Janieve Russell successfully defended her title and Shiann Salmon took silver but a hoped-for clean sweep of the Women’s 400m Hurdles did not materialize at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games on Saturday.

It was South Africa’s Zeney van der Walt who played the role of a party crasher, unfurling a gritty, brilliant late run to deny the third Jamaican measured for the podium, Rushell Clayton, a place on the platform. 

Clayton had looked a lock for the medals early on, even leading the race at the top of the bend, just ahead of Russell.  Even after Russell surged past the three Jamaicans were well clear of the field with five metres to go but nobody saw van der Walt.  Clayton tied up badly just metres from the line and the South African surged past, her late run taking her almost into second spot. 

The Australian finished in 54.47 a new personal best and the same time as Salmon.  Russell finished well clear with 54.14 and Clayton further back in 54.67.

Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls registered a historic 67 – 51 win over New Zealand to advance to the netball final of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England on Saturday.

The result followed up another big win for the team, after getting by world number one-ranked team Australia in Pool A.  The Jamaicans are now scheduled for a rematch with the Australians in the final.  The Australians defeated England 60-51 in the day’s other semi-final.

Against New Zealand, Jamaica captain Jhaniele Fowler had a perfect 54 goals from 54 attempts to lead her team.  The Jamaicans got off to a strong against the world number two ranked team and ended the first quarter with an 18-9 lead.  It was an advantage they never really surrendered, despite a strong fourth-quarter rally from the Kiwis.  New Zealand were led by Grace Nweke who netted 24 goals from 24 attempts.

New Zealand will face off with England in the bronze medal match, which will also take place on Sunday.  The appearance will be the first in the Commonwealth Games final for the Sunshine Girls, having previously won three bronze medals.

Jamaica’s women’s 4x100m relay team put on a dazzling performance to smash the U20 world record at the World Athletics U-20 Championships in Cali, Colombia on Friday.

The quartet of Serena Cole, Tia Clayton, Kerrica Hill, and under-20 100m world champion Tina Clayton took apart the field to stop the clock at 42.59.  The mark improved on the previous record of 42.94, which was also set by a Jamaican quartet at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya last August.

The mark was also just outside of the 42.58 clocking set at the Carifta Games earlier this year, by Cole, Tina and Tia Clayton as well as Brianna Lyston, which was eventually rejected by World Athletics because one of the members of the team, Tina Clayton, was not drug tested at the completion of the race, due to a procedural issue. 

The United States were a distant second in the event but also set a new national record after clocking 43.28.  The USA was represented by Jayla Jamison, Autumn Wilson, Iyana Gray, and Shawnti Jackson.  The home team quartet of Maria Alejandra, Marlet Ospino, Melany Bolaño and Laura Martínez took bronze in 44.59.

In the men's equivalent the Jamaican quartet of Bouwahjgie Nkrumie, Bryan Levell, Mark-Anthony Daley, and Adrian Kerr crossed the line in third position behind South Africa and Japan but were upgraded to silver following the disqualification of South Africa.

Jamaica’s Briana Lyston continued the country’s dominance of the women’s sprint events after claiming the 200m title at the World Athletics U20 Championships, in Cali, Colombia on Friday.

After heading into the final as a heavy favourite, the inclement weather did very little to slow the young Jamaican speedster as she pulled away from the field to take the title with a time of 22.65.

America’s Jayla Jamison chased the Jamaican to the line, to finish second in 22.77, a new personal best.  Another Jamaican Alana Reid also clocked a personal best of 22.95 to take the bronze medal.

The Jamaicans also managed to add to their tally in the field, as high jumper Brandon Pottinger held his nerve to take the gold medal with a leap of 2.14m. Following a break in the competition due to a steady downpour,  the Jamaican was the only athlete of six to clear the height.  Brian Raats of South Africa and Bulgaria’s Bozhidar Sarâboyukov shared the silver medal with a mark of 2.10m.

Jamaica Sunshine Girls head coach Connie Francis has credited the team’s commitment to patience as a crucial component in a historic win over Australia at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games on Thursday.

The Jamaicans registered a 57-55 win in the Pool A encounter, a result that marked the first time the Sunshine Girls were registering a win over the number one ranked team at the Commonwealth Games.

The Sunshine Girls staged a furious fourth-quarter rally after trailing Australia 46-40 at the end of the third.  According to Francis, a key part of that success had to do with taking better care of the ball.

“We went back to the basics, pushed it around, looked for short and long passes, something that we are not accustomed to but we have implemented for this tournament,” Francis said.

“We decided we were going to be very patient and not make silly passes, only one silly turnover was on the side and I thought we should not have gone there because we had other players that could have taken the ball,” she added.

“At that stage in the later part of the game when we surged forward, they were determined to keep the lead because that is what we have been practicing and that is what they wanted.  They wanted this victory more than anything else.”

The team’s highest finish at the Commonwealth Games is third, which they have achieved on three separate occasions.

The opening round of the 2022 Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships unfolded in the Turks and Caicos Islands on Wednesday with all of the expected competitiveness and somewhat unexpected weather conditions, leaving both the team and Individual leaderboards intriguingly poised.

