Now that he has finally been able to train consistently after two years of disruption caused by the global pandemic, Traves Smikle produced his best throw in three years to achieve the qualifying mark for this summer’s World Athletics Championships at the second JAAA/SDF Jubilee Series meet at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday.

Smikle, the 2018 NACAC silver medallist, threw a season-best 66.60m for the victory, his best throw since he threw 67.57m in January 2019. It was the perfect birthday present for Smikle, who revealed afterwards that it was a welcome reprieve from a tough past couple of years.

“The last two years have been crazy with the pandemic and everything. It was very difficult to get into a training flow and now that things are better, not perfect but better, my coach and I got some consistent work in,” said Smikle, who won JMD$90,000 for the win.

“For the season I have been averaging 64/65m. We have been knocking at the door and we finally got it (the qualifying mark) today on my birthday and I am happy about that.”

Noticeably bigger than he has been in previous years, Smikle revealed that his increase in size is also part of his coach Julian Robinson’s plan for him to throw farther this year.

“One of the things my coach wanted me to do is put on a little more weight and we are doing some explosive work, trying to keep consistent with training and today we saw the fruits of our labour,” he said.

Smikle’s throw makes him Jamaica’s best thrower this year ahead of his training partner and friend, Fedrick Dacres, the 2018 Commonwealth Games champion and 2019 World Championships silver medallist and, at least for now, gives him bragging rights in the Reckless Control training group.

Dacres, he said, is sure to use it as motivation to throw beyond the 65.98m he threw at the same venue just over a week ago, the next time he competes.

“Fedrick is a phenomenal athlete and we have been training hard, he has been working hard and we are on track. It is only a matter of time before he hits a big throw,” Smikle said of Dacres.

“Both of us have been averaging over 65m and we just want to work hard and respect each other. I am pretty sure he has seen this mark and it is going fire him up to get something big so the next time we compete, it’s going to be a good one.”

Danielle Williams, the 2015 100m hurdles world champion, was in fine form on Saturday, winning the 100m dash and 100m hurdles double at the Tennessee Challenge at the Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium in Knoxville.

The 2019 world championships bronze medallist won the 100m in 11.57 ahead of the USA’s Eboni Coby (11.66) and Cote d’Ivoire’s Karel Ziteh (11.68) before returning to win the hurdles in 12.95, comfortably ahead of the only other competitor in the race, Lindsay Cooper of East Tennessee State who ran (14.27).

Williams ran a season’s best 12.61 at the South Carolina Open on April 23^rd, a time that currently puts her seventh on the world rankings for 2022.

Former STETHS sprinter Dashinelle Dyer, now competing for Clemson, was second in the Men’s 100m in 10.37 behind the USA’s Mario Heslop (10.33). Another Jamaican, Noxroy Wright, ran 10.70 for third.

Michelle Lee Ahye ran a season-best 10.94 to win the 100m at the American Track League Orange County Classic in California on Saturday.

Reigning double Olympic champion, Elaine Thompson-Herah, executed a comfortable early-season performance with a dominant showing in the women’s half-lap event at the inaugural JAAA/SDF Jubilee Series on Saturday.

Thompson-Herah left the blocks quickly to effortlessly cover the rest of the field by the top of the curve and shut things down to record a 22.75 winning time.  MVP Track Club's Stephanie McPherson chased her to the line late on and was second in 23.16.  Natasha Morrison was third in 23.52.

In the men’s equivalent, Racer’s Track Club’s Zharnel Hughes finished with the fastest time of the day, after recording 20.56 to win heat 4. 

Olympic 100m bronze medalist Shericka Jackson proved a cut above the rest of the field and powered away midway through the race to claim the women’s 100m in 11 seconds flat.  Her MVP Track Club teammate Anthonique Strachan was second in 11.40 and Sprint Tech’s Remona Burchell third in 11.43.

In the men’s equivalent, Oblique Seville took top spot with a time of 10.00.  The Racer’s Track Club athlete finished comfortably ahead of MVP’s Kishane Thompson, who was second in 10.21, and Kadrian Goldson who was third in 10.24.

Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce registered the fastest women’s 100m season opener in history with a blistering performance at the World Athletics Continental Tour, in Nairobi, Kenya, on Saturday.

