Fireworks expected for UWI Invitational at Usain Bolt Track

THE 14th staging of the University of the West Indies (UWI) Track and Field Invitational Meet will be held on Saturday, March 21, 2015 at the UWI Usain Bolt Track.

The meet has been a staple of the Jamaican track and field calendar for over a decade now and has attracted top names such as Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce since its inception in 2001.

Staged by the UWI Sports Development Unit, the meet is primarily a means of facilitating Jamaican athletes’ participation and subsequent development beyond the high school level through organised, quality competition.

Also, the meet is part of the university’s alternative income-generating activities, whereas proceeds go directly into financing scholarships for student athletes and upgrading sporting facilities.

Grace Jackson, the 1988 Seoul Olympics 200 metre silver medallist and head of the UWI Sports Development Unit, is expecting yet another stellar meet in 2015 as athletes gear up for a big year in the sport of track and field.

“We are expecting a massive year. It’s a World Championships year and with the Olympics to follow in 2016, athletes are aware that they need to get in as much race time to prepare themselves for major championships.

“This is a mid-season meet and your form at that point is crucial to any success at major championships. The meet has always been well-supported by elite athletes and we are expecting an even greater turnout this year as everyone will be looking to improve their personal bests and season bests heading into the Championship months,” said Jackson.

In addition to the elite athletes who generally steal the limelight at the meet, there is also quality competition for a non-elite section.

Athletes can participate individually or as part of a club or team along with the University athletes who also partake in this class.

The 2015 staging of the UWI Track and Field Invitational Meet is expected to be a blockbuster event as athletes will be readying themselves for impressive performances ahead of the National Senior Trials and World Championships.

Patrons can therefore expect fireworks as top athletes are expected to clash in the 100m, 200m and 110m hurdles.

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Fireworks expected for UWI Invitational at Usain Bolt Track

Oneil mullings back on the track after injury

After numerous falls and injuries, jockey Oneil Mullings with his never-say-die attitude continues to do what he loves best–ride racehorses.

On August 16, 2014, Mullings was among four jockeys involved in a spill during the day’s last race. Mullings and apprentice O’Brien White were both taken to hospital by Caymanas Park emergency personnel for treatment. Mullings was diagnosed with a broken right leg, the same leg which he had broken before, while White was treated and released. The other jockeys involved in the spill, Aaron Chatrie and Delroy Beharie were both sent home after receiving treatment. Mullings, who is still on the racetrack exercising horses in the mornings, returned to competitive race riding on Saturday when he partnered the Andrew McDonald-trained Albebaran, who finished third in the last race.

THE ‘WASP’ RETURNS

Longtime jockey Barrington ‘Wasp’ Harvey returns to the saddle tomorrow. Harvey, who mainly rides in the United States at the Golden Gate racetrack in California, is listed to ride Jarreau and Golden Opportunity.

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Oneil mullings back on the track after injury

Work begins February on new running track at G C Foster College

Thursday, January 15, 2015 | 4:53 AM    

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Work is set to begin next month on a new running track for the G C Foster College of Physical Education and Sport in St Catherine.

General Manager of the Sports Development Foundation (SDF), Denzil Wilks made the disclosure recently.

“We are now finalising the contract and we are expected to begin work by mid- February,” he said.

The SDF head also informed that the new track, which has been contracted to the German company Berleburger Schaumstoffwerk, will cost some $168 million and should be completed by early May.

He explained that the contract will involve construction of a protective base.

“The base that is laid and for which the track will be placed is absolutely critical and that is dependent on the nature of the surface. In the case of G C Foster, what you have is a clay surface that tends to expand when wet and contract when dry, and so you cannot have a track, which is laid on a base that will do that, hence a protective base will have to be built to protect the track,” he outlined.

Work will also include the installation of a drainage system as well as surface conditioning.

The new track is set to receive Level II International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) certification when completed.

 “We expect that it (the track) will give us excellent service for a minimum of

10 years,” Wilks said.

