Jamaican Texas A&M junior Kimar Farquharson continued his winning ways in the 800m this season with victory at the Alumni Muster held in College Station, Texas on Saturday.

The former Calabar High star was in dominant form, winning the event in 1:47.26, a new meet record.

More than two seconds behind Farquharson in second was teammate Caden Norris (1:49.62) while Tracksmith’s Luca Chatham was third in 1:50.71.

This was Farquharson’s second 800m win of the season as he ran 1:46.69 to beat countrymen Navasky Anderson and Tarees Rhoden to victory at the Tom Jones Memorial in Florida on April 13.

Interestingly, the 22-year-old has also established a new personal best in the 400m this season with 45.70 at the Battle of the Bayou in Baton Rouge on March 30.

Vincentian 800m record holder Shafiqua Maloney has a dream to represent her country at the Olympic Games in Paris and KFC St. Vincent has partnered with her to make that dream a reality.

The fast food chain and the University of Arkansas alum announced the partnership in a joint social media post on Saturday.

“KFC St. Vincent is pleased to announce our support for Vincentian athlete Shafiqua Maloney as she journeys to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.”

“As you know it hasn’t been easy for me but I just want to thank you for your love and support. It has meant a lot,” Maloney expressed in the post.

The fast food chain has already donated ECD$5000 to Maloney’s Olympic fund and will donate ECD$1 with every purchase of two meals from the Maloney-inspired ‘800m Menu,’ the ‘Olympic Dream Meal’ and the ‘800m Warrior Wrap.’

That menu will be available at all KFC St. Vincent restaurants from Monday, April 22.

Maloney, 25, garnered significant attention during her recent appearance on the SportsMax Zone in February, where she revealed that she experienced homelessness for several months in the past year and has been unable to compensate her coaches for an extended period of time. 

She also shared that her departure from the United States would result in her being barred from reentry until her application for an O-1 visa is approved. This visa application carries a price tag of $8,500.

“Thank you, KFC and thank you in advance St. Vincent and the Grenadines. I hope that you will help support this cause. Paris 2024, I’ll be there!” Maloney said.

On the track, Maloney has had an excellent start to her 2024 season.

She went unbeaten indoors in three races in the 800m, including establishing a new national record 1:58.69 at the Tyson Invitational on February 10.

Outdoors, Maloney set a new meet record 2:00.25 to win the 800m at the Texas Relays on March 28.

She then established a new national record in the 600m at the Miramar Invitational on April 6 with 1:23.80.

A week later, she ran 1:59.97 for victory at the Tom Jones Invitational in Gainesville.

Most recently, she secured the 800m and 1500m double at the John McDonnell Invitational in Fayetteville on April 19.

Kimar Farquharson, Navasky Anderson and Tarees Rhoden completed a Jamaican 1-2-3 in the men’s 800m on day two of the 2024 Tom Jones Memorial at the Percy Beard Track in Gainesville, Florida on Saturday.

Farquharson, a junior at Texas A&M, ran 1:46.69 to take top spot. Anderson, Jamaica’s national record holder, ran 1:46.76 in second and Rhoden, a senior at Clemson University, ran 1:46.82 in third.

Vincentian star Shafiqua Maloney finished on top in the women’s equivalent in 1:59.97 ahead of Clemson’s Gladys Chepngetich (2:00.53) and Houston’s Kelly-Ann Beckford (2:00.70).

Jamaica’s Stacey Ann Williams was second in the women’s 400m invite in 50.71. The event was won by American Alexis Holmes in 50.65 with Britton Wilson running 50.74 for third.

Jamaican Clemson junior Marie Forbes threw a personal best 58.31m for second in the women’s discus invite behind Florida’s Alida Van Daalen (62.58m). Ohio State’s Faith Bender was third with 56.91m.

Jamaica’s national 800m record holder, Navasky Anderson, will open his 2024 season at the 2024 Penn Relays set for April 25-27 at Franklyn Field.

Anderson, a bronze medallist at the 2023 Pan Am Games in Chile, will compete in the Olympic Development 800m at the meet.

“May the divine presence guide, protect, and empower me on this profound journey, enabling me to accomplish remarkable feats and inspire greatness,” he said in a statement on Instagram on Thursday announcing his participation.

