Meet the Full Team Representing Jamaica at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics

Meet the Full Team Representing Jamaica at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics

On August 17, 2008, Shelly-Ann Fraser won the gold medal in the Women’s 100m Final at the Olympic Games in Beijing, China. (Shutterstock)

By Stephanie Korney, Jamaicans

Jamaica will field a team of 61 male and female track and field athletes – 29 men and 32 women – at the 2021 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo to be held from July 23, 2021, through August 8, 2021. The 61-member squad was ratified and submitted to World Athletics and includes five athletes who did not qualify in their performances, but were chosen because their performances did allow them to finish within the quota set by the organizers. Four reserves who will not be included on the relay teams were also named.

In addition, Jamaica will feature in the sports of Swimming, Boxing, Diving, Gymnastics, and Judo. Super heavyweight boxer Ricardo Brown is the first to represent Jamaica in this event since 1996. Jamaica’s Yona Knight-Wisdom entered Olympic competition by finishing among the top 18 of the Men’s Springboard event at the 2021 FINA Diving World Cup in Tokyo. British-born Danusia Francis will be Jamaica’s sole representative in the All-Around gymnastics event, while Ebony Drysdale Daley will compete for Jamaica in the women’s Judoka event.

Swimming

Alia Atkinson, 32, Rosehampton, Jamaica

The Tokyo Olympics in 2021 will be Atkinson’s fifth appearance at the Olympics, and at 32 years of age, she will be one of the most experienced swimmers in the competition. She holds the world record in the SCM sprint breaststroke, and at her latest appearance at the SOFLO Last Chance OLY Trials Qualifier in Florida, she clocked 1:08.76 in the 100-meter breaststroke. This was four seconds faster than her rivals in the event. She has a lifetime best time in the 100-meters of 1:05.93. At the 2016 Olympics in Rio, she swam the distance in 1:06.52. Atkinson has represented Jamaica at the Olympics and other international events since her debut Olympic appearance in 2004. Graduating from Texas A&M in 2010, she was an NCAA champion and a winner of the All-American title multiple times. In 2014 at the Doha Short Course World Championships, she became the first Black woman in history to get a world title in swimming with a historic victory, clocking 1:02.36 in the event. Atkinson was the flag-bearer for Jamaica at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in which she was the only swimmer to represent that country. Also in 2018, she was awarded Jamaica’s Order of Distinction in the Rank of Commander from the Governor-General. She was inducted into the Texas A&M Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019, and in 2020, she was named a champion ambassador to the Special Olympics, focusing on outreach in the Caribbean Community.

Keanan Dols, 22, Savannah-da-Mar, Jamaica

– Dols won a place at the Olympics with his performance in the men’s individual medley event at the 2021 Pro Swim Series in Mission Viejo, California. His time of 2:02.15 sets the Jamaica’s national record in the event. With his qualification, Dols is the first Penn swimmer to do so since 1976, when Robert Lewis Cragg Jr. competed for the United States at the Montreal Olympics.

Boxing

Ricardo Brown, 31, Spanish Town, Jamaica
Brown, or “Big 12” as he is known, won a bronze medal at the Pan American Games and is ranked fourth in the Americas in his weight class and will compete in the super heavyweight. He accumulated enough points to qualify for Tokyo from the last two Boxing World Championships and his Number 4 ranking ensured his participation at the Tokyo Olympics. Brown is based in Canada and trains at a facility owned by former Jamaican boxing representative Dewith Fraser.

Diving

Yona Knight-Wisdom, 26, Leeds, United Kingdom

Wisdom secured his spot at the Tokyo Olympics when he finished among the top 18 competitors in the Men’s Springboard event at the 2021 FINA Diving World Cup in Tokyo. He will compete for a medal in the men’s 3-meter springboard. Although born in the UK, he competes for Jamaica as his father Trevor Wisdom is from the island. He competed at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships and qualified for the Summer Olympics in 2016, becoming the first male Jamaican diver at the Games and the first male Olympic diver to compete from any Caribbean country.