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Work begins February on new running track at G C Foster College

Some Rio track and field finals set for morning sessions — IAAF

THERE will be at least one final in all of the morning sessions during the track and field programme at the Rio Olympic Games in 2016, the IAAF announced yesterday.

After earlier announcing a return to the format that was last used at the 1988 Games in Seoul, South Korea, it was confirmed yesterday with the publishing of the track and field schedule for the Games that will be held August 12-21 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

“All five road events — the two marathons and the three race walk events — will be held in the morning sessions, although both 20km race walks will be in the early afternoon,” the release from the IAAF said.

“Other morning finals include the women’s 10,000m, men’s and women’s 3000m steeplechase, men’s 400m hurdles, men’s triple jump, men’s and women’s discus, and the women’s hammer.”

The rationale for the change was “having finals in the morning will also ensure that we receive maximum visibility for athletics at the Olympic Games across all time zones”, IAAF competitions director Paul Hardy was quoted as saying.

“Staging finals in the morning was done at the request of the Rio 2016 Organising Committee and the Olympic Broadcasting Service, supported by the International Olympic Committee,” Hardy’s quote went on.

– Paul Reid

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Some Rio track and field finals set for morning sessions — IAAF

Up for track honours, Gatlin shrugs off critics

BY PAT GRAHAM AP Sports Writer

Sunday, October 12, 2014    

JUSTIN Gatlin is far more interested in winning races than popularity contests.

Still, the American sprinter with a doping history doesn’t quite understand the backlash over his nomination for track and field athlete of the year.

Gatlin went undefeated in the 100 and 200 metres this season, a year that didn’t include a major meet and one in which Usain Bolt chose to give his nagging injuries time to heal.

But Gatlin’s inclusion for track’s annual award has angered some athletes. So much so that Olympic discus champion Robert Harting even withdrew from consideration.

Gatlin insisted again and again in an interview with The Associated Press that he’s served his time — four years for testing positive for excessive testosterone in 2006 — and should be at least considered, especially after going 18-0.

His reaction to those showing so much displeasure is this: Why over an award? Why not after he captured a bronze medal at the 2012 London Games or silver at the 2013 World Championships?

“Not a peep, then. Not a stir,” Gatlin said. “I don’t make any waves. I don’t say anything bad about anybody. I don’t point fingers.

“I’m sad to say that a lot of people out there feel that, ‘Once a doper, always a doper.’ But that makes no sense. That means you don’t believe your system is working.”

The 32-year-old sprinter said he’s been tested often by US Anti-Doping Agency, World Anti-Doping Agency and IAAF, the governing body of track.

Scepticism remains, though, when he finished in 9.77 seconds in Brussels last month, a mark achieved only by the world-record holder Bolt, Tyson Gay, Yohan Blake and Asafa Powell. That’s also the time Gatlin was running in 2006, when he tested positive.

“For some reason in an off year, when I run 9.77 with no medal of any sort, and now I get all of this backlash?” Gatlin said. “I guess people feel like if my two feet get me across the line in first, that’s good enough. But they don’t want me to win a popularity contest.”

There was originally a 10-man list of nominees for the award issued by IAAF, until Harting took his name out of the running, with the German telling Spiegel magazine, “It’s insulting for me and my fans.” The winner will be announced next month.

“I didn’t ask to get nominated,” Gatlin said. “My choice was to run and win races and be dominant for myself. My job is not to go out and lose. My job is to win. That’s what I’m supposed to do, like everyone else nominated.”

Travis Tygart, the CEO of USADA, believes Gatlin deserves a chance at redemption.

“The rules incorporate the notion of second chances by allowing someone to return after they have served their sanction,” Tygart wrote in an email. “If we don’t like this then let’s change the rules but it’s not fair to move the goal line during the game.”

In the middle year of an Olympic cycle and with no World Championships this summer, Gatlin overhauled his training programme. He ate healthier and slimmed down to 175 pounds. He also fine-tuned his technique in Florida.

For as fast as he runs, though, his past always catches up. A number of Diamond League meets won’t include him because of his history.