Anderson’s personal best 1:44.70, which he did to qualify for last year’s World Championships in Budapest, makes him the third fastest man scheduled to line up in the field with only Kenyan Festus Lagat (1:44.31) and Great Britain’s Kyle Langford (1:44.49) going faster.

The field is completed by Kenyan Noah Kibet, Americans Vincent Crisp, Luciano Fiore, Sam Ellis, Japan’s Sho Kawamoto and Spain’s Mario Garcia Romo.

Jamaica’s Kemarrio Bygrave and USVI’s Michelle Smith produced excellent performances to claim the respective Boys and Girls Under-20 800m titles on day three of the 51^st Carifta Games at the Kirani James Stadium in Grenada on Monday.

Bygrave led from start to finish to win the Boys final in 1:51.43 and complete the 800m, 1500m double.

Grenada's Deangelo Brown was second in 1:52.81 while Trinidad & Tobago's Keeran Sriskandarajah was third in 1:52.91.

In the Girls final, Smith bided her time before producing a spirited final lap to take the title in 2:06.18, just outside of the record 2:05.90 set back in 2008 by Natoya Goule.

This gold medal also completes a double for Smith as she took gold in the 400m hurdles on Sunday.

Haiti’s Victoria Guerrier ran 2:07.45 for silver while Jamaica’s Monique Stewart took bronze in 2:07.56.

The Under-17 Boys final saw Jamaica’s Keandre Kelly produce a mature performance to win in 1:56.31.

Guyana’s Kaidon Persaud ran 1:56.53 for silver and Kelly’s teammate Alejandro Palmer ran 1:58.05 to take bronze.

Jamaica secured gold and silver in the Under-17 Girls final through Kevongaye Fowler and Alikay Reynolds.

Fowler took gold in 2:16.97 while Reynolds, as she did in the 1500m, had to settle for silver in 2:17.02.

Grenada’s Annalisa Brown ran 2:18.75 for bronze.

Louisiana State University (LSU) Sophomore Brianna Lyston produced a sizzling 10.87w (2.6 m/s) to finish second overall at the 2024 Battle on the Bayou at the Bernie Moore Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Saturday.

Lyston, who earlier this season claimed both the SEC and NCAA Indoor 60m titles, produced her first sub-11 time to finish in a close second behind Favour Ofili of Tiger Olympians who won in 10.85.

McKenzie Long of Ole Miss was third in 10.89.

Interestingly, this was Lyston's first 100m race since the Class One final at the 2022 ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls Championships.

Elsewhere, LSU’s Jahiem Stern ran 13.43 for third in the men’s 110m hurdles behind the Texas A&M pair Jaqualon Scott (13.34) and Connor Schulman (13.42).

Mississippi State’s Tyrese Reid ran a personal best 1:45.76 for second in the men’s 800m won by Texas A&M’s Sam Whitmarsh in 1:44.46.

Marcus Dropik of Ole Miss ran 1:47.82 in third.

In the field, Kentucky’s Luke Brown produced 16.40m to take the win in the men’s triple jump ahead of Ole Miss’s Iangelo Atkinstall-Daley (15.25m) and Georgia’s Zavien Wolfe (14.84m).

Newly crowned NCAA champion Rivaldo Marshall has thrown his name into a growing pool of promising athletes in the 800m for Jamaica.

The 22-year-old University of Iowa Junior produced 1:46.96 to take gold at the NCAA Indoor Championships held in Boston from March 7-9.

Another member of that pool of promising Jamaican 800m runners, Clemson Senior Tarees Rhoden, ran 1:47.79 for fifth while Vincentian Penn State Sophomore Handal Roban ran 1:48.16 to finish seventh.

“I’m excited. Been working hard these past few weeks and my coach told me just come out here and do my thing,” Marshall said in a post-race interview.

Marshall entered the final lap of the final in second and produced an excellent display of both speed and strength to outlast his opponents and take the title.

“I told myself that once it’s the last lap, no one’s beating me. I train to go as hard as possible in the last lap,” he said.

His winning time was just outside his personal best 1:46.86 done to win at the Tyson Invitational on February 10.

Two weeks later, Marshall had a disappointing showing at the Big 10 Indoor Championships in Geneva, Ohio, running 1:49.32 for fifth.

He said that performance was motivation for him.

“At the Big10 meet, I didn’t run that well and I used that as motivation to work hard these past few weeks,” he said.

This wasn’t the first taste of success on the collegiate circuit for the former Calabar High star.

