Manchester City goalkeeper Zack Steffen was one of the notable omissions from the United States' 26-man World Cup squad confirmed by head coach Gregg Berhalter on Wednesday.

Chelsea's Christian Pulisic, Juventus' Weston McKennie, Milan's Sergino Dest and Leeds United pair Brenden Aaronson and Tyler Adams were all included in the squad which is in Group B alongside Wales, England and Iran.

Steffen, who is on loan at Championship club Middlesbrough from City, missed out with Matt Turner, Sean Johnson and Ethan Horvath preferred as the three goalkeepers.

Fulham defender Tim Ream along with Turkey-based forward Haji Wright have also been included, while exciting 19-year-old striker Ricardo Pepi has missed out, along with Paul Arriola and Jordan Pefok.

"Final roster decisions are always difficult, and we appreciate everyone's contributions who helped us get to this point," Berhalter said. "We believe we have a talented group, a strong team spirit, and one that is ready to compete."

This year's event marks USA's return to the World Cup having failed to qualify for Russia 2018. Deandre Yedlin is the only member of their last World Cup squad from 2014 to be carried over in this group.

The United States face Wales in their opening Group B match on November 21, before taking on England and Iran.

USA squad: Ethan Horvath (Luton Town), Sean Johnson (New York City), Matt Turner (Arsenal); Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic), Sergino Dest (AC Milan), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls), Shaq Moore (Nashville), Tim Ream (Fulham), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Joe Scally (Borussia Monchengladbach), DeAndre Yedlin (Inter Miami), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville); Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United), Kellyn Acosta (LAFC), Tyler Adams (Leeds United), Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Yunus Musah (Valencia), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders); Jesus Ferreira (FC Dallas), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund), Josh Sargent (Norwich City), Tim Weah (Lille), Haji Wright (Antalyaspor)

Trinidad & Tobago’s Calypso Girls defeated the Barbados Gems 50-40 in a top-of-the-table clash on day five of the Netball Americas World Cup Qualifiers at the national Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston on Thursday.

Entering the game, the Calypso Girls had already booked their spot in next year’s World Cup on the back of a perfect record after six games while the Gems were also unbeaten after five games and would’ve sealed their trip to Cape Town next year with a win.

The end of the first quarter saw Trinidad & Tobago build a 12-7 lead before Barbados outscored them 14-10 in the second to trail 21-22 at half-time. T&T then outscored them by four in the third quarter to lead 35-30 before eventually winning 50-40.

T&T was led by goal shooter Afeisha Noel’s 33 goals from 35 attempts while goal attack Joelisa Cooper had 17 goals from 21 attempts. Bajan goal shooters Faye Agard and Shonica Wharton had 14 goals from 16 attempts and 15 goals from 20 attempts, respectively.

“I am ecstatic about that performance. I think we went out there and executed exactly what the coach wanted and I can’t ask for anything else from the girls,” said Trinidad & Tobago captain Shaquanda Greene-Noel.

Barbados captain Shonette Azore-Bruce praised her team’s fighting spirit despite the result not going their way.

“It’s not the outcome that we wanted but I must say that I am proud of my girls for fighting to the end. We did not score the goals we should have but I’m still proud of my girls for fighting. At least we had that fight in us.”

The Gems will have another chance to confirm their spot at the World Cup when they take on Antigua and Barbuda on Saturday’s seventh and final day.

Other Thursday results saw Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls get by St. Lucia 85-30, St. Vincent beat Antigua & Barbuda 66-30 and the USA getting a 44-35 win over the Cayman Islands.

On Friday, Antigua and Barbuda will play St. Lucia, the USA will battle Grenada, Jamaica will play Barbados and St. Vincent & the Grenadines will play the Cayman Islands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barbados and St. Vincent & the Grenadines scored dominant victories to kick-off the Netball Americas World Cup Qualifiers at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston, Jamaica on Sunday.

