Sport
Record Participation Expected For This Year’s World Juniors
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| Jamaica's Sandie Richards |
Jamaica is poised to host the largest ever contingent at a World Junior Athletic Championship meet at the ninth IAAF/Coca Cola event, scheduled for Kingston’s National Stadium between July 16 and 22.
Entries have already been received from over 154 of the 208 nations eligible to participate, according to a recent release from Kingston 2002 Limited the local organising company.
According to Media Committee and Public Relations chairman, Gloria Royale-Davis, 1,450 athletes and 580 coaches from the 154 countries will attend. The United States will be sending 112 athletes and coaches; Germany, 105; Australia, 77; France, 64; Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 61.
Host country, Jamaica, has always performed creditably at these championships - starting with the inaugural World Juniors at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece, between July 16-20, 1986.
Back then, the team of Anthony Christie, Thomas Mason, Howard Davis, and Lyndale Patterson, clocked 3:05.16 for third place in the Men’s mile relay. Sandie Richards, meanwhile, captured Jamaica’s first individual medal at this level- a bronze in the Women’s 400m in 52.23 seconds.
Two years later in Sudbury, Canada, the mile relay team of Michael Rose, Carey Johnson, Anthony Pryce and Daniel England repeated their bronze medal performance of the previous championships, clocking 3:08.0.
Track and field powerhouse, USA, took the Men’s Mile relay gold at the first two meets, winning at the second World Juniors in 3:05.09, with Australia (3:07.60) placing second.
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Copyright 2004 Reggaetimes.com
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