Before transferring to the University of Iowa ahead of this season, Marshall previously competed for Indian Hills Community College where he won gold at the 2022 NJCAA Outdoor Championships with 1:50.82.

That same year, Marshall took silver at the NJCAA Indoor Championships with 1:51.30. A year later, he took bronze in 1:48.10.

Jamaican Arkansas Junior Wayne Pinnock produced an excellent performance to claim long jump gold on day two of the 2024 NCAA Indoor Championships in Boston, Massachusetts on Friday.

The 23-year-old, who claimed World Championship silver in Budapest last year, won on Friday with a personal best and world leading 8.40m, equaling the Jamaican indoor record set by Carey McLeod last year.

Pinnock’s record-equaling jump came in the fourth round of the competition and was his last jump as he subsequently passed on his fifth and sixth round efforts.

His other distances in the first three rounds were 8.23m, 8.36m and 8.29m. His second-round jump was also a world-leading effort.

Florida State Senior Jeremiah Davis produced a season’s best 8.20m for second while Florida Junior Malcolm Clemons was third with 8.11m.

The former Kingston College standout also won NCAA Indoor gold in 2022.

On the track, Bahamian Texas Tech Junior Terrence Jones led all qualifiers to the final of the men’s 60m with a time of 6.56. Jamaican USC Junior Travis Williams (6.60) and Bahamian Florida Sophomore Wanya McCoy (6.60) also made it through to tomorrow’s final.

McCoy also led all qualifiers in the 200m with a facility record 20.34. Jones also made it through with the same time.

Florida Senior Jevaughn Powell and Texas Tech Sophomore Shaemar Uter both made it through to the final of the 400m with times of 46.05 and 46.09, respectively.

The qualifiers for the 800m final were led by Jamaican Iowa Junior Rivaldo Marshall with 1:47.21.

Vincentian Penn State Sophomore Handal Roban (1:47.55) and Jamaican Clemson Senior Tarees Rhoden (1:47.66) also made it through.

Home favourite Jemma Reekie took 800 metres silver on the final night of action at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow for her first global medal.

The 25-year-old Scot clocked a time of 2:02.72 as she finished 0.82 seconds behind Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma.

Reekie told the BBC: “I knew those girls were going to throw something at me that they were confident with, and they were just better than me today.

“I didn’t want anything other than the win, but first senior medal, I made some mistakes and I’ll learn something from it.

“It’s my first senior medal and I’ve got to take it. I’ve got one now and I definitely want one of those Olympic ones, and it will be a good stepping stone forwards.”

There was also bronze for Great Britain in the women’s 4x400m relay earlier in the evening as the team finished with a haul of four medals.

Laviai Nielsen, twin sister Lina Nielsen, Ama Pipi and Jessie Knight again set a new national record – as they had done in the morning’s heats – with a time of 3:26.36.

They came in behind the Netherlands (3:25.07) and the United States, with Jamaica not finishing after the baton came out of Charokee Young’s hand on the third leg, seemingly via accidental contact from Pipi.

Pipi said: “It was a really messy leg but I just stayed focused on what I needed to do and tried to give it to Jessie in a good position, and I think I did that.”

GB’s other two medals had come in the form of golds on Saturday for Reekie’s fellow Scot Josh Kerr in the men’s 3,000m and Molly Caudery in the women’s pole vault.

British pair Georgia Bell and Revee Walcott-Nolan were fourth and sixth respectively in the women’s 1500m final, and team-mate Cindy Sember was seventh in the women’s 60m hurdles, won in a new world record time of 7.65secs by Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas.

The men’s 1500m final included GB’s Adam Fogg coming 14th.

Also among Sunday evening’s finals was the men’s pole vault title being retained by Sweden’s Olympic champion Armand Duplantis.

Louisiana State University (LSU) Sophomore Brianna Lyston gave fans a signal of what is to come from her this season with a personal best and collegiate leading 7.07 to win the women’s 60m at the Razorback Invitational at the Tyson Center in Fayetteville on Saturday.

The 19-year-old, who entered the meet with a personal best of 7.29 done last season, first produced an easy 7.14 in qualifying before returning to run her new personal best in the final to win comfortably ahead of Georgia’s Kaila Jackson (7.20) and Florida’s Grace Stark (7.21).

