Melaine Walker, the 2008 Olympic 400-metre hurdles champion and 2009 IAAF World champion, will get the first test of her credentials as a sprint hurdler when she takes on 2012 Olympic silver medallist Dawn Harper at the Jamaica International Invitational (JII) on May 4. Donald Quarrie, meet director of the JII, said he got word from the hurdler’s handlers weeks ago requesting a lane in the sprint hurdles. The 30-year-old Walker, who is the second-fastest woman of all time over the 400-metre hurdles, recently went through a very public break-up with her former coach Stephen Francis of the MVP Track Club over her ambitions to pursue the sprint hurdles. Now being coached by Fitz Coleman, who is guiding the development of 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Hansle Parchment, Walker will get an early taste of what it will be like going up against some of the world’s best as in addition to Harper, the 2008 Olympic champion, who has a personal best of 12.37 seconds, she also faces two-time NCAA champion Virginia Crawford (12.48) and Jamaica’s Olympic sprint hurdles semi-finalist Shermaine Williams (12.78). Walker’s best time in the event is 12.75 which was achieved back in 2006. Main Invitational […]
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Gore Development Limited has contributed $200,000 to assist Jamaica College’s (JC) track and field team to compete at the annual Penn Relays at the University of Pennsylvania, Franklin Field, Philadelphia, in the United States from April 25-27. “I am pleased to be here on behalf of Gore Development and Mr Phillip Gore in particular to make a contribution to JC’s track and field team to go to the Penn Relays,” Ruthven Ottey, Gore Development’s general manager, stated at the short presentation ceremony during JC’s devotion yesterday morning inside the Karl Hendrickson Auditorium at the institution’s Old Hope Road location. “Personally, I am from an athletic family but I did not get the opportunity to go to the Penn Relays and so I am saying to you, equip yourselves properly and go to the Penn Relays and do well,” the younger brother of legendary Jamaican track icon Merlene Ottey said. Principal of JC, Ruel Reid, thanked Gore Development for their contribution. VERY SPECIAL “JC is very special to so many persons. Our track team has done very well at all meets during the season, so this will encourage us to continue the good work,” Reid said. JC’s sports master […]
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He brands himself as the ‘Sub-10 King’ these days and no one can dispute it, as he has posted a record 88 sub-10 seconds marks in the 100 metres. But with seemingly non-stop injury problems and failure to win an individual medal since his 100m bronze at the 2009 IAAF World Championships in Berlin, the question was asked: is Asafa Powell losing his appeal on the international circuit? According to his agent, Paul Doyle, Powell remains a big name on the circuit, and while there are some concerns from race promoters about his constant injury issues, his client still has a lot to offer. “Is he (Powell) losing his appeal? No, not yet; of course there is some concern when we do deals with meets and people ask if he is going to show up healthy or if he is going to finish the race healthy, but a lot of athletes have that issue,” said Doyle during a recent chat with The Gleaner in Eugene, Oregon. “But he is still a very big name in the sport and still a very much sought-after athlete,” Doyle underlined. Powell, who celebrated his 30th birthday last November, has had his high points […]
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Starkville, Miss.,– With Mississippi State only losing one player from this season’s team, the Bulldogs inked one of the best golfers in Jamaica to strengthen an already talented 2013-2014 club. Johnny Newnham, who attends St. Andrews High School in Boca Raton, Fla., played his junior and senior seasons in the Sunshine State. The senior was named a Florida first team All-state member in 2012. “We are very proud to have Johnny Newnham join the Bulldog golf family,” Coach Clay Homan said. “Johnny is a fine young man with a bright future ahead of him. He has a tremendous amount of power and will only get better as his short game improves.” Originally from Kingston, Jamaica, Newnham has a long list of accomplishments for the island nation. He was the youngest player to be named to the Jamaican national team at the age of 13. Newnham was also the youngest player to compete at the British junior open at the ripe old age of 11. Newnham is also a five-time member of the Jamaican National Team and a two-time Caribbean Amateur Champion. At the Constant Springs Golf Course in 2008, Newnham turned in a 63 to set the Jamaican course’s record. […]
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1980 Bob Marley visited Brazil in preparation for a world tour. The visit was merely a scouting mission for the tour that would be happening the following year. It was a visit that would see the worlds of reggae, Brazilian music and football collide. After taking a stop in Manaus Bob headed to Rio de Janeiro where his primary aim was to play football, and if you are a musician wanting to play football in Rio de Janeiro there is only one place to go; Chico Buarque‘s private football pitch. The teams for the session were: Team A – Bob Marley, Junior Marvin (member of the Wailers), Paulo César Caju (member of the Brazil 1970 squad), Toquinho (Brazilian musician), Chico Buarque and Jacob Miller (lead singer of Inner Circle) Team B – Alceu Valença (Brazilian musician), Chicão (member of Jorge Ben’s band) and four staff from Island Records PHOTO: Back: Junior Marvin, Toquinho e um penetra. Front: Jacob Miller, Chico Buarque, Paulo César Caju e Bob Marley Rio, 19/03/80 VIDEO: Bob Marley scoring a goal: Bob_Marley joue au foot Brazil_1980 by JAHLIVE29 Paulo César Caju, who was a member of the great Brazil 1970 team would later say: […]