Barbados opened the competition with a commanding 67-27 victory over the Cayman Islands.

It was a relatively close affair after the first quarter as the Barbadians, currently ranked 13th in the world, led 13-4.

However, the Gems ramped up the intensity in second quarter stretching the lead to 21 to end the half ahead 34-13. They widened the lead 48-21 heading into the final quarter when they capped a fine display with 19 goals in the period to wind up 67-27 winners.

Goal shooter Faye Agard led the way for Barbados with 51 goals from 59 attempts while goal attack Brianna Holder had 16 goals from 21 attempts.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines were equally dominant in their 51-24 win over the USA.

St. Vincent got out to an early lead as the Americans struggled to put points on the board. The end of the first quarter saw the Vincentians up 15-3 and by halftime, the score was 30-9. The third quarter was no different as the USA found themselves getting their first basket at the four-minute mark, ending the quarter down 15-37 before ultimately suffering a 24-51 defeat.

Goal shooter Mary Ann Frederick led the way for S. Vincent & the Grenadines with 22 goals from 26 attempts while goal attack Kimesha Antoine also attempted 26 shots, converting 21 of them.

Coach of St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Godfrey Harry, said his team got what they expected.

“It was predictable. We were expecting to win this game and we did. One of the things that we wanted to make sure of was that we experiment and use the depth of our team. All the players stepped up to the plate, which was great for us,” he said.

Despite the loss, USA assistant coach Keithan Grayson-Superville said she expects improvement after what was her team’s first international action in years.

“They didn’t do as much as I would’ve liked to see today but it’s our first game and we haven’t played internationally for over four years. We’re going to take it game by game and, as we go, we’re going to try to improve. We’re a work in progress.”

Jamaican mixed martial artist Randy Brown secured a unanimous decision win over Brazilian veteran Francisco Trinaldo at UFC Fight Night: Dern vs Yan in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Trinaldo, 44, went into the fight with a 28-8 record in MMA and 18-7 in the UFC, including wins in his last two outings.

“Trinaldo was a heck of a test. I don’t think that was my best work. I know my coaches know that and I think the fans watching at home know it as well,” he said in the post-fight interview.

“I’m excited. He was a true veteran, absolute honor to just get in there and mix it up with him. I definitely felt that experience in there so much love to Trinaldo and I appreciate that,” he added.

Brown, 32, is now 16-4 in his MMA career (9-4 in the UFC) and has four wins in a row in a loaded welterweight division and made it known where his focus is going forward.

“It doesn’t really matter to me to be honest, I’m ready. I want to just bounce back in and get one more for the year. I just want to keep moving forward and keep running it up and getting cheques. That’s what it’s about. I want to take care of my family and leave a legacy,” he said.

Giovanni Reyna is expected to return to action within 10 days despite suffering a muscle strain on international duty, handing the United States a welcome boost ahead of the World Cup.

Reyna was substituted during the first half of the USA's goalless draw with Saudi Arabia earlier this week, after which it was revealed he had suffered from "muscle tightness".

His exit from that match – his country's final friendly ahead of November's trip to Qatar – set alarm bells ringing, particularly given Reyna missed much of last season with similar muscle injuries.

But Borussia Dortmund head coach Edin Terzic moved to allay fears of another long-term absence on Thursday, stating: "Gio has a strain and will be out for seven to 10 days. We hope he is available to play following the Sevilla game on Wednesday."

Terzic was also able to offer a positive update on Marco Reus' fitness after the BVB captain was injured in a 1-0 win over local rivals Schalke earlier this month.

"In Marco Reus' case, the injury is fortunately not as bad as first feared," Terzic added. "We hope he will be able to slowly ease his way back into team training after the weekend." 

Dortmund have won five and lost two of their first seven Bundesliga games this campaign to trail surprise leaders Union Berlin by two points.

