As he sat watching the conclusion of the Women’s long jump competition on Thursday’s opening day of Jamaica’s National Track and Field Championships, Coach Kerry-Lee Ricketts, overwhelmed by emotion, lowered his head into his hands and quietly shed a tear.

This was moments after his charge Tissanna Hickling had been declared national champion by virtue of her second jump of 6.85m that booked her a ticket to the World Athletics Championships in Budapest next month.

The new personal best almost never was as officials initially deemed the jump, Hickling’s second, a foul. The decision was eventually overturned on appeal handing her the victory over three-time Jamaica champion Chanice Porter, who produced a wind-assisted 6.72m for second place. 2023 NCAA champion Ackelia Smith soared out to 6.66m for third place.

When the results were finally announced, Ricketts paced back and forth trying to contain his emotions before eventually taking a seat and lowered his head into his hands. Asked why the open display of emotion, Ricketts replied, “Emotional because being a jumps coach in Jamaica is very rough. We basically get the eat and lef’ (crumbs) off the plate.

“2021, during Covid, UWI (the University of the West Indies) basically cut the (track) programme. They cut me and Okele Stewart and I didn’t know what to do.”

Faced with desperate times, Ricketts said he resorted to what at the time was a desperate measure.

“I sold my car, invested in myself and started Ricketts Performance Centre. I had a lot of athletes and a lot (them) were influenced to leave my camp and it went down to just two athletes - Shanieka Ricketts and Tissanna Hickling. To know that Tisanna stuck with me, believed in me; last year, she had an injury and that basically ruled her out at trials so to see her qualify here tonight, it means the world me.”

Hickling, meanwhile, expressed gratitude for what so far has been her best year as a professional long jumper.

“I just really need to give God thanks because on paper, mentally and physically this has been my best year and training has been going well and it was just to come out here and execute,” she said.

“Last year this time I was in eighth place with lots of injuries. It was a really down year for me. I had an ankle injury and it was really bad.”

Joining Ricketts Performance Centre, she said, where she trains with Shanieka Ricketts, the two-time World Championships triple jump silver medallist, has been a boon.

“Training with a world champion and a Diamond League champion has been really motivating for me because she actually pushes me in training,” Hickling said. “And then the vibe is just really positive and it all showed today.”

Tissanna Hickling is Jamaica’s national long jump champion for a third time after taking the event on day one of the JAAA/Puma National Senior and Junior Athletics Championships at the National Stadium in Kingston on Thursday.

The 25-year-old, who entered Thursday’s competition with a personal best of 6.82m set back in 2019, bettered that mark by .03m to add to her 2018 and 2019 crowns, achieving the automatic qualifying standard for the 2023 World Championships in Budapest later this year in the process.

Hickling produced a consistent card, bettering 6.50m with all her jumps.

Chanice Porter, also a three-time national champion, was second with a best jump of 6.72m while the University of Texas’ Ackelia Smith, the current NCAA champion and world leader with 7.08m done in May, was third with a best jump of 6.66m.