The 2004 Olympic champion tested positive for amphetamines in 2001, but arbitrators decided Gatlin didn’t take it to cheat and that doctors prescribed it to treat attention deficit disorder, first diagnosed when he was nine.

“Stopped taking it cold turkey right then, once I tested positive,” said Gatlin, a former star at the University of Tennessee.

Five years later, he tested positive again, this time for testosterone. USADA and the IAAF pushed for an eight-year ban. He served four years.

“I took my lumps, sat my time down, came back and worked hard to make my way back to the top,” he said.

When he returned in 2010, Gatlin was running 10.26. As he lowered his time, he increased his detractors.

That didn’t bother him.

This insinuation, however, did: At the University of Oslo, researchers gave mice testosterone — the same hormone for which Gatlin tested positive — and found the resulting super-mice developed muscle changes and performance benefits that lasted long after doping stopped.

“For the few haters out there, seems like that’s what they want to do, discredit my name and label me with laboratory rats in Oslo, and say, ‘Oh, steroids are in your system for decades and decades,”‘ Gatlin said. “A lot of athletes that tested positive, they never came back and ran times close to the times they ran when they were positive. I think that proves hard work and dedication on my behalf.

“I’m not doing anything that’s a secret to anybody. I’m just going out there and believing in myself.”

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Up for track honours, Gatlin shrugs off critics

Bright start for Jamaica in Track & Field at Commonwealth Games

Jamaica’s track and field competitors have started brightly at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

Kemar Bailey-Cole has so far logged the fastest time in qualifying for the men’s 100 meters. He won his heat in 10.16 while Jason Livermore was also a heat winner, easing to 10.26

National Champion Nickel Ashmeade also won his heat, in 10.40 seconds

Swimming

Earlier, in the pool, Alia Atkinson continued her quest for gold when she won her heat in qualifying for the semi-finals of the 100m breast-stroke.

Atkinson swam a time of 1:07.95 to win her heat by over two seconds. She has the second fastest time  going into the semis.

Netball

The Sunshine Girls registered their third straight victory after crushing host nation Scotland 68-26 in netball.

The Jamaicans led by quarterly scores of 17-8, 31-15 and 51-18 before going on to the win.

They will next play Malawi in a crucial match on Monday.

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Bright start for Jamaica in Track & Field at Commonwealth Games

Sabina Park lighting on track for July 22 testing

All is in place for the Sabina Park lighting project to be completed before the July 31 deadline.

Minister with responsibility for Sport,  Natalie Neita Headley, along with Jamaica Cricket Association officials and a representative from the Indian High Commission assessed the progress of the project on thursday, where Project Manager Wayne Reid says the lights should be ready for testing by July 22.

Minister Neita Headley was satisfied with Reid’s update, and noted the equipment inclusive of the standby generators are all at Sabina Park awaiting final installation.

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Sabina Park lighting on track for July 22 testing

City Flight, Noon It Is return to the track

Sport

BY OBSERVER RACING WRITERSaturday, September 07, 2013

CITY Flight, the imported filly trained by Gary Subratie and owned by Michros, who ignited the racing scene late last year and earlier this season with some scintillating performances, returns to competitive racing today on the 10-race card after an enforced break of 210 days.The imported three-year-old dark brown filly, unbeaten in five starts, had a series of mishaps which forced her connections to restrict her racing career until she was well enough to do so. City Flight last faced the starter on February 9, when she easily defeated Rio Cobre, and El Poderoso. It was that fifth win by City Flight which had the tongues of racing pundits wagging and wanting for more. She won all her five races easily and was poised for an outstanding career until sickness intervened.Noon It Is, a four-year-old bay imported filly, has a racing record of nine wins from 21 starts. Her last victory came on March 6 when she defeated Blast Them Away and The Guv going over the six-furlong distance, thereby establishing herself as one of the top horses in the land. The anticipated and much talked about rematch with Blast Them Away took place one month later, with the latter turning the tables.Noon It Is finished a floundering eighth in that race when it became obvious to those watching that all was not well with the filly. It was later discovered that she was ill and has been out of racing since, a total of 154 days.Now both are returning, to the relief of owner Michael Bernard, the owner who heads the Michros syndicate. “I am indeed very happy. Both horses have come on very nicely after their respective encounters with illness. We took our time with them and now they are ready to race again. Both City Flight and Noon It Is have been meticulously prepared and I am very pleased with how they have responded in training for the race tomorrow (today),” Bernard said.Stable jockey with the Subratie barn, Omar Walker, is the regular rider for both horses. Bernard says it was a real difficult choice for the rider and his agent to decide which of the two horses to ride in today’s race.“It was a really difficult choice for Omar (Walker) between City Flight and Noon It Is. In the end after much consideration, he chose to ride City Flight,” Bernard said.City Flight in one of her victories.