In her first appearance on Kenyan soil, Fraser-Pryce looked at home as she took apart the rest of the field with a blistering 10.67 seconds run.  In typical fashion, the decorated sprinter left the blocks in blistering fashion before coasting clear to set the season lead, running into a slight headwind (-0.4ms).

Egypt’s Hemdia Bassant was second with a national record of 11.02, while the USA’s Shannon Ray was third with 11.33.  Olympic 200m silver medallist Christine Mboma did not complete the race as she looked to have pulled a muscle.

“It was very good, the atmosphere was fantastic,” said Fraser-Pryce,” following the event.

“I’m not sure if it was perfect – I’d have to see the replay. But the time tells me that my training has been going great.” she

The run was the third fastest of the athlete’s career and her third sub-10.7 run in the last year.

A change of environment in the offseason seems to be paying off for Natalliah Whyte, Jamaica’s 2019 World Championships gold medallist, who last weekend ran a brand new lifetime best in the 100m, which signalled that good things could be in store for the remainder of the season.

In 2019, Whyte who was then training at MVP International in Florida ran a blistering lead-off leg before handing off to 100m gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce as Jamaica sped to a gold medal in the 4x100m relay at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Notwithstanding the intervening ‘pandemic year’, 2020, when Covid-19 shut the world down; her confidence boosted by the gold-medal performance in Doha, Whyte began 2021 in fine form running a lifetime best of 11.04 at the Pure Athletics Sprint Elite Meet in Miramar, Florida on May 2. However, for reasons that she is yet to comprehend, Whyte failed to make Jamaica's team to the Tokyo Olympic Games after finishing seventh in the 100m semi-finals at the National Championships last June in a disappointing 11.52.

“I don’t know what happened to be honest. I started the season well but didn’t progress,” she said while revealing that the disappointment of not making the team to Tokyo was hard to take.

“I took not making the team really hard but sometimes we rise, sometimes we fall but you have to know how to turn negatives into positives.”

During the season break, Whyte took the decision to leave the MVP International training group for the Rana Reider-led Tumbleweed group in Jacksonville, hoping that a change of environment might bring about the change she needed.

“I eventually started to take the positives from last season and knew that eventually, I had to leave the past in the past because it already happened and there was nothing I could do but work on the future. So this is a new chapter and I am just trying to work even harder, stay healthy and apply what I’m learning,” she said.

So far, it seems to be working well.

On April 30, in her first 100m of the season at the UNF Invitational in Jacksonville, she ran a lifetime best of 10.97 to follow up on the 22.57 she ran over 200m two weeks before at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in Gainesville.

“I’m really happy with the results as much as you would imagine,” she told Sportsmax.TV afterwards. “I just want to stay patient, continue to work on the many things I can improve on and see what else God has in store for me.”

She does admit, however, that despite the early success, making the move to Tumbleweed to work with Reider was not an easy decision but she believes it was the correct one.

“I have to say making changes is hard but sometimes changes can be good,” she said.

“I have been working on a lot of things and also learning a lot of new things so hopefully putting the new knowledge together will help me reach the goals I have made for myself for this season.”

Jamaica track and field superstar Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce insists she will not focus on the absence of American Sha’Carri Richardson ahead of the World Athletics Continental Tour, at the Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi, Kenya, on Saturday.

Instead, the nine-time World Champion is more intent on keeping her attention on the rest of the field that she is set to face, which will include 200m Olympic silver medallist Christine Mboma of Namibia.

Ahead of the meet, a lot of attention had been placed on the possibility of another 100m match-up between the Fraser-Pryce and Richardson, no doubt a spillover from last season which feature a highly-anticipated showdown at the Eugene Diamond League meet.  Just two days ahead of the Continental Tour, however, and for the third time this season, it was discovered that Richardson had withdrawn from the meet without a public explanation being provided.

Last year, the Eugene match-up between Richardson and Fraser-Pryce had been billed as a great redemption story of sorts for the American.  The athlete had missed out on facing the Jamaica medal-winning trio of Fraser-Pryce, Elaine Thompson-Herah, and Shericka Jackson at the Olympics, after being suspended for a month for marijuana usage. 

Despite the American’s presence, however, the Jamaicans finished in the same order as the Tokyo Games, where Thompson-Herah finished ahead of Fraser-Pryce and Jackson third. Richardson finished in last place.