Gymnastics

Danusia Francis, 27, Coventry, United Kingdom 

Artistic gymnast Danusia Francis qualified to compete in the women’s individual all-around and apparatus events in Tokyo by finishing ninth out of the 20 gymnasts who were eligible for the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany. Francis was born in Britain but represents Jamaica in international competitions. In 2012, she was a reserve athlete for the UK at the Summer Olympics. As a student at UCLA, she competed for the UCLA Bruins gymnastics team.

Judo

Ebony Drysdale Daley

Jamaica entered one female judoka into the Olympic tournament based on the International Judo Federation Olympics Individual Ranking.

Jamaica’s Olympic Track and Field Athletes: Men

Tyquendo Tracey, 28, Trelawny, Jamaica – 100 Meters
Tyquendo Tracey is the 2018 Jamaican champion and the 2018 NACAC champion in the 100 meters where he set the championship record of 10.03 seconds. He is the 135th man and the 20th Jamaican to break the 10-second barrier, clocking 9.96 seconds in a qualifying sprint at the London Anniversary Games on July 21, 2018. Later that same day, he ran 9.98 seconds in the finals.  At the 2018 Continental Cup, Tracey anchored the Americas team in its win of the 4 × 100-meter relay.

Yohan Blake, 32. Spanish Town, Jamaica – 100 Meters/200 Meters

In 2011, Yohan Blake won gold in the 100 meters at the World Championships, becoming the youngest 100-meter champion in history. He won silver in the 100 meter and 200 meter events at the 2012 Olympics in London. He ranks second only to Usain Bolt in both events. He ran personal bests in the 100 meters and 200 meters of 9.69 seconds and 19.26 seconds, respectively. Blake holds Jamaica’s national junior record for the 100 meters and was once the youngest sprinter to run the distance in under 10 seconds.

Oblique Seville, 21, Jamaica – 100 Meters
Seville, who is coached by Glen Mills at Racers Track Club, had his breakthrough year in 2019 when he won the 100 meter event at the CARIFTA Games in the Cayman Islands with a time of 10.24 seconds. He also won the 4×100 meter relay at Games. He won 100 meter gold at the Jamaican U20 Championships in Kingston with a time of 10.13 seconds and came in second at the 2019 Pan American U20 Championships in Costa Rica by running the 100 meters in 10.21 seconds. At the Jamaican Olympic Trials, Seville clocked the fourth fastest time in the 100 meters with 10.10 seconds, and in the final, he finished third to win a spot on Jamaica’s 2021 Olympic team.

Julian Forte, 28, St. Andrew, Jamaica – Reserve 100 Meters/200 Meters/4×100 Meters
Forte began his career as a horizontal jumps specialist, winning the long jump and triple jump titles at the CARIFTA Games in 2009. He won the sprint double at the Jamaican High School Championships in 2010 and was a finalist at the World Junior Championships in Athletics in 2012. His first senior medal was attained at the IAAF World Relays in 2014 when he won gold with Jamaica’s 4×100 meter relay team. Forte’s first international competition was in 2008 at the CARIFTA Games in the long jump and triple jump.

Jevaughn Minzie, 26, Jamaica – 100 Meters
Minzie is one of 14 youth sprinters to run the 100 meters in under 10.3 seconds. He was a member of the Jamaican relay team that won gold at the 2016 Olympics.

Nigel Ellis, 23, St. James, Jamaica – 4×100 Meters
Ellis represented Jamaica at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the 100 meters and reached the semifinals. He won a bronze medal in the 200 meters at the 2016 World U20 Championships.

Rasheed Dwyer, 32, Jamaica – 200 Meters
Dwyer is a sprint specialist. He won a gold medal in the 200 meter event at the 2011 Summer Universiade and a gold medal in the same event at the Commonwealth Games in 2014.

Demish Gaye, 28, Manchester, Jamaica – 400 Meters
A 400-meter specialist, Gaye represented Jamaica at the 2017 World Championships and reached the final. In 2016, he finished fourth at the 4×400 meter relay at the.