Japan stepped up their World Cup preparations with a deserved 2-0 friendly win over the United States on Friday, as Gregg Berhalter's team produced a flat performance in Dusseldorf, Germany.

With Chelsea's Christian Pulisic left out after sustaining a minor injury in training, the USA struggled from the first whistle and fell behind to Daichi Kamada's side-footed finish.

Berhalter's team were indebted to Arsenal goalkeeper Matt Turner for keeping the game alive after the break, but he could do nothing to prevent Kaoru Mitoma picking his spot to seal Japan's victory late on.

Turner got down to his right to deny Kamada with a reflex save 13 minutes in, but was beaten by the Eintracht Frankfurt man when he tucked a neat first-time finish into the bottom-right corner after 24 minutes.

The offside flag looked set to deny Japan, but the goal was awarded following a VAR review after Walker Zimmerman was shown to have played Kamada onside as he latched onto Hidemasa Morita's pass.

Turner was forced to divert another Kamada effort away from the bottom-right corner after 65 minutes, and made a fine reflex save to tip Ritsu Doan's strike over the crossbar 10 minutes later.

Brenden Aaronson's wild effort was the closest the USA came to a response, and Mitoma made Japan's win safe by curling into the bottom-right corner from long range with two minutes remaining, as Turner's resistance finally waned.

Sergino Dest is ready to give "100 per cent" in order to secure his long-term future at Milan following his loan move from Barcelona.

The United States international is on a season-long loan in Serie A, with a purchase option, following a frustrating 2021-22 campaign under Xavi at Camp Nou.

A pair of Champions League appearances has seen the 21-year-old on European rotation so far, but there are suggestions he will be given his chance to prove his worth with the club.

Asked ahead of this weekend's crucial clash with Napoli what he must do to earn a longer stay, Dest spoke of his commitment to the Rossoneri cause, adding that he is settling into life in Italy.

"What I can do is give 100 per cent so that Milan can decide to keep me," he stated. "Settling into Italy is going well, it has all be very fast.

"I haven't had much time to look around and visit the city, but everyone in the team is very welcoming. It's not easy to remember all the names, but the coach helps me."

Dest was included in the latest USMNT squad for their final matches ahead of the Qatar 2022 World Cup later this year.

Though his place is likely secure on the plane, the right-back will hope for a string of impressive performances at club level to cement his spot.

Aston Villa’s Leon Bailey and West Ham United’s Michail Antonio headline a 23-member Reggae Boyz squad to face two-time World Cup winners Argentina in an International Friendly in the United States on September 27.

The squad, unveiled by the Jamaica Football Federation on Monday, also includes six reserves.

This will be the third meeting between the two teams.

They first met in the group Stages of the 1998 FIFA World Cup when Argentina secured a 5-0 victory while their second time opposing each other came 17 years later in the Group Stage of the 2015 Copa America with Argentina once again coming out on top 1-0.

The full squad reads as follows:

  1. Michail Antonio – West Ham United 
  2. Shamar Nicholson - Spartak Moscow
  3. Andre Gray - Aris 
  4. Kaheem Parris- Dynamo Kyiv
  5. Daniel Johnson - Preston North End 
  6. Bobby Reid -  Fulham 
  7. Damion Lowe -  Inter Miami 
  8. Leon Bailey -  Aston Villa 
  9. Ravel Morrison -  DC United 
  10. Kevon Lambert -  Phoenix Rising 
  11. Jonathan Russell -  Huddersfield FC 
  12. Kevin Stewart -  Blackpool 
  13. Amari Bell -  Luton Town 
  14. Gregory Leigh -  Ipswich Town 
  15. Joel Latibeaudiere -  Swansea City 
  16. Jamoi Topey-Mount Pleasant 
  17. Javain Brown Vancouver -  Whitecaps FC 
  18. Jamal Lowe- AFC Bournemouth 
  19. Richard King -  Cavalier SC 
  20. Adrian Mariappa -  Macarthur FC 
  21. Kemar Foster (GK) - Waterhouse FC 
  22. Dillon Barnes (GK) -  QPR 
  23. Jahmali Waite (GK) -  Pittsburgh Riverhounds 

