he added.

“I think with Briana’s attitude and dedication, though, it won’t be a problem for her transitioning to the next level, and as coach Ato said he may not have been able to spend enough time with her.  For an athlete to be a world-class athlete she has to get the full attention that she needs.”

However, the 38-year-old Frater, a vice president in the new administration led by Garth Gayle, believes that the athletes need to do a better job in championing the fight for the resources they need.

Garth Gayle convincingly defeated challenger Donald Quarrie in Saturday's election gaining 236 votes to 28 for the 1976 Olympic gold medalists. Marie Tavares, the new Honorary Secretary defeated Anthony Davis to fill the position vacated by the new president, who campaigned on transforming the JAAA. Frater insisted that engaging the athletes will be a key part of that transformation.

“What we need is a lot more input from the athletes, those who are still competing and those who have already retired. That is one of the things we are lacking. We need to have more dialogue with the athletes,” he said.

“Every organization now has an athletes commission and the voice of the athletes need to be heard. We are going to take more initiatives to get athletes onboard in the administrative room.

“For the last eight years I have been the only one in the boardroom so I think we are now going to have a change. There are going to be some posts and some athletes who are going to be co-opted to the organization so we can have better input with what is actually going on with the athletes nowadays.”

That said, Frater admits that engaging the athletes might present a challenge to the JAAA, an organization that many athletes did not believe was working in their best interests and one that carries grudges.

Retired Olympian, Novlene Williams-Mills addressed that concern in a recent interview with the Jamaica Gleaner.

“Whoever is in office needs to take their personal feelings and put them aside and stop holding it against the athletes for everything the athletes do and say because too many athletes are being punished for even having an opinion,” the 2015 World Championship gold medalist said.

Those concerns and similar others are a real concern for the many of the athletes, who for the most part keep their distance from the JAAA. Only 15 percent of the delegates who voted in Saturday’s elections were either past or current athletes. Frater admits that it is a concern.

“That’s a difficult one. I think the athletes themselves need to take the initiative to realize how important they are. Only 15 per cent of the delegates were athletes and that can’t be so,” he said.

“The athletes should make their voices heard. They need to get involved. They can talk all they want on the sidelines, especially with an election, they need to come and cast their votes as to who they think will be the better leaders and the direction they want the association to take.

“I have always asked for the athletes to be more engaged, more involved. You can’t just, after you retire, just disappear. Most of the athletes nowadays, once they retire; not that they don’t give back; but from the sidelines. That can’t be the case. You have to look out for the generation that is coming behind you.”

 Frater believes the two have to meet if the JAAA's transformation is to be successful.

"We are now in a difficult situation with Covid-19. We need to grow the organization. We need more corporate support. Once we get athletes involved and corporate sponsors can see where their dollars are going and how it's actually changing and helping athletes, I think we should go a far way," he said.

The performance prompted TITANS International Coach Michael Frater to express his pride in the achievement. “Proudest moment as a coach, so far. @JazeelMurphy finally lowering his PB after almost 10 years,” Frater posted on Instagram.

It was some achievement indeed and a long road back for one of the more promising talents from just over a decade ago.

Murphy was once a standout high school sprinter at Bridgeport High School. Blessed with raw speed and electric acceleration, he was among a talented group of young sprinters like Odean Skeen and Kemar Bailey-Cole from the era of the early 2000s, who seemed destined for greater things.

“Jazeel, as a youngster was on several junior teams and ran sub 21 at Carifta,” recalled David Riley, one of the top coaches in the country. “He was one of more the more promising athletes from that era but he had some lingering issues due to differences in his leg length (but) definitely the ability was always there.”

Murphy won the U17 sprint double at the Carifta Games in St Lucia in 2009 in 10.41 and 20.97, respectively, the latter a championship record. He won the U20 100m title in Jamaica in 2011 in 10.27.

Building on his momentum and rising status as perhaps the next great sprinter from Jamaica, the former Bridgeport High School athlete, won another Carifta U20 title in Bermuda in 2012 in a very windy 10.31 (5.7m/s). He later ran 10.29s for fifth place at the World U20 Championships in Barcelona, Spain, that same year.

The future loomed bright for Murphy, who would later join the Racer’s Track Club where it was hoped he would follow in the footsteps of Usain Bolt, who by then had won his sixth Olympic gold medal. However, in the years that followed, through injury and other related issues, Murphy failed to live up to expectations and began a steady decline.

After 2012, when he ran his personal best 10.25 into a headwind of -1.2m/s in Barcelona, Murphy seemed to get slower over time. Between 2013 and 2020, Murphy ran season-best time of 10.25 in 2013, 10.65 in 2014, 10.39 in 2015, 10.50 in 2016, 10.61 in 2017, 10.51 in 2018 and 10.85 in 2020. After almost a decade, no one remembered Murphy or even cared. He had become a statistic. Another of Jamaica's talented athletes who had fallen through the cracks.

Last summer, all that began to change.