Christopher Taylor, 21, Spanish Town, Jamaica – 400 Meters

Taylor set a Jamaica Youth Record in the 400 meters at the 2015 World Youth Championships in Athletics in Cali, Colombia, running the distance in 45.27 seconds. He won the U-18 400 meter competition at the 2015 CARIFTA Games with a championship record time of 46.64 seconds. At the ISSA High School Championships in Jamaica in 2016, he was instrumental in helping Calabar High School win its seventh consecutive victory. In 2018, he ran a personal best of 44.88 seconds in the 400 meters to win the Jamaica Senior Championships.

Nathon Allen, 25, Jamaica – 400 Meter Relay
Allen  of St. Jago High School was one of two school boys representing Jamaica at second staging of the World Relays in Nassau. He won a silver medal as a member Jamaica’s 4×400 meter relay team at the 2016 Olympics. He finished fifth as an individual finalist at the 2017 World Championships in the 400 meters.

Sean Bailey, 24, Spanish Town, Jamaica – 400 Meters/4×400 Meters
Bailey is one of the most decorated sprinters at the University of Texas El Paso (UTEP). Completing his college career at the NCAA National Track & Field Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, in 2021, he will compete as a member of Jamaica’s 4×400 meter relay. He was named a 2021 NCAA Second Team All-American, competing in the 400 meters, the first UTEP student to qualify for the event since 1983. At UTEP, he was the 2020-2021 Golden Pick Male Student Athlete of the Year. He ran a personal best of 45.04 seconds, winning the Jamaican Olympic Trials in 2021, the 25th-fastest time in the world for the year. Bailey’s older sister is Veronica Campbell Brown, three-time Olympic gold medal winner.

Karayme Bartley, 26, Lionel Town, Jamaica – 4×400 Meters
Bartley made Jamaica’s Olympic team by finishing third in the 400 meters at the Jamaican Olympic Trials with a time of 45.17 seconds. In 2020, Bartley was ready to dismiss his final year of eligibility, despite having achieved All-America status six times while at Iowa, but changed his mind, and now is on his way to Tokyo.

Rusheen McDonald, 28, Jamaica – 4×400 Meters
McDonald competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the 400 meters and the 4×400 meter relay. He qualified for the 400 meters at the Jamaican Olympic Trials with a time of 45.10 seconds. In 2015, he qualified for the 15th World Championships in Athletics when he came in second in the 400 meters at the Jamaican National Championships, clocking 44.73 seconds. He ran the distance in 43.93 seconds at the World Championships, placing second and breaking the Jamaican record set by Jermaine Gonzales. As of 2018, he was ranked among the top 15 runners of the distance in history.

Ronald Levy, 28, Westmoreland, Jamaica – 110 Meter Hurdles
Levy’s personal best time in the 110 meter hurdles is 13.05 seconds, which he achieved in 2017. His personal best 100 meter sprint time is 10.17 seconds. He won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 and represented Jamaica at the World Championships in 2017. He began competing in sprint and hurdles event while at Jamaica’s University of Technology. His breakthrough came in 2017 when he beat Olympic medalist Hansle Parchment in the 110 hurdles at the UTech Classic and then won at the Penn Relays in a personal best of 13.33 seconds. He debuted in the indoor hurdles in 2018 and reached the 60 meter hurdles semi-finals at the IAAF World Indoor Championships. He won his first international medal – a gold medal – at the Commonwealth Games in 2018.

Damion Thomas, 22, Jamaica – 110 Meter Hurdles
Thomas specialized in the 110 and 60 meter hurdles. He took fourth place in the final of the 2017 Pan American U20 Athletics Championships. In 2018, he tied the 110 meter hurdle junior world record set by Wilhem Belocian with a time of 12.99 seconds and won the Junior National Championships in Jamaica. He won the 2018 IAAF World U20 Championships in the 110 hurdles and the 2021 NCAA indoor 60 meter hurdle title, breaking the Louisiana State University record, becoming the fifth-fastest hurdler in the history of the NCAA.

Hansle Parchment, 31, St. Thomas, Jamaica – 110 Meter Hurdles
Parchment won a gold medal at the 2011 Summer Universiade, winning the title for Jamaica with a personal best of 13.24 seconds. He won the Jamaica Olympic trials with a new personal best of 13.18 seconds in 2012 and won the bronze medal in the final of the 110 meter hurdles at the Summer Games with a new Jamaican record of 13.12 seconds. In 2015, he won a silver medal in the final of the 110 meter hurdles at the World Championships.

