Throwing their weight... Jamaica field athletes coming of age

Raymond Graham, Gleaner Writer

Jamaica's athletes over the years have been known for their exploits on the track, but less so in the field, however, the country's throwers seem ready for a revolution following success at recent meets, the World Youth, Senior CAC and Junior Pan Am Games.

Two years ago at the World Youth Championships, it was former Calabar High thrower Traves Smikle who gave the country its first medal at a global meet when he picked up bronze in the boy's discus after throwing a then personal best of 61.22 metres.

At the recent World Youth Cham-pionships in Lille, France, it was another first for the country when Fedrick Dacres, a teammate of Smikle at Calabar, went two places better to reap gold for the country with a world-leading throw of 67.05 metres. Spurred on by their performances at the youth level both athletes were at it again at the Junior Pan Am Championships in Miramar, Florida, where they picked up medals in the boy's discus, another first for the country.

Championship record for smikle

Smikle picked up gold with a throw of 66.58 metres to break the two-year-old championship record of 65.34 metres done by the United States' Finley Mason in Trinidad and Tobago. His teammate, Dacres, picked up his second major medal in less than two weeks when he finished third for the bronze,with a throw of 57.24 metres.

Another Calabar athlete, Ashinia Miller, also made history for the country in the boy's shot put after setting a national junior record of 19.97 metres for a win and the gold medal. Canada-born Daina Levy also put the country on the map in the hammer throw, finishing second in the girl's event with a throw of 55.79 metres.

The recent trend has not gone unnoticed, drawing rave reviews from a great many individuals, including IAAF Vice-President Amadeo Francis.

"I thought Jamaica only had people on the track but I am really amazed by what the country is doing now in the area of throws," Francis told The Gleaner, follo-wing the presentation cere-mony at the Junior Pan Am Championships.

The seniors also did their bit, at the Senior CAC Cham-pionships in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, the country's athletes picked up four medals, also in throwing, where Jason Morgan and Odayne Richards led the way with gold medals in their respective events.

Morgan won the men's discus with 60.20 metres and Richards won the shot put with a distance 19.16 metres. The ladies also had their say as Natalie Grant and Allison Randall picked up bronze medals in their events after finishing third. For Grant it was a throw of 62.46 metres in the hammer, while for Randall did 52.75 metres in the discus.

A continued strong showing for the country in throwing, hopefully spurred on by the performances of the athletes above, will give hope to those who cannot perform on the track. There is little doubt that such perfor-mances have set the stage for greater things to come in the future.