Ricardo Brown

Jackson claimed the award for the first time after a phenomenal 2023 season which saw her successfully defend her World 200m title with a personal best 21.41, the second fastest time ever, in Budapest in August.

In addition to her 200m title, Jackson also ran 10.72 for 100m silver. She ended her season with the sprint double at the Diamond League Final in Eugene with times of 10.70 and 21.57, respectively, in September.

The 29-year-old also achieved a new personal best in the 100m with 10.65, the fifth fastest time ever, to defend her National title in July.

Antonio Watson shocked the world to become the first Jamaican man in 40 years to win 400m gold at the World Championships.

After running a massive personal best 44.14 in the semi-finals, the 22-year-old produced 44.22 to take gold in the final. Watson also ran 44.54 for second at the National Championships in July.

Watson also took home the people’s choice award for his gold medal winning performance.

Danielle Williams was named runner-up for Sportswoman of the Year while Hansle Parchment was runner-up for Sportsman of the Year.

Williams, like Watson, shocked the world in Budapest by claiming her second 100m hurdles World title, the other coming all the way back in 2015.

Parchment, the reigning Olympic champion, claimed his second World Championship silver medal with a 13.07 effort in Budapest. He followed that up in September with a new personal best 12.93 to win at the Diamond League Final in Eugene.

The recipient of the 2023 Icon Award was 400m hurdles Olympic and World champion Deon Hemmings-McCatty while West Indies Under-19 batsman Jordan Johnson was named the winner of the VM Group Y.O.U.T.H award.

Some other athletes receiving awards for their individual sports included CAC Games bronze medallist Tahlia Richardson for badminton, Ricardo “Big 12” Brown for boxing, Sherea Clarke and Wayne McCalla for bodybuilding, West Indies batter Rashada Williams for cricket and Sara Misir and Fraser McConnell for motorsport.

Arguably Jamaica’s two most successful sports teams, the Sunshine Girls and the Reggae Girls, were given special awards for their performances in 2023.

The Reggae Girls were rewarded for their historic performance at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand from July 20-August 20.

They became the first Caribbean team ever, male or female, to advance to the Round of 16 at a FIFA World Cup.

The Sunshine Girls also had a historically good year with a gold medal at the CAC Games held in El Salvador from June 25-29 and bronze at the Netball World Cup held from July 28-August 6 in South Africa.

That World Cup also saw the Jamaicans get their first ever World Cup win over world number one and eventual champions, Australia.

Four judges scored the fight in favour of Kumar and one scored it for the Jamaican.

Brown, popularly known as ‘Big 12,’ had a slow start, losing the first round on all the judges’ scorecards and never really recovered from there.

He showed more intent and tried to pick up the pace in rounds 2 and 3 but ultimately didn’t do any significant damage as Kumar, who fought a more technical fight, was able to come away with the win.

Kumar, a two-time Asian Championships bronze medalist, was cut on the forehead after an accidental clash of heads in the 3^rd round but kept his composure, and avoided some potentially devastating right hands from Brown, to seal victory and advance to the quarterfinals, one step closer to an opportunity at a medal.

He will next face reigning world and Asian Champion Bakhodir Jalovov of Uzbekistan on Saturday.

Brown, 31, was a bronze medalist at the 2019 Pan Am Games in Lima, Peru, and was seeking to become Jamaica’s 1^st boxing medallist at the Olympics.

Boxer Ricardo Brown and history-setting diver, Yona Knight-Wisdom, were recently rewarded with qualification spots to the Tokyo Olympics by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), world sports’ governing body.

Results achieved at regional and global events such as the Pan Am Games were used to decide qualifiers. Importantly, sports’ local apex body, the JOA, played a lead role in the participation of Jamaica’s athletes at these events and also other events and training that formed part of their overall preparation, which was geared towards the Olympics.

“I want to say thank you to the JOA because if it wasn’t for them I would still be out there trying to get a chance to qualify,” said Brown. “I want to thank them for the hard work and funding they put out to get me where I am now.”

Knight-Wisdom, who is making it to his second Olympics Games – a first-time achievement for a Caribbean diver - expressed that the JOA has been backing his talent for a long time.

He said: “The JOA’s support along the way has been great, being able to compete at events such as the CAC Games, Commonwealth Games and Pan American Games. They were really important, helping me grow on my level of experience and giving me all the competitions I needed, plus all the other ones that I did separately -  the Grand Prix’s, the World Championships, and it was really helpful. On top of that, being able to receive the IOC Scholarship since 2017, probably I have received 10 instalments of that, not including the current period. That has basically kept me afloat.”

He added: “Payment for rent and bills made everything else more challenging than before Rio and the JOA, making sure I received my IOC money, it was extremely helpful.”

The president of the Jamaica Boxing Board, Stephen ‘Bomber’ Jones, said the JOA has been supporting Brown’s progress for years.

“We’re very grateful to those who have supported him. We’re grateful to the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA), they have been following him before the Panam Games when he got his bronze medal and they have been there throughout the pandemic,” Jones highlighted. “Even with the pandemic, he has been in Canada training because he has more competition there because there are more people in his weight class that he could compete against. Before the pandemic, he was training there.”

Continuing, Jones said: “He has been at the tip of the tongue for the JOA. They have followed his trajectory and when we realised that there were going to be no more qualifications in the Americas for the rest of the boxers who were supposed to represent us as well they were steadfast in making sure that Ricardo, the fact that he has an AIBA world ranking, they wanted the boxing federation to make sure that his name was at the top of the list to at least have one of us qualify for the Olympic Games. So we’re grateful for them (JOA) in that regard and wish Ricardo all the best.”

As a matter of fact, there are high hopes that the Jamaican boxer will medal in Tokyo.

“We are expecting him to come back with the first medal in boxing that Jamaica has ever achieved at the Olympic Games,” said Jones.

Brown, too, is very confident.

Commenting on his medal chances, he said: “Yes. That is a must. I’m going for a medal so I’m training hard for that.”

Amateur Swimming Association of Jamaica President, Martin Lyn, commented on Knight-Wisdom’s historical achievement and the JOA’s contribution.

“I am elated that Yona has made it to another Olympics. It is the first time in the history of Jamaica and the Caribbean that a diver has made it to two consecutive Olympics. That is kudos to the ASAJ,” said Lyn.

“The journey would not have been as successful without the help of the JOA. The JOA has been extremely supportive of our diver and we definitely have welcomed that support. It has definitely increased over the years and Yona himself is very appreciative of the help. He couldn’t have done it without us,” Lyn revealed.

Knight-Wisdom, who finished 14^thin Rio, is aiming for a better finish four years on.

“I want to improve on what I did in Rio. I missed out on making the final by eight points,” he said.

“I was disappointed, I knew I could have competed better so as soon as I finished I was already thinking about the next cycle and what I can do and improve on what I did in Rio and make that final,” he added.

“That is what I would love to do this time. It’s going to be challenging, it’s going to be tough because there are a lot of good divers out there,” Knight-Wisdom shared. “I can’t wait to compete and represent Jamaica as best as possible, put Jamaica on the map in the diving world.”