Murphy, now 27, joined TITANS International in June 2020, weighing in at a whopping 260 pounds, Coach Gregory Little revealed to Sportsmax. TV. The first order of business, Little said, was to get his weight down under a two-year plan that will see him running even faster in 2022.

“This year was about conditioning and we want to get him up and running next year, getting him back to the feeling of running fast,” said Little, who believes Murphy, now down to about 185 pounds, should be running 9.9s by 2022.

“Hopefully, he can. He is just starting to learn everything about track and field.”

The first signs of Murphy’s revival came at the Olympic Destiny meet on May 22 when he ran 10.35. The following week he ran 10.28 just off his personal best at the time. Another 10.28 followed on June 5.

At the national championships, he ran 10.34 in the preliminary round but only after coming to an almost complete stop after emerging from the blocks thinking there was a false start. Realizing his mistake, he sped down the track but ran out of room and placed fifth.

His next stop was Mission Viejo in California on Sunday where he made the breakthrough, clocking a lifetime best of 10.17.

Little is hopeful that this is just the beginning of a revival for the ages, one that could see Jazeel Murphy take a major step forward in fulfilling his true potential.

In China, Frater, who was sixth in the men's 100m final in 9.97s, was in imperious form in the 4x100 relay final, scorching the backstretch before handing the baton to Usain Bolt who dominated the curve before passing the baton to Asafa Powell, who stormed down the homestretch to bring Jamaica home in a world-record 37.10.

It was Frater’s first Olympic gold medal and Bolt’s third, the latter having won the 100m and 200m finals in world record time just days earlier.

Four years later, Frater was once again on Jamaica’s team at the 2012 London Games that lowered the world record to 36.84s and for a while, it seemed as if he and his teammates would go into retirement with at least two Olympics gold medals.

However, in 2016 news emerged that lead-off runner Nesta Carter’s urine sample from 2008 had turned up the presence of the stimulant methylhexanamine.

“Everybody was shocked. It was a surreal moment for me. I couldn’t actually believe what was going on. I just thought that something would have come out to show that it was a mistake or something like that,” Frater said during an interview on SportsNation Live on Nationwide Radio on Saturday.”

Carter contested the charge before the Court of Arbitration for Sport but in 2018, CAS upheld the charge and Jamaica was subsequently stripped of their gold medal. The news was devastating to Frater, who is still in a state of disbelief.

“To this day, I am always thinking that they will go back and find there was something wrong or something like that because it was that first moment, that first Olympic gold, that special moment in my life,” he said.

“I will always think that we won that gold medal, nobody can tell me otherwise. I don’t know exactly what happened but it was a shock. It will hurt me for the rest of my life.”

Called TITANS International, the club already has one famous Jamaican athlete on its roster but Frater plans to recruit more athletes as the club finds its footing within the Jamaican landscape.

TITANS is the acronym for Training Intelligently Towards Athletes Natural Speed, he said, explaining that he intends to use the information garnered while being coached by Francis and then Glen Mills, two of the best in the world.

Francis has coached the likes of former 100m world record holder Asafa Powell and Nesta Carter as well as Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Elaine Thompson. Mills was the man behind the iconic exploits of Usain Bolt. He also coached Blake as well as Warren Weir.

“I think the experience that I have gathered competing at the highest level and then being under the tutelage of Stephen Francis and then Glen Mills; I don’t think many people in the world have had that experience, so I am just going to use the knowledge that I have gathered from these great gentlemen,” he said

Track has always been an integral part of Frater’s life, winning medals in high school in Jamaica at Jamaica’s Boys and Girls Championships and at high school and college in the United States of America.

“I grew up on track and field. It’s something I have always wanted to do,” Frater said in explaining why he started the club.

“I am not going to go away from track and field. I am always going to be involved in track and field in every aspect of it so the next step is actually having my own coaching group. So myself and Gregory Little; we formed a group and we are working with some athletes now, Yohan Blake being the top athlete that we have at the moment.

“So, it’s just about getting a good group of athletes together and building on that.”

Frater represented Jamaica for more than a decade at several Olympic Games and World Championships.

Under Coach Francis, Frater surprised many when he won a silver medal in the 100m final at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki. Three years later, he was a finalist in the 100m at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China where Usain Bolt set a world record of 9.69s.

In 2012, he was a key member of Jamaica’s 4x100m team that won gold at the London Olympic Games in a world-record of 36.84, a time that made Jamaica the first team to run faster than 37 seconds in the sprint relay.

In June 2011, Frater ran a personal best time of 9.88 that made him the sixth fastest Jamaican male sprinter.

Following his retirement from track, Frater, 37, joined the coaching staff at St.Jago High School in 2019, paving the way for the formation of his own track club.

The group will strive to make the NACAC Athletes Commission the best in World Athletics.

The Information Session was chaired by Saint Vincent and the Grenadines’ three-time Olympian, Kineke Alexander.