“As far as I’m concerned there are seven other competitors in the race that I think deserve the same amount of attention and respect as me because when we each line up to compete I don’t think we are fearful of who is beside us or in the next lane.  We are just here to compete and give our best,” Fraser-Pryce told members of the media.

“So, if someone is missing from the competition it doesn’t stop me from focusing on what I’m here to do and getting the job done.”

In addition to Mboma, the 100m field will consist of the USA’s Shannon Ray, Maximilla Imali (Ken), Bassant Hemida (Egy), Rani Rosius (BEL), Patrizia Vanderweken (Lux), and Javianne Oliver (USA).

Bahamian quarter milers Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Steve Gardner have reportedly been confirmed for next month’s Paris Diamond League meeting.

The meet will be the seventh in the series, which runs off with the Doha Diamond League meet on May 13.  An appearance at the Paris meeting, scheduled for June 18, could mark a long-awaited return to the city for the reigning 400m Olympic Champions.

Miller-Uibo, who has won the 200m event at the 2017, 2018, and 2019 editions and the 400m, at the 2017 event, has not appeared at the Paris meet since 2011.  Gardiner has yet to win the title and last made an appearance in Monaco in 2019. 

The duo has been in splendid form early this season with Miller-Uibo claiming the 400m title at the World Indoor Championship and Gardiner registering a number of impressive times indoors before opening the outdoor season with world-leading 44.22 seconds at the LSU Alumni Gold meet.

Jamaica high jumper Lamara Distin has been named the United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association National Athlete of the Week and Southeastern Conference Field Athlete of the Week.

The former Hydel standout has been recognized on the back of an exceptional performance last week where she set a world-leading high jump clearance of 1.97m to win the Texas A&M Alumni Muster.

The performance saw the jumper set yet another national record for her country and moved her up to No. 4 on the all-time collegiate list.  It also bettered the previous Texas record, which she also held.

Diston, who was born in Hanover, has been on fire this season, clearing 1.93m in four of the five meets entered so far.  Two of those meets have seen the athlete jumping over 1.96m.

For her country, Distin’s assault on the national record this season began with an opener of 1.96m, set during the Texas Relays, which bettered the previous national best of 1.93 held by Sheree Ruff since May 2010.

The Jamaica Administrative Athletics Association (JAAA) has pledged $3 million for its four-part Jubilee Series for senior athletes in a lead up to the World Championships to be held in July this year. 

The second meet will be held this Saturday, May 7 at the National Stadium starting at 5pm. 

The remaining events scheduled for May 7, 21 and June 4 will feature: 100m M/W, 200m M/W, 400m M/W, 400mH M/W, 100mH W, 110mH M, Long Jump (M/W), Discus (W/M).

“Track and field has been a major part of Jamaica’s history, and in the 60th year, we will continue to provide suitable competition for our senior athletes,” says JAAA President Garth Gayle.

“We thought we should offer our senior athletes an opportunity to sharpen their performances for the National Championships and other professional outings leading into the World Championships in July,” he added.

The events will be at the National Stadium and will run for two hours on each occasion running from 5 - 7 pm. As part of the offer, the JAAA will allow its dedicated fans to enter the Grandstand free of cost. 

The event is being held in partnership with the Sport Development Foundation (SDF) and PUMA.  

In the only race she has planned for the month of May, Olympic gold medallist Briana Williams ran a season-best 11.03 while finishing second in the 100m at the Pure Athletics Global Invitational in Clermont, Florida.

In what was her first race since suffered a tight hamstring at the USATF Golden Games in Walnut, California on April 16, Williams advanced to the final after winning her preliminary round heat in a wind-assisted 10.96 (5.3m/s).

In the final, she locked strides with Tanisha Terry until late in the race when the American pulled away to win in 10.94.

Maia McCoy was the best of the rest, running 11.20 for third.

Williams, 20, races next in the 100m on June 12 at the USATF Grand Prix in New York before she travels to Jamaica for the National Senior Championships scheduled for June 23-26.