Phillip Lemonious, Kingston, Jamaica – Reserve 110 Meter Hurdles
During his college career, Lemonious won gold in the 60 meter hurdles at the 2020 NJCAA Indoor Championships. He had a career best performance of 7.75 in the 60 meter hurdles in the 2020 indoor season and was runner-up at the Husker Invitational in Nebraska. He is ranked fifth on the all-time NJCAA list. In 2019, he clocked 13.51 in the 110 meter hurdles at the Jamaican Championships, a career best time. He won the 2019 NACAC U22 title of 13.47, aided by the wind, in Queretaro, Mexico.

Jaheel Hyde, 24, Spanish Town, Jamaica – 400 Meter Hurdles
Hyde was the 400 meter hurdles world junior champion in 2014 and World Youth Champion in the 110 meter hurdles, winning a gold medal and setting a new championship record. He once played for the Jamaican football team, scoring a hat-trick versus Bermuda in 2012 at an U17 international match.

Kemar Mowatt, 26, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica – 400 Meter Hurdles
Kemar Mowatt was the 2019 Jamaican 400 meter hurdles National Champion. A graduate of the University of Arkansas, he was twice SEC champion and a two-time MCAA finalist. He medaled twice at the National Championship in Jamaica in 2017 and 2018. He finished fourth at the 2017 World Championships. Mowatt achieved a personal best in the event with 48.49 seconds in 2017.

Sean Rowe, Jamaica – 400 Meter Hurdles
Rowe took second place in the 400 meter hurdles at the Jamaica Olympic Trials with a time of 49.60 seconds.

Leonardo Ledgister, 22, Santa Cruz, Jamaica – Reserve 400 Meter Hurdles
Ledgister was a finalist at the World U20 Championships in 2018. He went to the finals of the 400 meter hurdles in 2021 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, where he received All-America First-Team honors. He was the first Jamaican to do so since 2009. He ran a personal best of 48.79 seconds in May 2021 to qualify for the Tokyo Games. His time put him in second place at the NCAA West Regionals on his home track at Texas A&M University.

Tajay Gayle, 24, Kingston, Jamaica – Long Jump
In 2019, Gayle became the first Jamaican male athlete to win a gold medal in the long jump at a World Championship. He took fourth place at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and won a silver medal at the 2018 NACAC Championships with a jump of 27 feet 1/4 inches. He won gold in 2019 in Doha, besting Cuba’s Juan Miguel Echevarria, 2016 Olympic champion Jeff Henderson, and 2017 World champion Luvo Manyonga. His jump of 28 feet 6 inches placed him tenth on the IAAF all-time list.

Carey McLeod, 23, Kingston, Jamaica – Long Jump/Triple Jump
His triple jump of 17.17 meters put him among the top 10 college jumpers in the history of the indoor NCAA. The jump gave him the win at the SEC Championships, set a new University of Tennessee record, and was more than enough to qualify him for the 2020 Olympics. It was also the top mark in the NCAA and third in the world for the 2020-2021 indoor season. He was nominated for the NCAA indoor field event athlete of the year in 2020. In May 2021, he achieved a long jump of 8.34 meters at Cushing Stadium in Texas, which put him second on the senior list for 2021. He ultimately was listed fourth on the all-time Jamaican list.

Fedrick Dacres, 27, Kingston, Jamaica – Discus
Dacres began his throwing career while he was a student at Calabar High School. He won a gold medal in 2011 at the World Youth Championships in Athletics, the first Jamaican discus thrower in history to do so. He won gold at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics as well, again becoming the first Jamaica discus thrower to accomplish this feat. He participated in the boys’ discus throw at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics.

Chad Wright, 30, Kingston, Jamaica – Discus
Chad Dimitri Wright qualified for the Tokyo 2021 Olympics in the men’s discus. He represented Jamaica at the 2015 Beijing World Championships of Athletics and at the 2019 Doha World Athletics Championships. He has twice been named a national champion in the men’s discus. He was the 2013 Central American and Caribbean Games champion in the event and finished sixth at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and fourth at the 2015 Summer Universiade. He was named NCAA Discus Champion in 2012 while representing the University of Nebraska Lincoln.