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City Flight, Noon It Is return to the track

Jamaica on the track

Sport

By Norma Tavares Sunday, July 28, 2013

In The Making of a Sprinting Superpower, Arnold Bertram presents an inspiring account of Jamaica’s climb to the pinnacle of success in track and field athletics — a journey spanning more than 100 years from the end of the 19th century to the present day.In his preface, Bertram urges all Jamaicans, and in particular the elite sprinters of the modern era, to “develop an appreciation for the giants on whose shoulders they stand”. In subsequent chapters he expands on the monumental labours of these giants, who often had to struggle against overwhelming odds.The reader is struck by the author’s deep respect for the sacrifices made by such trailblazers as GC Foster, Ted Lamont, Carl March, ‘Foggy’ Burrowes and Noel White, to whom this book is collectively dedicated. However, Bertram underscores the pioneering role of GC Foster who, as sprinter, coach, mentor and physiotherapist, led the national effort which carried Jamaica’s athletes to their landmark success at the 1948 Olympic Games in London.Bertram’s perspective on the elements contributing to the prowess of Jamaican sprinters centres on genetic factors, on the daily habit of walking and running over rugged terrain, and on organic nutrition. He also cites the choice of energetic dancing as a preferred leisure activity. This combination of factors, he posits, laid the groundwork for the coaches and mentors charged with preparing athletes for excellence on the track.Throughout the book, the reader is entertained with fascinating anecdotes of various sporting triumphs and inevitable disappointments experienced by our superstars, among whom Usain Bolt predictably holds pride of place. A detailed set of tables at the end will satisfy those who are curious about Jamaica’s performance at various international meets since 1948, including the Olympic Games.It is a joy to read the thoughtful comparison drawn by Bertram between Bob Marley and Usain Bolt, the two most recognised Jamaicans in the world today. Whereas Marley’s consciousness was shaped by his early years in a deprived urban community and by the struggles of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, Bolt has grown up in a world dominated by a focus on the accumulation of wealth. Yet, in their ascent to the top, both men maintained “a generosity of spirit that is always becoming in superstars”.The author reminds us of the odds against which Jamaican athletes had to compete during the Cold War when the superpowers introduced anabolic steroids and “over 100 other substances which were later banned” in order to maintain their dominance in the sporting arena. At the book launch on July 18, Bertram urged all Jamaicans to remember that the foundations for Jamaica’s rise to the top of the sprinting world had been painstakingly laid over the past 100 years. He also stressed that Jamaica’s status as a global sprinting superpower had been achieved long before the current allegations of “banned substances” that have shown up in tests carried out on a handful of Jamaican athletes.Bertram’s enthusiasm for the subject matter and the depth of his research are obvious throughout the book. It is sure to be a favourite among devotees of track and field athletics, and will no doubt attract the attention of newcomers to the sport.