"I value my role on the NACAC Athletes commission as being a direct link between the athletes and the NACAC Council. We’ve moved from a commission that has been hiding in the shadows to now having hosted our first information session. It is important that throughout my role I work with my commission members so that the athletes in the NACAC region can be heard,” said Kineke Alexander, the 2015 Pan American Games 400m bronze medalist.

“As a member of the NACAC Council I plan on bringing the issues that matter most in our region. As stated in our information session, an important issue is having a viable competition circuit in the NACAC region. We plan on working with the NACAC Council who has been very open to this idea to make this happen for our athletes.”

The WA and NACAC Athletes Commission gave commitments to working together for the development and sustainability of the Commission.

World and Olympic champion, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (JAM), moderated part of the information session that featured Brett Clothier, Head of the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), who readily responded to questions posed by participants.

“We brought together dedicated athletes of our Area who understand the importance and function of the Commission and believe that athletes need to know they have a voice within athletics in our region and beyond. This is an athlete-centred group, and we represent all athletes. Athletes should know they have a place to voice their concerns” said Commission and NACAC Council member, 2008 Olympic 200m finalist Cydonie Mothersill (CAY).

 “We want to engage NACAC athletes, without exception, in meaningful dialogue on issues important to them as they play their part in building our sport. COVID-19 has taken a lot away from us in terms of competition, but it has also allowed us to reach more athletes on platforms like Zoom. Moving forward we will be hosting sessions on development, the athletes’ pathway, the new WADA code, and mentorship programs - issues we believe athletes want more information on.

 “Having athletes in our discussions and fully engaged in the decision-making process are very important. They feel fully integrated with our sport when they know that their views matter.”

 The information session also highlighted the importance of the biennial NACAC Senior Championship, a viable undertaking with the Area’s best athletes in attendance. Consideration was also given to working with the NACAC leadership to create an impressive annual Area Circuit.

 Led by Kineke Alexander and Odayne Richards (JAM) as Chair and Deputy Chair, the NACAC Athletes’ Commission is also composed of Michael Frater (JAM), Jeff Porter (USA), Lacee Barnes (CAY) Allan Gala Acevedo (GUA) and Nathan Alexander (ESA), Brian Wellman (BER). As Commission chair, Alexander sits on the NACAC Council.

 Four NACAC athletes are members of World Athletics’ Athletes Commission: Kim Collins (SKN), Iñaki Gomez (CAN), Bernard Lagat (USA) and Aisha Praught-Leer (JAM)

The ceremony, attended by esteemed guests and honourees, including US Ambassador to Jamaica N. Nickolas Perry and Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Technology Ali McNab, paid tribute to individuals who have played pivotal roles in Jamaica's track and field success over the past three decades. Among those recognized were 2009 World Champion Brigitte Foster-Hylton, Olympic gold medalist Michael Frater, Earl Jarrett of Jamaica National, and renowned entertainer Tony Rebel.

Unfortunately, Frater was unavoidably unable to attend. Both he and Foster-Hylton were recognized for their invaluable contributions as athletes representing Jamaica at the Olympics and World Championships. Jarrett was awarded for his role in Jamaica National’s partnership with TBJ. Tony Rebel, meanwhile, has been a worthy ambassador the organization over the years.

However, the spotlight shone brightest on veteran track coach Glen Mills, who received a special award for his exemplary service spanning five decades in the sport.

Mills, renowned for coaching multiple world and Olympic champions including Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, and Warren Weir, was honored with a proclamation from the United States House of Representatives, facilitated by New York congresswoman Yvette Clarke. Presenting the award, Irwin Clare expressed gratitude for Mills' profound impact on Jamaican athletics, both locally and globally.

"Tonight, Team Jamaica Bickle is honored to present a proclamation from the United States House of Representatives courtesy of Congresswoman Yvette D Clarke, for the work you have done not only here in Jamaica but across the world. Congratulations, Sir!" Clare exclaimed, acknowledging Mills' significant contributions to the sport.

In response, Mills expressed his surprise and gratitude for the prestigious recognition, emphasizing the honour it held for him. Reflecting on his enduring relationship with the Penn Relays, Mills highlighted his coaching tenure at Camperdown High School, where he achieved remarkable success.

“During my days at Camperdown, we were able to win something like 10 national titles in 15 years and we held a sprint record for 17 years, which is still a record, so I, too, enjoyed the delicious meals provided by Jamaica Bickle. The athletes were always in a hurry to get to the tent to before the food finished so it was always a good incentive to run fast so that they could get there quickly and so we had some really great times at Penn Relays.”

In closing, Mills commended Irwin Clare and Team Jamaica Bickle for their dedication over the past three decades, emphasizing the profound impact of their hospitality services on Jamaican athletes. He underscored the importance of TJB's mission in nurturing and supporting athletes, ensuring they perform at their best on the international stage.

"For you to recognize what they are doing, you have to be there to experience it; to see the Jamaican athletes how they gravitate towards that tent to get Jamaican meals," Mills remarked, acknowledging TJB's invaluable contribution to Jamaica's athletic success.