Players from nine CGA member countries battled both high winds and - during the closing sessions - heavy downpours in an eventful first day.

Puerto Rico and Cayman are tied for the lead in the men's Hoerman Cup Team standings, with the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago rounding out the top five.

In the Ladies' Team competition for the George Teale trophy, Jamaica sat atop the leaderboard, by a two-stroke margin over Puerto Rico, followed by the Dominican Republic, Barbados and the Bahamas respectively.

Vying for individual honours, Gustavo Rangel from Puerto Rico is the individual leader with 2 under par for 70.

The Cayman Islands' Justin Hastings and the Dominican Republic's Rhadames Peña carded an identical 71 (1 under) to lead the chasing pack comprising Payten Wight of the Cayman Islands and Puerto Rico's Kelvin Hernandez.

Caymanian Holly McLean, with 75, was a stroke ahead of Puerto Rico's Darianys Guzman in a similarly close contest for the women's individual honors. Also in the mix are the Dominican Republic's Yae Yun Kim, with 77, and the "two Emilys" - Mayne of Jamaica and Odwin of Barbados, who carded identical 78s.

The Arthur Ziadie trophy for the best overall team also remains virtually anyone's game, with Puerto Rico in the lead at 14 points and Jamaica 2 points behind followed by Dominican Republic with 10 points

The 37th running of the Caribbean Senior Squash Championship will take place in Jamaica, August 21 - 27 at the Liguanea Club in Kingston. 

Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Guyana, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago and host country Jamaica are the eight countries who will field approximately 140 participants for the one-week tournament. 

Chris Binnie who is currently ranked #1 in the region is among the top Jamaica players who have won Senior CASA titles. Binnie is a 9-time All Jamaica and Caribbean Senior Men’s Champion. 

Meghan Best, defending champion in the female section from Barbados has registered to participate. The tournament will also feature 13-time All Jamaica Senior Women’s Champion, Karen Anderson.

Fierce competition is expected from Adrian Grant, former world #9 playing for Jamaica in his first CASA, young national champion, Shomari Wiltshire from Guyana, Chayse McQuan from T&T and Adam Murrils from the BVI. Teams will start arriving from August 19. 

Corporate support includes title sponsors Wisynco through their brand, WATA; Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF); Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA); Sports Development Foundation (SDF); Ernst & Young; Fleetwood; Levy Cheeks and Best Dressed Chicken. 

Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls rallied from a six-point fourth-quarter deficit to stun three-time gold-medallists Australia to top Pool A at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Thursday.

In the intense battle between the unbeaten top two teams in the pool, Jamaica led by Jhanielle Fowler’s 47 goals from 50 attempts and Shanice Beckford’s perfect 10 from 10, outscored the Diamonds 17-9 to pull off their first victory over the three-time champions at the Commonwealth Games.

Australia enjoyed a slim one-goal lead at the end of the first quarter 14-13 but as Jamaica gained confidence they matched the Australian’s 16-16 to remain one goal down at the half-time break.

The experienced Australians surged to a five-goal lead in the third quarter, winning the stanza 16-11 before the Jamaicans, the only team to score 100 goals in a match at this year’s Games, turned the game on its head with a 17-9 score-line to get a famous victory. Jamaica levelled the score with eight minutes to go before taking the lead for good with four minutes left to play.

Australia’s Gretel Bueta led the Diamonds’ scoring with 36 goals from 39 attempts while Steph Wood scored 19 goals from 22 tries in the losing cause.

Tina Clayton set a new championship record on the way to defending her 10m title and winning Jamaica's first gold medal at the 2022 World U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia on Wednesday.

Clayton ran a lifetime best and new national U20 record of 10.95 to claim gold ahead of teammate and schoolmate Serena Cole who clocked 11.14 for the silver medal. American Shanti Jackson ran a personal best 11.15 for the bronze medal.

Clayton won her first U20 title in Nairobi, Kenya in 2019.

Earlier, Brian Level advanced to the finals of the men’s 200m. Level won his heat in a new lifetime best of 20.34.

In the final, he will face the 100m champion Letsile Tebogo of Namibia, who set a WorldU20 record of 9.91 in the final of the 100m on Wednesday. Jamaica’s Bouwahgjie Nkrumie ran a new national U20 record of 10.02 for the silver medal.

Jamaica has won five medals so far at these championships.

There was a surprise winner in the 110m hurdles with Bahamas’ Antoine Andrews taking the gold in a World U20 leading 13.23.

He capitalized massively after gold medal favourite Matthew Sophia crashed into the final hurdle and stumbled across the line in third in 13.34, having to take solace in the fact that he set a national U20 record.

The USA’s Malik Mixon clocked a personal best of 13.27 for the silver medal.

Jamaica's Danniel Thomas-Dodd failed to successfully defend her Commonwealth Shot-Put title but captured a hard-earned silver medal in Birmingham on Wednesday.

After an event-leading 18.98, registered in the third round, Thomas-Dodd seemed set to successfully defend her title.  It was not to be, however, as Canadian Sarah Mitton registered a massive 19.03 to take the lead in the sixth and final round.