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Jamaica on the track

Blake pulls plug on track season

Sport

BY PAUL A REID Observer writer Friday, July 19, 2013

MONTEGO BAY, St James — There are indications that former IAAF World 100m champion Yohan Blake has called it a day on his injury ravaged season.Shortly after the announcement of his withdrawal from next month’s IAAF World Championships in Moscow, Russia, after failing to get over a hamstring injury he suffered in April this year, Blake released a statement that his season was over.“Unfortunately, I will be unable to defend my title this year at the World Championships in Moscow. I know this is very disappointing news for my fans and supporters, but please understand that pulling out was the best decision for me at this time,” the statement read.It continued: “I would like to thank you all for your love and support. I know that I have a long and bright future ahead of me, so I will see you guys next year on the track!”Blake, whose personal best 9.69 seconds set late last year makes him the joint second fastest man of all times with American Tyson Gay behind Usain Bolt, was injured while running a 100m race at the UTech Classic in mid-April and took an eight-week break before running a 200m just before the JAAA National Senior Trials. However, he later withdrew from the Trials as his management team said he was not fit enough to compete.As the winner of the men’s 100m gold medal at the most recent IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, in 2011, Blake had an automatic bye into the World Championships and was not obligated to compete at the National Trials.

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Blake pulls plug on track season

Hockey federation on track, says Mitchell

AFTER 18 months in charge of the Jamaica Hockey Federation (JHF), president Leon Mitchell, believes his organisation is on track to achieve their mandate.

“From where I sit, we are nearly there. We are basically on track in what we felt we were able to achieve,” Mitchell told the Jamaica Observer Sports Club at the newspaper’s Beechwood Avenue headquarters yesterday.With a mission statement to foster, encourage, develop, administer and play the game of hockey locally, regionally and internationally, the JHF is busy in trying to achieve those goals.A change of infrastructure, upgrading of the Mona facility and enticing more youngsters at school to fall in love with the sport are some of the issues on hand.“To be frank, we had planned the turf change last year but it got caught up with the 50th anniversary celebrations. So we were kind of sidetracked a little bit. Plus we made a conscious decision to go to Mexico which we did and that was within the first mandate,” noted Mitchell.“We are quite proud of the fact that we sent two teams, both boys and girls at the same time,” he continued.“My main mandate was to change the infrastructure and getting the facilities funding which I must confess was started by the previous administration,” said Mitchell, who took charge in 2011.“If you don’t have an infrastructure where we can accommodate international games, teams and (somewhere) comfortable and safe for all levels of persons who play hockey to come to, you start behind the eighth ball,” he argued.Plans are in the pipeline to upgrade the facility and have a world-class water-based turf installed for high quality-international competitions but that could cost between $20 million and $30 million.The astro turf at the Mona facility is said to be approximately 15 years old and Mitchell believes in order to attract top teams and to host international tournaments, the entire facility must be upgraded.Currently with a football field next door the astro turf, the venue is rented to offset the JHF’s expenses.Plans are afoot to have the facility rebranded by a potential sponsor or renamed in honour of a past player.“What we want to do is start the process of renaming the venue after some stalwart of hockey, or whether it be through a sponsored programme having a company come in,” Mitchell, who is the assistant general manager of Jamaica National Building Society, pointed out.“We also started the process with NWC in re-signing the lease and negotiation for the property with them and we are planning to get another 20-odd years,” he revealed.According to Mitchell, if all of this could be achieved before November, he would be very satisfied after taking over from Victor Tomlinson.“We like to say we put hockey back up there. Having a sport recognised internationally and the quality of hockey has improved significantly,” said Mitchell.“We are not eighth or ninth in the region, we are on par to get to fifth or fourth and that’s where we want to measure ourselves,” he added.“To get to that finish line we have to re-market, reposition hockey and we haven’t quite got there yet. We all need to come together as a team to better hockey,” he pleaded.“Whatever the challenges we have to overcome them as a unit. They did very well in the 90s in hockey and we need to get back to that same resurgence and deliver hockey to another level,” said Mitchell.Jamaica Hockey Federation president Leon Mitchell (left) makes a point at the Jamaica Observer Sports Club at the newspaper’s Beechwood Avenue offices yesterday. Also in the picture are vice-presidents Nicole Grant (centre) and Richard Wisdom. (PHOTO: NAPHTALI JUNIOR)

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Hockey federation on track, says Mitchell