 

RESERVES 

  1. Maliek Howell -  University of Memphis
  2. Ricardo Thomas -  Dunbeholden 
  3. Demario Phillips -  Mount Pleasant 
  4. Jourdain Fletcher -  Unattached 
  5. Corey Burke - Philadelphia Union 
  6. Coniah Boyce Clarke (GK) -  Reading FC

 

The 2022 Pan American Handgun Championships are set for September 15-22 in Frostproof, Florida and member of the Jamaican delegation, Ryan Bramwell, says the team is well-prepared for a good showing.

“We look forward to a great event and will represent our club and country to the best of our abilities,” Bramwell said.

The event is an International Practical Shooting Council (IPSC) level four match that is held every three years and comprises the regions of the USA, Canada, The Caribbean and South America. The last edition of the championships was held in Kingston in 2018.

Originally scheduled for 2021 but postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event is expected to be the largest IPSC match held in this hemisphere with 700 shooters from 25 countries registered.

Jamaica, with a 26-member strong team, will be sending the largest delegation they have ever sent to an international match.

“It promises to be the largest Pan American Hand Gun Championships ever held,” said Bramwell.

“We’ll be competing in four divisions: production optics, production, standard and open. We’ll also be competing in individual and team categories as well as categories of overall senior and lady categories. Lesgar Murdock, Andy Yapp and myself are the three senior shooters that will be leading the charge and we’ll also have a set of talented individuals such as Adrian Randle, Alrice Palmer and Darin Richards, to name a few, who’ll  be pushing hard for medals. On the ladies side, our best female shooter, Yeonnie Campbell, is also looking for a medal in the production division,” he added.

The full teams are as follows:

  1. Open: Lesgar Murdock, Rory Wilson, Alberto D’ascola, Ryan Gourzong, Bernard Lawrence.
  2. Standard: Andrew Yap, Paul Dixon, Ellsworth Dixon, Owen Campbell.
  3. Production: Yeonie Campbell, Sanjay Welsh, Matthew Smith-Barrett, Florence Golding.
  4. Men’s Production Optics: Ryan Bramwell, Alrice Palmer, Adrian Randle, Andre Oddman, Darin Richards, Arjun McPherson, Michael Wilkinson, Robin Rickhi, Thomas Hall.
  5. Lady’s Production Optics: Renee Rickhi, Sasha Mullings, Kayla Keane, Shayon Francis.

Bramwell also noted that the postponement was a positive for the team because it gave them more time to prepare.

“During that time, we’ve been much better able to prepare for the event and the new shooters are now better prepared for a match of this magnitude. The competition that we will come up against will be of world class quality,” he said.

Jamaica will also have 10 officials at the Championships, six of whom will represent the International Range Officer Association (IROA) and the other four represent the National Range Officer Institute (NROI).  

IROA officials: Lennie Moulton, Al Stewart, Gregory Wong, Keith Miller, Latoya Wright, Evan Medley

NROI Officials: Rohan Wilson, Charlton Vanriel, Rohan Wallace, Tanya Stewart.

Jamaica will also be sending a team to The World Shoot scheduled for November this year in Thailand. 

 

 

 

 

Jamaica’s Under-15 reggae Girlz suffered a 0-5 defeat at the hands of Canada to kick off their CONCACAF U-15 Girls Championship at the Hillsborough County Sportsplex Field 2 in Florida.

Nikolina Istocki got a double while Keira Martin, Annabelle Chukwu and Taegan Stewart got the goals for the Canadians.

In the other Group B match on the day, defending champions the USA hammered Puerto Rico 12-0.

Jamaica’s next game will be against the dangerous Americans on Tuesday while Canada will take on Puerto Rico.

