J’cans shaking off jet lag ahead of World U20s
Published:Monday | August 16, 2021 | 12:47 AMRaymond Graham/Gleaner Writer
National track and field coach Michael Dyke says that Jamaica’s junior athletes are now trying to acclimatise to Nairobi, Kenya, ahead of the World Athletics Under-20 Championships.
The five-day meet, originally set for six, starts on Wednesday, having been delayed a day because of COVID-19.
Sixteen of the 41-member team, which left Jamaica on Thursday, arrived yesterday, and the first training session was also held.
“We had our first training session today, with those members of the team that had arrived earlier,” Dyke told The Gleaner yesterday. “It was just about a shake-out for them to recover from jet lag, as the travelling to Nairobi was really rough on them with the various layovers.”
Dyke says the team also has to do COVID-19 tests every two days, but believes that the late start to the championships will benefit the Jamaicans as they try to get settled quickly.
Jamaica are optimistic about improving on their 12 medals earned at the last staging in Tampere, Finland, in 2018, especially with the absence of other reputable teams such as the United States of America, because of the pandemic. Most of Jamaica’s athletes are ranked in the top three in their events, with several ranked number one.
The team is also looking to become the second Jamaican one to ever top the medal table at a global meet at the youth level. The first to do it was the team to the World Athletics Under-18 Championships, which returned from Donetsk, Ukraine, with six gold medals in 2013.