Lyston’s time is the third-fastest in the world this year, fourth-fastest in collegiate history and equals the LSU school record done back in 2018 by Aleia Hobbs.

The men's equivalent saw USC's Travis Williams run 6.63 for third behind LSU's Myles Thomas (6.62) and USC's JC Stevenson (6.61).

Jamaican World Championship 4x400m relay medallist Stacey Ann Williams ran 51.86 to win the women’s open 400m ahead of Americans Kendall Ellis (52.12) and Bailey Lear (52.49). World Championships 400m hurdles finalist Andrenette Knight ran 52.53 for fifth.

Arkansas Junior and reigning Jamaican National champion Nickisha Pryce ran 51.58 for third in the college women’s 400m behind schoolmate Amber Anning (50.56) and Georgia’s Aaliyah Butler (51.34).

Pryce was a semi-finalist in the 400m at the World Championships in Budapest last August.

Florida Senior Jevaughn Powell ran 46.28 for third in the college men’s 400m behind USC’s William Jones (45.24) and Texas A&M’s Auhmad Robinson (46.15).

2023 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor champion and World Championship 100m hurdles finalist Ackera Nugent ran 7.94 for second in the women’s open 60m hurdles won by the USA’s Tia Jones in 7.85. Christina Clemons ran 7.95 for third.

Jamaica’s Phillip Lemonious, who won the NCAA Outdoor title competing for the University of Arkansas last season, ran 7.68 for third in the men’s 60m hurdles. Interestingly, the top two finishers in the race, Texas A&M’s Connor Schulman and Jaqualon Scott, also ran 7.68. Their times when rounded up to the thousandths were 7.672, 7.673 and 7.675.

St. Vincent's Shafiqua Maloney ran 2:02.29 to take top spot in the women's 800m ahead of Sanu Jallow of Arkansas (2:02.60) and Gabija Galvydyte (2:02.82).

In the field, Arkansas high jumper Romaine Beckford, the defending NCAA Indoor and Outdoor champion, improved his indoor career best to 2.27m with his victory on Friday evening.

The winning height moves Beckford to No. 4 on the UA all-time list and No. 3 on the Jamaican all-time indoor list with the equal No. 4 performance.

Having won the competition, Beckford opted for the Olympic standard of 2.33m as his next height and had three attempts with his last try coming closest to clearing.

Mississippi State’s Sherman Hawkins and USC’s Elias Gerald both cleared 2.17m for second and third, respectively.

Elsewhere in the field, Jamaican Oklahoma Junior Nikaoli Williams produced 7.86m for second in the men’s long jump behind Florida’s Malcolm Clemons (8.06m). Clemons’ teammate Caleb Foster jumped 7.68m for third.

The Wanda Diamond League has released a detailed summary of which disciplines will be staged at which meetings during the 2024 season.

In 2024, the world’s best athletes will once again take the stage in athletics’ premier one-day series, competing at 15 meetings across four different continents.

Athletes will compete for points in their chosen discipline at the 14 series meetings between April and September, with the most successful qualifying for the Wanda Diamond League Final in Brussels on September 13th-14th.

The season begins in Xiamen on April 20th, with the men’s 100m, women’s 200m and a 100/110m hurdles double bill among the headline events. Each discipline will then be staged at least four and up to eight times on the Road to the Final, giving athletes from across the globe enough opportunities to earn points.

Two meetings will be held at a different location in 2024 due to stadium renovation works in their usual locations. The Meeting International Mohammed VI will move from Rabat to Marrakech, while the Wanda Diamond League Shanghai will take place in Suzhou.

The 14 series meetings will each take place in a two-hour TV world programme and will all stage at least 14 Diamond Disciplines. The Wanda Diamond League Final in Brussels will be the only meeting to feature every single discipline, with all 32 Diamond League champions crowned over the course of two days.

The season calendar and the allocation of disciplines remain subject to change.

A list of disciplines for each meeting will also be available under the 'programme and results' page on each individual meeting website.

As well as the Diamond Disciplines, each meeting may also include additional disciplines in their programme, in which athletes will not earn points on the Road to the Final.

The disciplines are as follows: 100m (M,W), 200m (M,W), 400m (M,W), 800m (M,W), 1500m/Mile (M,W), 3000m/5000m (M,W), 3000m Steeplechase (M,W), 110m Hurdles (M), 100m Hurdles (W), 400m Hurdles (M,W), High Jump (M,W), Pole Vault (M,W), Long Jump (M,W), Triple Jump (M,W), Shot Put (M,W), Discus Throw (M,W), Javelin Throw (M,W).

