The Athletics competition of the Paris 2024 Olympics is currently underway. The games have evoked a roller coaster of emotions for Jamaican fans, from crushing disappointments to immense joy and pride. Here’s a breakdown of Team Jamaica’s performance so far.
August 2
Kicking things off for Jamaica in the athletics competition was swimmer, Josh Kirlew who made his Olympic debut in Heat 1 of the Men’s 100M Butterfly. Kirlew finished 5th with a time of 54.66. He did not advance to the next round. Next up was the Women’s High Jump Qualifications, where Lamara Distin finished 11th in Group B and 24th overall with 1.88M. She did not advance to the finals.
The women then took to the track for the 100m heats. With Shericka Jackson’s announcement last week that she would not be competing in the 100m race, representing team Jamaica were legendary sprinter, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, former national champion, Shashalee Forbes and Olympic debutante, Tia Clayton. All three women advanced to the semi-finals.
The next event on the roster for Team Jamaica was the Women’s Triple Jump Qualifications. Flagbearer, Shanieka Ricketts finished second in the Women’s Triple Jump Group B with 14.47M (-0.4) to advance to the finals. Ackelia Smith also advanced to the finals of the Women’s Triple Jump, finishing 5th in Group A with 14.09M (-1.3). Kimberly Williams finished 20th in Group B with 13.77M (+0.9). She did not advance to the finals.
Following this was the Women’s Discus Throw Qualifications. Samantha Hall finished 16th in Group A with 54.94M. She did not advance to the final round. Next up was the 4x400M Mixed Relay heats. Jamaica’s quartet of Raheem Hayles, Junelle Bromfield, Zandrion Barnes, and Stephanie Ann McPherson finished 4th in Heat 1 of the 4x400M Mixed Relay in 3:11.06 to advance to the finals.
Natoya Goule-Toppin and Adele Tracy then took to the track to represent Jamaica in the Women’s 800m heats. Adelle Tracey finished 8th in Heat 4 of the Women’s 800M with a season’s best of 2:03.47 but was outside the automatic qualification standard. She, however, had the opportunity to try again to make the semi-finals in the Repechage round. Natoya Goule-Toppin clocked 1:58.66 to win Heat 6 and advance to the semi-finals.
Closing out the evening for team Jamaica was Rajindra Campbell, who finished 5th in the Men’s Shot Put Group A with 21.05M to advance to finals in his first Olympics.
August 3
Team Jamaica’s second day of competition opened up with swimmer, Sabrina Lyn making her Olympic debut. She finished 5th in Heat 7 of the Women’s 50M Freestyle with a time of 26.08. She did not advance to the next round. Meanwhile, Adele Tracy again took to the track for the repechage round of the Women’s 800M where she finished 5th in Heat 2 with 2:03.67. She did not qualify for the semi-final.
Next up for team Jamaica was the highly anticipated Men’s 100M. Making his Olympic debut, the fastest man this year, Kishane Thompson won heat 1 in 10.00s. Oblique Seville took heat 2 in 9.99s and Ackeem Blake finished second in heat 6 in 10.06s. All three comfortably secured their spot in the semi-final.
All eyes then turned to the women’s 100M semi-final but it proved to be a bittersweet moment for team Jamaica. Decorated sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce withdrew from the event due to a hamstring injury during a training session. Fraser-Pryce had been barred earlier from entering the warm-up area due to a rule change by the event organizers that was not communicated to the athletes beforehand. Not only was this news a massive blow to Team Jamaica but a poor reflection on the Olympic Committee for not allowing one of the biggest names in track and Field and the most decorated female sprinter, access to the warm-up facilities and forcing her to take an alternate path, which may or may not have contributed to the events leading to her withdrawal from the race. Fraser-Pryce’s withdrawal left Shashalee Forbes and Tia Clayton representing Jamaica. Forbes finished 6th in Semi-final 1 in 11.20s and did not advance to the finals while Clayton won semi-final 3 in 10.89s, the third fastest time of the semi-finals.
After the disappointment of Fraser-Pryce’s withdrawal, there was a ray of sunshine. Team Jamaica’s first medal at this Olympics came during the Men’s Shot Put final, where Rajindra Campbell made history by throwing 22.15 meters to earn the bronze medal. He is the first Jamaican to win a medal in this event at the Olympic Games.
All eyes again turned to the women for the 100M final, where Tia Clayton carried Jamaica’s hope for a medal in the event, an event that has been dominated by Jamaica since 2008. However, Clayton finished 7th with a time of 11.04s. This marked the first time that Jamaica failed to earn a medal in the women’s 100m at an Olympic games since 1988.
Next came the Final for the 4x400m Mixed Relays where Jamaica’s quartet of Raheem Hayles Junelle Bromfield, Zandrion Barnes, and Stephanie Ann McPherson 5th with a time of 3:11.67. However, another bright spot came for Jamaica in the Women’s Triple Jump Final, where Shanieka Ricketts claimed the silver medal with a jump of 14.87M (-0.7) to close out the evening for team Jamaica.
Stay tuned for more updates!
