NASSAU, Bahamas, CMC – Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, and hosts The Bahamas were the only Caribbean nations that were able to book teams into the Olympics this July-August in Paris, France from the World Athletics Relays, which ended on Sunday.
The Jamaicans were the most successful, qualifying teams for all but one of the relays – the men’s mile relay – in the French capital after the two-day meet at the Thomas A. Robinson Stadium, while T&T got in two teams and the Bahamians only one.
World Athletics, the sport’s world governing body, confirmed that 14 teams in each of the five relay disciplines contested – the women’s and men’s 4×100 metres and 4×400 metres plus the mixed 4×400 metres – automatically qualified for places.
Two nations – Great Britain & Northern Ireland, and the United States – each qualified a full slate of five teams for Paris, while the Jamaica were among the six – France, Germany, Italy, Nigeria and Poland were the other – that qualified four each.
While most of the Olympic places have been secured, teams still have a chance to qualify with a further two places in each discipline being awarded based on top lists during the qualification period from December 31, 2022, to June 30 this year.
The Jamaica men’s 4×100 squad of Bryan Levell, Kadrian Goldson, Ryiem Forde, and Sandrey Davison were the first to qualify after they clocked 38.50 seconds and finished runners-up to Canada in the third heat of qualifying on Saturday.
The top two teams in each of the four heats of the relays on Saturday automatically booked their places for the Olympics and secured spots for their respective finals on Sunday, when prize money was being offered and lane seedings for Paris was being secured – but Levell, Goldson, Forde, and Davison combined for a time of 38.88 secs, and they finished seventh in the final won by the United States.
Also on Sunday, both Jamaica and T&T qualified for the women’s 4×100 relays after finishing 1-2 in the second heat of the second round of qualifying – but they did not make it to the final, which was won by the United States.
The Jamaican squad of Jodean Williams, Tia Clayton, Remona Burchell, and Alana Reid ran 42.74 to win the heat, and the T&T team of Taejha Badal, Reese Webster, Reyare Thomas, and Leah Bertrand clocked 43.54.
Jamaica got their place in the women’s 4×400 relays after they won the first heat of the second round of qualification when the squad of Charokee Young, Ashley Williams, Junelle Bromfield, and Roneisha McGregor finished in three minutes, 28.54 seconds.
The Trinidad & Tobago quartet of Asa Guevara, Jereem Richards, Che Lara, and Shakeem McKay had to dig deep to defy fast-finishing Olympic host nation France to grab their place in the men’s 4×400 relays.
T&T finished second behind Brazil with a time of 3 mins, 02.39 seconds, only five hundredths-of-a-second quicker than the French in the third heat of the second round of qualifying.
The combination of Steve Gardiner, Shania Adderley, Alonzo Russell, and Shaunae Miller-Uibo brought delight to the World Relays host, Bahamas when they ran 3:12.81 and won the first heat in the second round of qualification for the 4×400 mixed relay.