With one throw to go, Thomas-Dodd could not find a response.  Maddison-Lee Wesche of New Zealand was third in 18.84.  Another Jamaican in the field, Lloydricria Cameron, finished just outside the medals in 17.62.

Jamaica's reigning double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah added the Commonwealth 100m title to her list of accomplishments after winning the event in comfortable fashion in Birmingham on Wednesday.

The Jamaican headed into the final as a heavy favorite and easily lived up to that billing after dominating the event to cross the line in 10.95.  St Lucia’s Julian Alfred continued an excellent season after finishing second to the Jamaican in 11.01.  Great Britain’s Daryl Neita was third in 11.07.  The Bahamas' Tynia Gaither and Jamaica’s Natalliah Whyte were 7^th and 8^th respectively.

The medal was the third for the athlete at the event, but her first individual medal, adding to 4x100m relay gold and silver medals in 2014 and 2018 respectively.

In the men’s equivalent, Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala claimed top billing after winning the event in 10.01, ahead of South Africa’s Akani Simbine, the defending champion, who was second in 10.13.  Sri Lanka’s Yupun Abeykoon was third in 10.14.  No Caribbean male athlete made the 100m final.  Jamaica’s Kemar Bailey-Cole, who won the event in 2014 finished fourth in the semi-finals.

Jamaica’s Under-15 continued to struggle at the 2022 Concacaf Girls’ Under-15 Championship in Tampa, Florida after suffering a heavy 11-0 loss at the hands of the United States on Tuesday.

The young Reggae Girlz opened the tournament in Group B with a 5-0 loss to Canada.  Where Nikolina Istocki led the way with a pair of goals for the Canadians.

Things would get a good deal worse for Jamaica as the rampant United States, the competition’s defending champion handed them an 11-0 loss.   Abby Ballek scored four goals, while Alexandra Pfeiffer bagged a brace to lead the way for the North Americans.

The United States began the competition with a 12-0 win over Puerto Rico.  The Jamaicans will face Puerto Rico in the final group match on Thursday.

Jamaica’s Ebony Drysdale Daley won the country’s first Commonwealth Games medal in the sport of Judo after claiming silver in Birmingham on Tuesday.

Competing in the women’s 70 kg category, Daley was outpointed by Australia’s Aoife Coughlan.  The Australian was the aggressor from the outset as opposed to the Jamaican who took a more passive approach to the final.

The approach did not pay dividends, however, as Coughlan was handed the win, a golden score in the extra period when a third shido penalty was issued to Daley.

The British-based Drysdale Daley made history by being the first athlete to represent the country at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.  The medal was the first for Jamaica at the event.

Bahamian 400m world champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo is looking forward to the challenge of competing regularly in the 200m after officially hanging up her spikes for the 400m event.

Having added the World Championship title to two Olympic gold medals, at the Oregon World Champions last week, the 28-year-old sprinter has expressed a desire to break new ground.  As such, Miller-Uibo has targeted trying her luck full-time over half the distance.

These days, however, the half-lap event is not for the faint of heart.  Three of the fastest times in the event’s history have been recorded in the last year.  Two Jamaicans, Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah, and world champion Shericka Jackson have the world record in their sights. It's a competitive field.

Despite the fierce competition, however, the Bahamian is confident about making her mark.

 “The plans for me are the 200 which has always been my first love and get back into that,” Miller-Uibo said.

“I have run 21.7 without proper training. Once we go at it, I think we can do better,” she added. 

“They’re setting the stage pretty high.  I’m so proud of the girls and I think that they’re really showing out right now and showing the world exactly what we can do. I can’t wait.”

The athlete will have her first test next Saturday when she faces Jackson in Poland.

Hydel High School has received a timely gift of sports gear that includes football boots and goalkeeper gloves courtesy of Champions Football Academy, a non-profit organization based in Atlanta, Georgia, that has been operating outreach programmes to Jamaican schools and communities for more than 14 years.

Ryan Foster, Chairman Hydel Group of Schools, received the donation on behalf of the school. The donation is a timely fillip for the Hydel Group of Schools that is about to embark on an ambitious football programme aimed at making the school among the best in Jamaica.

The school recently hired veteran coach Devon Anderson, who will lead the initiative.

"Hydel Group of Schools is extremely elated by the support given by Champions Football Academy. Both institutions have partnered through sport as a social tool used for nation building,” said Damion Howell, the Director of Sports at Hydel and a member of the new board of directors.

“These gears will go a far way in restarting the sport at the school since the pandemic and we see this as a good way to encourage the next generation of footballers by providing much needed resources."

Hydel Group of Schools is not only entity to benefit from the largesse of Champion Football Academy, whose mission it is to enhance the lives of children in safe and supportive environments by providing innovative training programs and plant-based nutrition that prepare and inspire them to succeed.

 Champion Football Academy also dedicate their resources to ensuring that youth in under-served communities have greater access to quality programs and services that help promote healthy lifestyles, academic success, and strong leadership skills.

Driven by that mandate Champion Football Academy has provided year-round support in Payneland Jamaica. They also host annual football camps and make sizeable donations of gear and equipment donations tor primary and secondary schools, sports programs, and inner-city communities.