ON DAY 2 OF CANADA CUP Alia Atkinson racked up another 2 victories on day 2 of Canada Cup in Etobicoke, ON. Alia won the women’s 50 breast in Canada Cup record time of 29.87; a record which she previously set in the preliminaries earlier in the day. Martha McCabe and Tera Van Beilen were second & third respectively with 31.34 and 31.58. For Atkinson, that was another Jamaican Record, and pushed her to 10th of all time. Atkinson is so incredibly strong, which is how she won an NCAA title (though in the 200) at A&M. Her long course has really come a long way since then, including a 4th-place finish at the Olympics in the 100 in 2012, but her short course hasn’t suffered one bit. Atkinson’s best swimming may be yet to come, and it’s encouraging to see the South Florida trained swimmer sticking around in the sport for now. Alia also won the 100IM in a time of 59.96 (another personal best and National Record), but was dethroned in the 50 fly by 16 year old Noemie Thomas of Vancouver. Thomas clocked a 25.99 to Alia’s 26.85 andKaterine Savard’s 27.00. Savard had won the 200 fly earlier in the day […]
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TORONTO, Canada, November 23. ALIA Atkinson and Kelly Aspinall put on a show tonight as both swimmers turned in title trifectas in short course meter competition at the Canada Cup in Toronto this evening. Alia Atkinson smashed the meet record in the women’s 100 breast with a swift 1:04.69. That effort downed the 1:05.52 set by Tara Kirk back in 2008. The swim pushed Atkinson to second in the world this year behind only Jessica Hardy’s 1:04.58 from the Berlin stop of the World Cup tour. The performance also represents a Jamaican record, blasting Atkinson’s previous mark of 1:06.05, shooting her to 10th all time in the event. Martha McCabe touched second in 1:07.19, while Tera Van Beilen wound up third in 1:07.60. Atkinson returned later in the evening with a winning time of 2:11.71 in the women’s 200 IM. Erika Hodgson Seltenreich touched second in 2:12.35, while Paige Schultz earned third in 2:15.11. Atkinson moved into the top 20 in the world this year with that performance. Atkinson continued her stellar evening with her third title, this time by way of a 25.35 in the women’s 50 free. Heather MacLean placed second in 25.73, while Laura Galarza picked up […]
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Colombo: An inspired West Indies tonight clinched the ICC World Twenty20 crown with a comfortable 36-run victory over Sri Lanka, riding on Marlon Samuels` brilliant counter-attacking knock to win a major global title after over three decades. Batting first in front a 35,000 partisan crowd, Samuels held his nerve as he smashed a heroic 78 off 56 balls to steer West Indies to 137 for six and then the Caribbeans shot out out the hosts for 101 in 18.4 overs. It is the West Indies` first world title after a gap of 33 years having won the ODI World Cup back in 1979. They did triumph in the Champions Trophy in 2004, but that is not considered a World Cup. For Sri Lanka and Mahela Jayawardene, it was another case of `so-near-yet-so-far` having now lost four World Cup finals (two 50 overs and two T20s) across two categories. After Lasith Malinga was caught in the deep, Darren Sammy and his bunch of dedicated soldiers broke into an impromptu Gangnam dance as there was a deathly silence at the R Premadasa Stadium. Samuels played one of the most memorable innings under pressure as he thumped five of his half a dozen […]
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Minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for sports, Natalie Neita-Headley, is hoping a precedent will be established with the offering of monetary tokens to all the athletes who represented the country at the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. Forty-seven athletes formed the Olympic team which amassed 12 medals – four gold, four silver and four bronze – the most in the country’s history, while the three-member Paralympic team captured one gold medal. Usain Bolt is set to have the biggest payday, having won gold in the 100m and 200m, as $1 million will be awarded to each individual gold medal winner. The other $1-million recipients will be Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who captured the women’s 100m, and Alphanso Cunningham, who won gold in the men’s javelin F52/F53 at the Paralympics. There will be a pool of funds to be divided among the six members of the various relay teams, with other awards for Olympic and world records still being developed at a committee level. CREATING PRECEDENT “What I am doing now is creating a precedent going forward because 2016, I am not expecting that we are going to yield less. I am expecting that we are going […]
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Jamaica bulldoze through England to level the Series and force decider in Sheffield Jamaica bounced back from an opening defeat to secure a hard fought win over England in Liverpool this evening and level the International Netball Series heading into the final game on Wednesday. The hosts failed to take the lead in the whole contest and will rue a number of missed chances to get a foot back into the game while the Sunshine Girls showed a renewed passion and physicality to nullify their opponents. It was a lightning start from the Caribbean side as patient work around the circle allowed Jhanielle Fowler to open the scoring. Fowler preferred to start at GS in place of Romelda Aiken who had to settle for a place on the bench. Within a couple of minutes the lead had stretched to 4-0 as Rosie Allison showed some early nerves and rattled the ring. The youngster was starting in place of Joanne Harten and was certainly feeling the pressure early on. The opening goal for the hosts came from Pamela Cookey as Serena Guthrie interlinked with Sasha Corbin to provide the chance for their captain, it was a reversion back to the excellent […]