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Jamaican Veronica Campbell-Brown and her US counterpart sprinter Allyson Felix and are expected to be among the stars of this year’s IAAF Diamond League and and with three weeks to go before the opening meeting of 2013, on Friday 10 May in Doha, the pair spoke to journalists on Thursday (18). Below are the edited highlights of their conference call, with the London 2012 Olympic Games 200m gold medallist Felix speaking from California and the reigning 200m World champion Campbell-Brown on the phone from Florida. How important are competitions like the IAAF Diamond League as part of your preparations en route to the IAAF World Championships in Moscow? Veronica Campbell-Brown: The Diamond League is very important for my preparations and I like the fact that I get to compete against the best women in the world. It’s a good way to see where you are in respect to the World Championships in Moscow. Allyson Felix: The Diamond League competitions are definitely going to be very important to see where we are at and face top competition with the main goal being, for me, to make the World Championships team. There’s always great match-ups, great competition, and that’s what we […]
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Chapeltown’s Yona Knight-Wisdom, whose father was born in Kingston, is officially Jamaica’s number one diver and has high hopes of joining Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake at the opening parade ceremony of the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Yona made his debut for Jamaica earlier this year when he competed at an international meeting in Dresden, Germany, advancing to the finals. This past Easter weekend, competing for his City of Leeds club, Yona won a Gold in the 1m event at the British Gas Elite National Junior Diving Championships, scoring 502, a new Personal Best. Knight Wisdom also won Silver in the 3m event. “I couldn’t be happier with these results and it gives me huge confidence for the summer international competitions”, said Yona, bubbling with enthusiasm. “It’s also a fantastic way to end my junior career.” [hr] [column2] [/column2] [column2_last] [/column2_last] [hr] The Elite National Championship is the highlight on the domestic junior calendar and was held at the John Charles Centre in Leeds, where the country’s top under 18 divers battled it out for honours. “British diving is at a really high standard at the moment with the likes of Jack Laugher and Tom Daley”, Knight-Wisdom confirmed. “It could […]
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Uriah Hall is a Jamaican Mixed Martial Artist (MMA) artist currently fighting as a middleweight. He is the current Ring of Combat Middleweight Champion. He has fought notable fighters like Chris Weidman and Costa Philippou. Uriah Hall was born in Spanish Town, Jamaica but moved to Queens, New York in the United States at the age of thirteen. Upon his arrival in a new country, he was bullied at school but found refuge in martial arts. He is a second degree blackbelt in Tiger Schulmann’s Mixed Martial Arts under Tiger Schulmann and also competed as a kickboxer in the World Combat League. A contestant on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen. From early days of their time in The Ultimate Fighter house, their roles were cast. Uriah Hall was the flashy, powerful favorite, capable of intimidating the opposition, while Kelvin Gastelum was the inexperienced underdog, the last pick on his team. Hall was one of the heaviest favourites in TUF Finale history, having delivered a series of brutal knockouts during his run to the final. It was an unlikely pairing to end the season, but they both survived the tournament structure to meet in the TUF […]
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University of Technology’s Stephanie McPherson ran another world leading time for the women’s 400 metres at the UTech Classic at the National Stadium yesterday. McPherson who clocked a world-leading and personal best 50.78 seconds for the distance at the inter-collegiate championships a week ago, lowered her time to 50.74 but she still felt she could have done better. “I wanted to run a faster time but the heavy wind affected me, but I am looking forward to the remainder of the season as I am hoping to make the National team to the World Championships this year,” McPherson, a former Mannings’ School student, said after winning her event yesterday. G.C. Foster College’s Anastasia Leroy continued her good early season form, placing second in 53.54 as her former high school teammate, Bobbi Gaye Wilkins-Gooden, in her first competitive race in two years, was third overall in 53.67. Scare for Blake Olympic 100 metres silver medallist Yohan Blake gave his supporters a scare in the men’s 100 metres which was being run at press time. Blake stopped half way the event which was won by St Kitts’ Kim Collins. An official from Blake’s camp said the athlete felt some stiffness in […]
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Jamaica’s Under-17 footballers drops out of the CONCACAF FIFA Under-17 Championship after they were beaten 4-2 by Canada in the quarter-finals in Panama yesterday. The young Reggae Boyz were aiming for a semi-final place which would have given them automatic qualification to the FIFA Under-17 World Cup later this year in the United Arab Emirates. Jamaica went ahead twice in the game, as they led 2-1 at half-time but the confident Canadians dominated the second half and in the process scored three times. Khallil Stewart, who had an outstanding game for Jamaica, netted both goals for the junior Reggae Boyz in the fifth and 44th minutes. Andrew Gordon, led the way for Canada, with a double in the 38th and 75th minutes. Hanson Boakai (61st) and Jordan Hamilton (79th) were the other scorers for the the Canadians. [column2] [/column2] [column2_last] [/column2_last] The speedy and skilful Stewart gave the Wendell Downswell-coached Jamaicans a dream start when he burst inside the 18 yards box to fire home from close range. However, the Jamaican defenders were caught napping in the 38th minute, as Gordon arrived at the back post to head home from inside the six-yard box. SLIM ADVANTAGE Stewart restored the […]
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