Traves Smikle, 29, Jamaica – Discus
Smikle represented Jamaica in the discus event at the 2012 Summer Olympics

Javeir Brown, Kingston, Jamaica – 4×400 Meter Mixed Relay
Brown had a record-breaking run at the Boys’ Champs in 2021 in the 400 meter hurdles, clocking a personal best of 45.75 seconds and helping Jamaica College to its win over Calabar. It was Jamaica College’s first trophy since 2011 at the 2021 ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships at the National Stadium.

Keeno Burrell, Clarendon, Jamaica – 4×400 Meter Mixed Relay
Burrell ran a personal best in the 400 meters of 46.14 seconds at National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica in 2021. His season’s best time in he 200 meters was 21.15 seconds in April of 2021. He is ranked 232nd in the world in the men’s 400 meters.

Davonte Burnett, 21, Hyde Park, Massachusetts – 4×400 Meter Mixed Relay
Burnett competes for Jamaica as his father is Jamaican. He also represents the University of Southern California and was second in the 100 meter semifinal in the 100 meters with a run of 10.12 seconds. In his first year season as a sprinter on the USC track and field team in 2021, he was third-fastest competitor going into the 100 meter final. He also ran the 200 meter in 20.41 and was eighth-fastest into that final at the Olympic trials. He clocked career bests of 10.46 seconds and 20.70 seconds in the 100 meters and 200 meters, respectively.

Jamaica’s Olympic Track and Field Athletes: Women

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, 34, Kingston, Jamaica – 100 Meters/200 Meters

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is considered as one of the greatest sprinters in history. In the 100 meters, she has won two Olympic gold medals. She is a four-time world champion in the event. In the 200 meters, she has won a silver medal at the Olympics and a gold at the World Championships. In 2021, she became the fastest woman in the world by running the 100 meters in 10.63 seconds. Fraser-Pryce came to public attention at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing when she became the first woman from the Caribbean to win a gold medal in the 100 meters. In 2016, she won a bronze medal at the Olympics in Rio and became the first female sprinter to win 100 meter medals at three consecutive Olympic Games.

Shericka Jackson, 26, St. Ann, Jamaica – 100 Meters/200 Meters
Jackson won bronze medals at the 2016 Olympics, 2015 World Championships, and 2019 World Championships. In the same competitions, she won silver, gold, and bronze medals in the 4 x 400 meter relays in 2016, 2015, and 2019, respectively. She won a gold medal in the 4 x 100 meter relay at the 2019 World Championship. In 2021, Jackson switched to the 100 meter and 200 meter events, running personal bests of under 10.8 seconds and under 22 seconds, respectively, at the Jamaica Olympic Trials. With a personal best in the 400 meters under 49.5 seconds, Jackson is one of the few women to attain these times for all these events simultaneously.

Elaine Thompson Herah, 28, Manchester, Jamaica – 100 Meters/200 Meters

Thompson Herah rose to prominence at the 2016 Summer Olympics when she completed a rare sprint double, winning a gold medal in the 100 with a time of 10.71 seconds and gold in the 200 in 21.78 seconds. She is currently ranked as the fifth-fastest woman in the 100 meters and the sixth-fastest in the 200 meters.

Briana Williams, 19, Miami, Florida – Reserve 100 Meters/4×100 Meters

At the age of 16, Williams became the youngest athlete to win the women’s 100 meter and 200 meter double at the 2018 World Under-20 Championships. In 2018, she set the girls’ 100 meter world record in the age-15 category with a time of 11.13 seconds. She is the record holder in both the Jamaican under-18 and under-20 categories in the women’s 100 meters and 200 meters, running personal bests of 10.97 seconds and 22.50 seconds, respectively.