Bayern Munich defender Chris Richards has joined Premier League side Crystal Palace on a five-year deal.

The eight-cap United States international spent the majority of the past two seasons on loan with Hoffenheim, where he made 34 appearances.

He was pushed further down the central-defensive pecking order at Bayern following the arrival of Matthijs de Ligt from Juventus earlier this month.

Palace confirmed on their official website on Wednesday that Richards has put pen to paper on a long-term contract at Selhurst Park.

Patrick Vieira's side are reported to have paid an initial £8.5million (€10m), potentially rising to £11m (€13m), for the 22-year-old.

Richards, who departs Bayern having made 10 first-team appearances after joining from FC Dallas in 2018, is looking forward to a new challenge in England.

"I grew up watching the Premier League and grew up watching [Wilfried] Zaha, so it'll be cool to spend some time on the field with and be a part of this historic club," he said. 

"I'm really excited for it. It's a lot of young players but also young players who have a lot of fight. Palace is a club that seems like they're always fighting."

Richards was given a permanent contract by Bayern after impressing on an initial trial basis four years ago, but he was unable to become a regular in the senior side.

"Chris came to the FC Bayern Campus at the age of 18. He demonstrated his talent in his first year when he played for our reserves," Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic said.

"That's why we signed him from FC Dallas, and Chris went on to develop really well on loan at Hoffenheim. 

"Now his big desire is to succeed in the Premier League. We wanted to make that possible and we wish him all the best at Crystal Palace."

Richards is Palace's fourth signing of the window after Sam Johnstone, Malcolm Ebiowei and Cheick Doucoure.

Jamaican 100m hurdler Britany Anderson believes someone will go below 12 seconds in the event one day.

Anderson, who won her maiden national title in June, took home her first global medal when she won 100m hurdles silver at the recently concluded World Athletics Championships in Eugene.

She ran a new personal best and national record 12.31 in the semi-finals on Sunday before returning to run a wind-aided 12.23 to claim second in the final later that day behind Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan who ran an insane wind-aided 12.06 for victory, hours after setting a new world record 12.12 in the semi-finals.

2015 World champion Danielle Williams previously held the national record of 12.32 which she set in 2019.

“I’m feeling really great. I’m excited that I came out here and did my best. It’s really great, the crowd is great and the energy out there is amazing,” Anderson said in a post-race interview.

She also revealed that it wasn’t a perfect race for her despite the fast time.

“The middle of the race wasn’t the best because I kept hitting the hurdles but thank God I finished with a medal,” she said.

The track at Hayward Field in Eugene has long been known to produce extremely fast times, an experience Anderson now knows first-hand.

“It’s definitely one of the fastest tracks I’ve run on. All I can say is we were blessed to have the perfect conditions, even though the time in the finals was wind-aided,” she said.

With the world record now standing at 12.12, “most definitely,” was Anderson’s response when asked if she thinks someone will go under 12 seconds in the 100m hurdles.

“The girls are really competitive so anything can happen. The hurdles has been so competitive these last few years. The girls have shown up and shown out and we can do so much more. The event, to me, is one of the best out here because it’s so technical. We have to keep the stride and the focus while going so fast,” Anderson said.

“I feel like we’re getting more control over our technique,” she added.

 

 

The recently concluded 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene saw the Caribbean region grab the opportunity to represent themselves well on a global stage with both hands.

The region took home 17 medals in total including five golds, nine silvers and three bronzes with Jamaica leading the Caribbean medal count with 10 ahead of Grenada and the Dominican Republic who got two each while the Bahamas, Barbados and Puerto Rico all took home one apiece.

There were a number of standout performances throughout the 10 days starting with Jamaicans Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson.

Fraser-Pryce produced a championship record 10.67 to defend her 100m title and win her fifth in total. Fraser-Pryce also won her second 200m medal in her World Championships career, a silver in a season’s best 22.81.