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A world title fight in Jamaica for the World Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight title came closer to being a reality when Mexican promoting company, Canelo Promotions, won the purse bid that was held in Panama last Thursday, for the WBA title fight between champion Celestino Caballero and Jamaica’s Nicholas Walters. They were the only promoters to present a bid and the amount they put on the table was the minimum of US$120,000, allowed by the WBA. They presented Kingston and Montego Bay, Jamaica, as the likely venues and the suggested dates are December 1 or 8, 2012. Stephen Jones, president of the Jamaica Boxing Board, was present at the opening of the bid. The promoters will now present contracts to both fighters, with Caballero offered 75 per cent of the bid, which is US$90,000 and Walters US$25,000. The promoters will give both boxers 15 days to reply to the offers, as they in turn have to send the completed contracts to the WBA in 20 days. If Caballero does not accept the offer, he could be stripped of the title, which would then be declared vacant and the WBA would then name another contender to fight Walters for the vacant […]
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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Jamaican Olympic champion Usain Bolt is among those joining a group of U.S. track and field athletes fighting a rule that bars Olympians from using their names or likenesses for advertising during the Games. The Track and Field Athletes Association, which includes high-profile American runners such as Sanya Richards-Ross and Bernard Lagat, announced Friday it had added international athletes. The athletes are opposed to Rule 40, an International Olympic Committee rule that prohibits Olympic athletes from advertising in the days leading up to and during the Games. In welcoming Bolt, Yohan Blake, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, 800-meter world record holder David Rudisha and 19 others from around the world, TFAA president Khadevis Robinson said, “in order to grow our sport, we must establish a unified voice across the international community of athletes.” Asked about the issue at the U.S. Olympic Committee assembly Friday, CEO Scott Blackmun said he was sympathetic to what the athletes are trying to do. “We’d like to find ways for the athletes to benefit from their success at the Olympic Games,” Blackmun said. “We also understand there’s a critical need to protect the exclusivity” of the Olympic brand. Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press
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England eventually came out on top in an engaging contest in Birmingham as a rampant fourth quarter took the game away from the visitors. The home side edged ahead in the first half and were five goals ahead before the Sunshine Girls surged back to level the tie with fifteen minutes left on the clock. Anna Mayes’ team responded with a scoring salvo in the final quarter, nailing twenty shots from twenty to chalk up a comfortable victory. The opening quarter started with both sides easing into the game with a sense of trepidation on court. It was certainly apparent that it was an early season game for the hosts as they made tentative inroads into their opposition. Romelda Aiken opened the scoring and a quick turnover from the Jamaican defence had them sniffing an early lead but excellent work in the England mid-court made sure that Joanne Harten levelled. Midway through the quarter and the match was tied at 7-7, a fair reflection of the action on court. As the quarter wore on, the hosts looked the more likely to seize an early advantage with Sara Bayman and Sasha Corbin combining to great effect and feeding the shooters with […]
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Until Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake and Asafa Powell rattled off fast early season times in the 100 metres, the hottest men’s event for Jamaica was the discus. Jason Morgan had extended his national record from 64.11 metres to 65.61 and latterly to 67.15. Almost in response, reigning national champion Traves Smikle came within 9 centimetres of the old mark with a personal best of 64.02 metres. At this year’s Nationals, Smikle came oh-so close with a big winning throw of 67.12. Those marks got Jason and Traves past the Olympic ‘A’ qualifying standards respectively. For the first time in our long and glorious track and field history, Jamaica had two throwers in an Olympic throwing event. Our love affair with sprinting means that those numbers don’t ring a bell to most. The odds are really long on Morgan being recognized in Jamaica by all but the hardiest track and field aficiandos. Yet the 67.15 placed the faceless Jamaican at seventh on the 2012 discus performance list at the time. That’s a fine achievement. His new found world class status hasn’t come easily. Once a winner at Boys Champs for Calabar, he has combined throwing with regular day jobs […]
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Racers Track Club president and head coach Glen Mills yesterday told The Gleaner that he will now lead the club’s 400m programme, and thanked Bertland Cameron for his contribution at the University of West Indies-based outfit, after the former senior 400m coach handed in his resignation on Tuesday. Cameron, a former World Championships 400m gold medallist, yesterday announced that he had brought his two-year tenure at Racers to an end and that he was now exploring other options, with all indications pointing to the creation of his own programme. But did Cameron pre-empt his fate? Mills would not speak on the matter, but information reaching The Gleaner is that Cameron’s departure from the club was always on the cards, and that the organisation’s directors were expected to show him the door at a meeting next week, after relations reportedly deteriorated between himself, some athletes and members of the club’s hierarchy. However, Mills focused instead on underlining his gratitude for Cameron’s contribution to the club and noted that he will now manage the club’s 400m programme in his absence Cameron was responsible for the development of athletes such as national 400m record holder Jermaine Gonzales, but Mills, who is most […]
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