Remona Burchell, 29, Jamaica – 4×100 Meters
Burchell won the NCAA Championship three times while at the University of Alabama and won the 60 meter event at the NCAA Indoor Championships in 2014 and 2015. Her personal best in the 100 meters is 11.03 seconds, set at a qualifier for the 2014 NCAA Outdoor Championships, where she took the gold with a run of 11.17 seconds into a strong headwind. She represented Jamaica at the 2018 World Indoor Championships.

Natasha Morrison, 28, St. Catherine, Jamaica – Reserve 200 Meters/4×100 Meters
Morrison represented her Jamaica at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing and finished seventh in the individual 100 meters. She won gold in the 4.100 meter relay. Her personal best in the outdoor 100 meters is 10.87 seconds, which she set in Florida in 2021. Her indoor 100 meter personal best is 7.15 seconds, set in Houston in 2016. For the 200 meters, her outdoor personal best is 23.08 seconds set in 2013.

Stephenie-Ann McPherson,32, Westmoreland, Jamaica – 400 Meters
McPherson won a bronze medal in the 400 meters at the 2013 World Championships and then placed in the finals at the 2016 Olympics and all World Championships between 2015 and 2019. McPherson has won medals in the 4 x 400 meter relays with a silver at the 2016 Olympics, a gold in 2015, and a bronze in 2019. In 2021, she ran the distance in under 50 seconds for the first time since 2013, running a personal best of 49.61 seconds for the win in the 400 at the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) National Senior Championships held at the National Stadium.

Roneisha McGregor, 23, Jamaica – 400 Meters
McGregor competed in the mixed 4 × 400 meter relay event at the 2019 World Athletics Championships and won a silver medal.

Candice McLeod, 25, Jamaica – 400 Meters
At June 2021 Jamaican Olympic Trials in June 2021, McLeod, a student at the University of the West Indies, achieved a new personal best for the sixth time during the year, running the 400 meters in 49.91 seconds and finishing in second place. This ensured her of a place on Jamaica’s team

Stacey-Ann Williams, Kingston, Jamaica – Reserve 400 Meters/4×400 Meters
Williams won the Big 12 400 meter title in 2021 on the final day of the three-day Championships in Manhattan, Kansas.  She won the women’s 400 meter final in 51.30 seconds. In 2020, Williams competed in her first conference title meet at the University of Texas, she ran the second leg of the 4×400 meters and help the team win the title with the NCAA’s 12th-fastest indoor relay time, which qualified UT for the NCAA Championships and finishing with a personal best of 52.40 seconds. She was named an All-American in the 400 meters and the 4×400 meter by the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Tovea Jenkins, 28, Jamaica – 4×400 Meters
Jenkins competed in the women’s 400 meters at the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships. She ran a personal best of 23.62 seconds in the 200 meters at National Stadium in Kingston in April of 2021 and a season’s best in the 400 meters of 50.68 seconds at National Stadium in June 2021, to finish fifth at the

Junelle Bromfield, 30, St. Andrew, Jamaica – 4×400 Meters
Bromfield was on the Jamaica National Junior Team and attended St. Elizabeth Technical.

Natoya Goule, 30, Manchester, Jamaica – 800 Meters
Natoya Goule, a middle-distance runner, competed in the 800 meters in 2014 at the IAAF World Championships. She had already established a reputation as an athletics star at age 12 when she appeared at the ISSA Athletic Championships in Jamaica. Competing for Manchester High School, Goule set records in the Girls’ Class 1 1500 meters and in the Class 3 800 meters. She won 15 individual gold medals at the Inter-Secondary Schools Boys and Girls Championships and 12 individual medals at the CARIFTA Games. She was a member of the Jamaican women’s 4×400 relay team, which won silver at the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships.

Megan Tapper, 27, Kingston, Jamaica – 100 Meter Hurdles
Tapper represented Jamaica at the 2016 Summer Olympics and reached the semifinals. She also represented Jamaica at the 2017 World Athletics Championships in London, making it into the semi-finals. She finished seventh in the final at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and in 2019, she was a member of Jamaica’s shuttle hurdles relay in Yokahama and in Doha at the world championships. She reached the finals in 100 meter hurdles there. Her personal best effort in the 100 meter hurdles is 12.61 seconds, which she set in Doha in 2019.