Jamaica’s national 800m record holder, Navasky Anderson, can now also call himself a university graduate after graduating from the Mississippi State University with a Master's Degree on Friday.

Anderson, who became the first and only Jamaican man to go sub 1:45.00 when he ran 1:44.70 at the DC Track Championships in July, began his collegiate career at the Essex Community College in 2019 before transferring to Mississippi State in 2020.

“My time at Mississippi State University has been nothing short of transformative, thanks to the exceptional support from both the athletics and academia staff,” Anderson said in an Instagram post on Friday.

“Juggling the demands of coursework and the rigor of track and field requires a delicate balance, and it’s collaboration between the athletic and academic realms that allowed me to thrive,” he added.

During his time at MSU, Anderson claimed 800m silver at the 2022 NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Championships and represented Jamaica for the first time, with his best result being a bronze medal at this year’s Pan American Games in Chile in November.

The 23-year-old former St. Jago student also donned the Jamaican colors at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships in Eugene and Budapest, respectively, as well as the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham where he placed fifth in the final.

“As I stand here today, wearing the cap and gown that symbolizes the culmination of years of hard work, I extend my deepest gratitude to Mississippi State University Athletics and the academic faculty. Their unwavering support and commitment to my holistic development have been the driving force behind this significant achievement,” Anderson said.

Jamaica’s Navasky Anderson copped his first senior medal for the country with bronze in the men’s 800m at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile on Saturday.

The 23-year-old, who represented Jamaica at the World Championships in Budapest where he was disqualified in the heats, produced 1:46.40 for third in Saturday’s final behind Mexico’s Jesus Lopez (1:46.04) and Venezuela’s Jose Antonio Maita (1:45.69).

Anderson broke his own Jamaican national record earlier this season when he ran 1:44.70 at the DC Track Championships on July 30 to achieve the World Championship qualifying standard.

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.

Reigning double-sprint Olympic Champion, Elaine Thompson-Herah continues to show signs of a potential return to top form in 2024 after a season’s best 10.92 to win at the Gala dei Castelli, a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meet in Bellinzola, Switzerland on Monday.

Thompson-Herah, who has endured a season riddled with injuries, took the win ahead of Great Britain’s Imani Lansiquot (10.99), her first time below 11 seconds, and Gambia’s Gina Bass (11.12).

This was only Thompson-Herah’s second 100m race since finishing fifth at the Jamaican trials in July. She ran 11.00 for second at the Zurich Diamond League on August 31.

The 31-year-old was a member of Jamaica’s silver medal 4x100m team at the recently concluded World Championships in Budapest where she ran in the heats.

On the men’s side, Oblique Seville ran 10.01 to take the win ahead of Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala (10.04) and South Africa’s Akani Simbine (10.12).

Seville narrowly missed out on a medal in Budapest, finishing fourth in 9.88, the same time credited to bronze medallist, Zharnel Hughes.

Another 100m finalist in Budapest, Ryiem Forde, was seventh in 10.28 on Monday.

Natoya Goule-Toppin rebounded from a sub-par showing in Budapest to take the 800m in 1:57.53, a new meet record.

The USA’s Addison Wiley ran a personal best 1:57.64 in second while Switzerland’s Audrey Werro ran a national record 1:58.13 in third.

Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, who was upset by Danielle Williams in Budapest, came out on top with a meet record 12.56 in the 100m hurdles. The Netherlands’ Nadine Visser ran a season’s best 12.61 in second while the USA’s Nia Ali ran 12.63 in third.

Shashalee Forbes, a member of Jamaica's silver-medal winning 4x100m team in Budapest, ran 22.74 for second in the 200m behind the USA's Tamara Clark (22.64). Italy's Dalia Kaddari ran 22.86 for third.

Orlando Bennett ran 13.40 for third in the men’s 110m hurdles won by Switzerland’s Jason Joseph in 13.18. Senegal’s Louis Francois Mendy was second in 13.29.

In the field, 2019 World Championship silver-medallist Fedrick Dacres threw 66.19m for third in the discus behind World Champion Daniel Stahl (67.24m) and Kristjan Ceh (67.15m).