Former Hydel High star sprinter Ashanti Moore, meanwhile, ran out a comfortable winner in the 200m. The powerful sprinter, who now trains at Pure Athletics alongside some of the world’s best sprinters including the 2019 World 200m champion, Noah Lyles, clocked a nippy 23.02 easily defeating Lily Kaden (23.21) and Camile Laus (23.63).

Lyles was equally dominant in the men’s 200m which he won in 19.86 over Trinidad and Tobago’s Jereem Richards (20.06) and his brother Josephus Lyles, who ran 20.20, his fastest-ever season opener.

Kimberly Williams jumped a wind-assisted 13.93m to win the triple jump by one centimetre over Naomi Metzer (13.92m). Sineade Gutzmore jumped 13.22m for third.

Citing the presence of the BVI Olympic Committee and financial support from a shoe sponsor in PUMA, Steve Augustine, President of the British Virgin Island Athletics Association (BVIAA) is not overly concerned about the possibility of athletes from his country switching allegiance to represent the United Kingdom in international competition.

Augustine was speaking recently on the online Talk Sports show with Michael Bascombe in the wake of the success the BVI enjoyed at the recent 49^th edition of the Carifta Games held at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica.

At the Games held from April 16-18, the BVI won four gold medals, two silver and a bronze for one of their best-ever medal hauls. Three of those gold medals were won by the imperious 16-year-old Adaejah Hodge, who was voted the winner of the coveted Austin Sealy Award.

But as is the case with many small island nations, there have been occasions when athletes choose to transfer allegiance to other countries in search of greater stability and support. In the recent past, Olympian Miguel Francis, who was born in Montserrat and resided in Antigua, chose to represent the United Kingdom in international competition.

Augustine said while the issue has surfaced in recent conversations with colleagues, he is not overly concerned.

“It’s something that we have spoken about at a high level, at the association level but we have never had to face that battle,” said Augustine, whose islands boast two of the best athletes in the world – Kyron McMaster and Chantal Malone – in the 400m hurdles and long jump respectively and who still represent the BVI in international competition.

“One of the good things about the BVI is that we have an Olympic Committee existing on the island, the BVI Olympic Committee. There are other territories that are under the umbrella of the United Kingdom that do not and for them, that becomes the obvious option to perhaps leave their home countries and compete for the United Kingdom.

“It’s not something that we have paid much attention to. It is indeed an option of athlete wants to do that, there is a process through World Athletics, you can’t just jump up and compete for the UK tomorrow, there is a process.”

That said, Augustine believes the BVIAA treats its athletes well which in all likelihood makes them want to remain at home.

“We were super happy a few years to be sponsored by PUMA, so our athletes are well geared. They look really nice in their uniforms. Those simple things that probably would have been problematic for us in previous years, are no longer an issue, so the little things that we do do, our athletes are appreciative.

“There is a whole lot more than we can do. Perhaps there is a benefit if they were to compete for the United Kingdom but there is no better place to be a king than at home.”

Olympic champion Hansle Parchment has two wins from two starts so far this season after he strode to victory in the 110m hurdles at the 2022 Drake Relays at the Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa on Saturday.

Running into a stiff headwind of -2.5m/s, 31-year-old Tokyo Olympic gold medallist, clocked 13.47 to follow up on his victory at Velocity Fest 11 at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday, April 23. Then he ran a fast 13.20, a time that was the world lead for a few hours before the USA’s Devon Allen ran 13.12 in Annapolis.

On Saturday, Parchment who had his first injury-free season in a number of years proved unbeatable in his first race in Des Moines since 2016, holding off the challenge of Jamal Britt, who clocked 13.53 for second place and Barbadian Shane Braithwaite, who was third in 13.69.

In the long jump, the USA’s Kenturah Orji jumped 6.69m to defeat her friend and former roommate Chanice Porter of Jamaica. Porter unleashed a jump of 6.59m to take silver by one centimetre ahead of Ese Brume (6.58m).

Former Hydel and Kansas State high jumper Kimberly Williamson cleared 1.85m for third place in the high jump won by Vashti Cunningham, who soared over 1.90m for victory. Rachel McCoy was second by virtue of a cleaner record on the day having also bowed out at 1.85m.

Trinidadian Olympian Tyra Gittens was a winner in the high jump at the LSU Invitational where some Caribbean athletes had podium finishes on Saturday.

Lamara Distin literally continues to soar to new heights each week.