Yanique Thompson, 25, Jamaica – 100 Meter Hurdles
Thompson competed in the women’s 100 meter hurdles at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics.

Britany Anderson, 21, Jamaica – 100 Meter Hurdles
Anderson was the 2017 World U18 champion and won a silver medal at the 2018 World Athletics U20 Championships. She broke the World U20 record of 12.84 seconds twice in the competition. Anderson ran the 100 meter hurdles in 2019 at the Motonet Grand Prix in 12. 71 seconds, setting a new junior world record. She was also one of five finalists for the IAAF Female Rising Star Award in 2019.

Danielle Williams, 28, St. Andrew, Jamaica – Reserve 100 Meter Hurdles
Williams specializes in the sprint hurdles. She won the gold medal in the event at the 2015 World Championships. She took home a bronze medal at the Summer Universiades in 2013 and a gold at the competition in 2015. She represented Jamaica at the 2013 World Championships. She achieved personal best times of 12.32 seconds in the 100 meter hurdles and 8.02 seconds in the 60 meter hurdles.

Janieve Russell, 27, Manchester, Jamaica – 400 Meter Hurdles
Russell competes chiefly in the 400 meter hurdles and the 400 meter sprint. Her personal bests for the events are 53.46 seconds and 51.17 seconds, respectively. She won a bronze medal in the 400 meter hurdles at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and gold in the 4×400 meter relay. In 2018, she won the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 54.33 seconds. She won nine gold medals at the CARIFTA Games and two gold medals at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics with wins in the 400 meter hurdles and the 4 × 400-meter relay. She won a relay medal at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics and competed at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics. She was the 2011 Jamaica champion in the heptathlon at the Summer Youth Olympics.

Ronda Whyte, 30, Jamaica – 400 Meter Hurdles
Whyte specializes in the 400-meter hurdles and represented Jamaica at the 2019 World Athletics Championships.

Leah Nugent, 28, Pennsylvania – 400 Meter Hurdles
While she was born in the UN, she has strong family ties to Jamaica through her father and paternal grandparents. She is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and served as a volunteer coach there. It has always been her dream to represent Jamaica at the Olympics, and she followed that dream by switching allegiance from the US to Jamaica in 2016. In 2016, she came in third at the Jamaica National Senior Championships, which qualified her for the 2016 Summer Olympics. At the Games, she placed sixth in the 400 meter hurdles, setting a personal record.

Shiann Salmon, 22, Jamaica – Reserve 400 Meter Hurdles
Salmon specializes in the 400 meter hurdles and the 400 meters. She represented Jamaica at the 2019 World Athletics Championships as a competitor in the women’s 400 meter hurdles. She also competed at the 2018 IAAF World U20 Championships and came in second in the women’s 400 meters hurdles event and third in the women’s 400 meters relay. Her personal best time in the 100 meter hurdles is 15.75 seconds. In the 400 meter hurdles, her personal best time is 54.97 seconds.

Aisha Praught-Leer, 31, Moline, Illinois – 1500 Meters

Praught-Leer competes for Jamaica on behalf of her biological father who is a Jamaican reggae musician. She decided to represent her father’s homeland of Jamaica after meeting him for the first time in 2013.

Tissanna Hickling, 23, Jamaica – Long Jump
Hickling represented Jamaica at the 2019 World Championships in Doha without reaching the final. Earlier in 2019, she took home a bronze medal in the long jump at the Pan American Games. Her personal best in the long jump is 6.82 meters, which she set in Kingston in 2019.

Chanice Porter, 27, Jamaica – Long Jump
Chanice Porter represented Jamaica in the women’s long jump at the 2019 World Athletics Championships.

Shanieka Ricketts, 29, St. Thomas, Jamaica – Triple Jump
Ricketts won the silver medal at the 2019 World Championships in Doha. Her personal bests in the event are 14.98 meters, which was set outdoors in Doha in 2021 and 14.08 meters set indoors in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2013.