Jackson ran a personal best 10.73 for silver in the 100m behind Fraser-Pryce and followed that up with one of the performances of the championships in the 200m. She produced a time of 21.45 to win her first global title and become the fastest woman alive over the distance.

Double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah came third in the 100m in 10.81 to complete Jamaica's second consecutive 100m clean sweep at a major championship.

Fraser-Pryce, Jackson and Thompson-Herah then teamed up with Kemba Nelson to win silver in the 4x100m in 41.18 behind the USA (41.14).

We now move to the 400m where the Caribbean women swept the medals. Bahamian Shaunae Miller-Uibo became the first female to complete the world event cycle (gold medals at the World Youth Championships, World Junior Championships, World Indoor Championships, World Championships and Olympics) by finally winning her maiden world title with a world-leading 49.11.

The Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino, the world leader coming into the Championships, followed up her silver medal in Tokyo last year with 49.60 to claim silver once more.

Barbados’ Sada Williams produced a brilliant personal best and national record 49.75 to take home bronze, becoming the first Barbadian woman to win a World Championship medal.

In the men’s equivalent, Grenadian superstar Kirani James ran 44.48 for silver behind American Michael Norman (44.30). This was James’ third World Championships medal and first since 2015 when he won bronze.

Paulino was also part of the brilliant quartet that took the Dominican Republic to gold in the Mixed Relay. Paulino combined with Fiordaliza Cofil, Lidio Andres Feliz and Alexander Ogando to run 3:09.82 for gold.

Staying on the track, Jamaica’s Britany Anderson followed up on the promise she’s shown all season to secure a silver medal in the 100m hurdles.

Anderson ran a new national record 12.31 in the semi-finals before running a wind-aided 12.23 to secure the silver medal behind Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan who clocked an astounding 12.06 for victory after running a legal world record 12.12 earlier in the semis.

Puerto Rican Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn ran the same time as Anderson to take home bronze.

Jamaica picked up silver medals in both the men's and women's 4x400m relays. The men comprising of Ackeem Bloomfield, Nathon Allen, Jevaughn Powell and Christopher Taylor registered 2:58.58 to finish behind the USA (2:56.17) while the women with Candice McLeod, Janieve Russell, Stephenie Ann McPherson and Charokee Young produced 3:20.74 to finish behind the Americans (3:17.79).

In the field, Grenada’s Anderson Peters became only the second man to defend his javelin world title.

The 2022 world leader produced a best throw of 90.54m to successfully defend his title from Doha three years ago, replicating a feat only matched by Czech world record holder Jan Zelezny who won consecutive world titles in 1993 and 1995 before returning to top spot in 2001.

Peters produced an amazing series, registering 90.21m, 90.46m, 87.21m, 88.11m, 85.83m and 90.54m in his six rounds.

Jamaica’s Shanieka Ricketts produced a season’s best 14.89m to take silver in the women’s triple jump behind Venezuelan world record holder and Olympic champion Yulimar Rojas (15.47m).

Ricketts produced jumps of 14.89m, 14.86m, 14.37m, 14.40m, 14.62m and 14.80m for one of her best series of her career.

The region will be hoping for an even better showing at the 2023 World Championships scheduled for August 19-27 in Budapest, Hungary.

 

 

 

 

Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, Brittany Anderson and Megan Tapper all looked comfortable as six Caribbean women safely advanced to the semi-finals of the 100m hurdles at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene on Saturday.

Anderson, who won her first Jamaican national title in June, was first up and comfortably advanced to the semi-finals with 12.60 to win heat one.

There was also a major casualty in the first heat as defending world champion Nia Ali of the USA failed to advance after clipping the ninth hurdle and falling to the track.

Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico was next up, running 12.52 to win heat two ahead of Bahamian world indoor silver medallist Devynne Charlton (12.69).

Jamaican 2015 world champion Danielle Williams finished second in heat three with 12.87 to advance. Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan cruised to a new national record 12.40 to win the heat.