Kimberly Williams, 31, St. Thomas, Jamaica – Triple Jump
Williams (born 3 November 1988) is a multiple-time Jamaican National Champion. She won the 2003 U-17 division at the age of 14 and was runner-up at the 2007 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships. She competed for Florida State University and won four NCAA Champion titles. When she graduated in 2012, Williams was the most decorated women’s track and field athlete in the history of Florida State. She was Commonwealth Games champion and reached the finals of the 2016 Olympics, reaching a rank of fourth after two rounds of jumps. She ultimately finished in seventh place.

Danniel Thomas-Dodd, 28, Westmoreland, Jamaica – Shot Put
Danniel Thomas-Dodd finished 4th in the shot put finals at London’s 2017 World Championships in Athletics and in 2018 won a silver medal at the Indoor World Championships. In 2015, she finished fifth at the Pan American Games. Her personal best in the shot put of 19.36 meters outdoors set a Jamaican national record in 2018. She won the 2018 Commonwealth Games for Jamaica. She has a personal indoor best of 19.22 meters. Her personal discus best is 59.38 meters set in 2014. She won her sixth title in the shot put with 19.17 meters at the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) National Senior Championships at the National Stadium. She won silver medals at the World Championships and World Indoor Championships.

Lloydricia Cameron, 25, Miami, Florida – Shot Put
She won SEC Championships in 2019 at the Indoor Shot Put and in 2017 in the Outdoor Shot Put. Cameron was the Jamaican Senior Championships gold medal winner in the shot put in 2018. She was also the USTFCCCA Outdoor All-American in the shot put three time and USTFCCCA Indoor All-American in the shot put twice. In 2018, she won a silver medal at the All-SEC Outdoor Second Team discus throw. She finished fourth in the shot put at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Championships and ranked Number 4 on the University of Florida’s (UF) All-Time Top 10 list. She ranked Number 3 as a discus thrower on UF’s All-Time Top 10 list. In 2018, she was the first UF student since 2004 to qualify for the NCAA Outdoors competition in both the discus throw and the shot put.

Shadae Lawrence, 25, St. Catherine, Jamaica – Discus
Lawrence specializes in the discus throw. She represented Jamaica at the 2016 Summer Olympics without qualifying for the final. She qualified for the event at the 2020 Summer Olympics, breaking the Jamaican national record with her personal best through of 67.05 meters in May 22, 2021 She serves as an assistant coach for the South Florida Bulls track and field team.

Tiffany James, 24, Jamaica – 4×400 Meter Mixed Relay
Tiffany James competed in the women’s 4 × 400 meters relay at the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships. She competed in the girls’ 400 meters at the Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China, in 2014.

Charokee Young, Kingston, Jamaica – 4×400 Meter Mixed Relay
In 2021, Young was a member of the 4×400 meter team that won the Aggie Invitational with a time of 3:32:39. She finished the Texas Tech Invitations with two title, winning the 400 meters with a time of 52.64 seconds and running the second leg of the 4×400 meters that won with 3:31:09. This was the second fastest result in the event in the NCAA in 2021. She ran a personal best in the 400 meters, clocking 51.93 seconds at the Charlie Thomas Invitations. This was the fifth best performance in Aggie history. She started the outdoor season in 2021 by finishing as a member of the winning 4×400 meter relay team at the Willie Williams Classic with a time of 3:37:92. At the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Young ran second leg on the 4x400m relay team that won the national championship in a collegiate record time of 3:22.34. She also placed fifth in the 400 meters at the competition with a time of 51.13 seconds.

Kemba Nelson, 21, Montego Bay, Jamaica – 4×400 Meter Mixed Relay
Nelson is the collegiate record holder in the women’s 60 meters, clocking 7.05 seconds. She set this record as the winner of the final at the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships in March of 2021. She competed at the USATF Grand Prix at the University of in April 2021, winning her 100 meter semi-final in a wind-assisted time of 11.08 seconds, faster than Olympic champions Allyson Felix and Tianna Bartoletta. She finished fifth in the final with a time of 11.22 seconds. At the 2021 NCAA West Preliminary for the Division I Championships, she led in the first round with her first under-11 seconds race, clocking 10.91 seconds. Although the wind was over the limit for record purposes, she ran the distance under 11 seconds in the quarter finals with a personal best time of 10.98 seconds.

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