Costa Rica’s Andrea Carolina Vargas ran 13.12 for third in heat four to advance.

Tapper, bronze medallist at the Olympics last year, ran 12.73 to finish second behind American Alia Armstrong (12.48) in heat five and progress.

World leader and world record holder Kendra Harrison of the USA ran 12.60 to win heat six and advance.

Shanieka Ricketts could not contain her joy when the reality set in that she was a World Championships triple jump silver medalist once again.

“I was overjoyed when I realized that I won the silver medal. It felt like redemption from missing the podium in Tokyo by a mere three centimetres,” she recalled while speaking with Sportsmax.TV earlier this week.

“When I remember the journey to the podium, the days that we could not train when the distances were not forthcoming, and all the times when we wondered if we would be ready, it really felt like a dream come true, and it would not be possible without the help of God, my coach Kerrylee Ricketts and my agent Norman Peart.”

After winning silver in Doha in 2019 behind the virtually invincible Venezuelan, Yulimar Rojas, Ricketts, as she pointed out, was unable to replicate the performance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where her best effort of 14.84m was only good enough for fourth.

Fast forward to 2022 when armed with the lessons learnt from Tokyo, Ricketts encountered an unexpected new challenge early in the season.

“I started experiencing some tension in my knee in January. We had to take a break from doing technical sessions and it also restricted me from doing explosive lifts and sprints for some time,” she recounted.

Those early struggles manifested in the form of a few relatively off-colour performances -13.94m at the John Wolmer Speed Fest at the National Stadium in Kingston in March; 14.27m at the Velocity Fest 10 also in Kingston on April 2 and 14.15m seven days later at the USATF Bermuda Games.

She capped off the string of underwhelming performances with a 13.95m performance at Velocity Fest 11 at the National Stadium on April 23.

Notwithstanding, the underwhelming outings, Ricketts ended up a winner in each competition but she knew she had to be much better if she was to contend for a medal in Oregon.

In fact, she admits that her confidence began to wane as the marks were nowhere close to what she needed to be able to take on the world’s best come July.

“It did to some extent, especially when things were not going as planned,” she conceded, “but, I know that every season is different and sometimes challenges occur that you have to overcome in order to reach the goals that you have. So I did my best to focus on the things that I could control, trust my coach, trust the program and trust the process and hoped for the best.”

Sure enough, things began to change.

“Things began to improve in May and there were times when I wondered if I would be able to perform at my best at the world championships because I knew that in order to be on the podium I have to jump at least 14.70 and I have not seen that result all year,” she explained.

On May 13, she produced a season-best 14.82 for yet another victory in Doha and then reeled off marks of 14.35 and 14.52 before winning at Jamaica’s National Championships with a less than stellar 14.27m.

She isn’t clear on when things finally came together but what is certain is that they did and at just the right time.

“I know that a lot of persons were ahead of me on the performance list for this season, so I had to bring my ‘A’ game in order to medal,” said Ricketts who qualified for the finals in Oregon with 14.45m but with the intention of jumping much farther once the final began on Monday night.

“The goal for the final was to produce a big jump in the first round to take the pressure off me and put the pressure on the field. Then do my best to keep improving as the rounds progressed.”

She did exactly that. 14.89m on her first jump, a mark only surpassed by Rojas, who would subsequently win her third world title in as many championships.

For Ricketts, it all came down to what happened in Tokyo last year. That was where the rebound started and ended nicely for the four-time national champion.

“Not winning a medal in Tokyo really motivated me to work harder, and to never underestimate any of my opponents.  The experience also helped me become fearless because I know how to navigate both winning and losing,” she said.

“Winning feels much better and yields the best outcomes so I always strive to win but I am not afraid to lose.”

At the conclusion of the world championships, Ricketts returns home for a few days before flying off to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England where she hopes of a golden conclusion to a season that did not begin with much promise.

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