Spectacular and devastating were the two words being used in abundance last Saturday night, as fans described the fourth-round knockout victory scored by World Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight champion, Jamaica's Nicholas 'The Axeman' Walters, over Mexico's Alberto Garza at the American Bank Center, in Corpus Christi,Texas.
Waterhouse had the better of the champions on the previous occasions they met, and as Harbour View's closest rivals, a win over them would have given Waterhouse something to hold on to. [Nicholas Beckett] was adamant that they would not be beaten, and especially not at their home ground. Amid celebrations of players, club officials and spectators, Harbour View Football Club's captain, Montrose Phinn (left), is presented the Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) trophy by (from second left) Edward Seaga, chairman, Premier League Clubs Association, Erin Mitchell, brand manager, Red Stripe and Captain Horace Burrell, president, Jamaica Football Federation, following the Monday Night R5PL match between the east Kingston team and Waterhouse at Harbour View Stadium. Harbour View won 2-0. "One of the Waterhouse defenders was saying to watch me because I am good in the air. I turned back, giving the impression that I was not interested and then peeled off and headed back in to score," said Beckett of his fourth goal of the season.
His season-opener, which is just six centimetres off the A standard mark of 66 metres, saw [Jason Morgan] being ranked number one in the world at the time. He has since been supplanted by Australia's 22-year-old phenom, Julian Wruk, who since March 30 has recorded throws of 66.0lm, 66.05m and 66.32m. Morgan's mark now ranks him the second-best thrower in the world this year.
'It wasn't easy," said Jamaica coach Winfried Schäfer. "Costa Rica are a very good team. At 1-0 down, I change team. The goalkeeper did well in the first half and not too well in the second half. We still have [a] chance. Next game is against US in US in a month's time. We thank 'Tuffy'." Striker [Jermaine] 'Tuffy' [Anderson] hails the Jamaican crowd following the 1-1 draw against Costa Rica in CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying action at the National Stadium. Anderson scored for Jamaica.
"I think we will do fairly well," said [Aiken]. "I think we have a good set of girls going over there that will do us very proud. We know the task ahead, and we know what we are going to come up against, and so we just need to put it together as a team," added Aiken, who plays for the Queensland Firebirds in the ANZ Championships in Australia and New Zealand.
"It was a really hard tournament, but I surprised myself by reaching the semis," said [Bicknell]. "These players are very good, but the tournaments I have played earlier this year have really prepared me well." "I would like to thank my parents and coaches, who have helped to develop my career," a very elated Bicknell said. "He has improved tremendously, listens well, is very competitive, trains non-stop and is very focused. I know he will win one of these high-level tournaments in the future," predicted [Mel Spence].
[Bolt], who continued his global domination at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow, winning gold medals in the 100m, 200m and the 4x100m relay, added to his IAAF World Athlete of the Year Award by copping the Most Outstanding Performer (Male) for 2012 and 2013 awards at the function.
In one of the rare occasions that the big sprinter failed to break the 10-second barrier, he was chased to the line by Racers Track club teammate Kemar Bailey-Cole, who posted an identical time. Another teammate of Bolt's Antiguan Daniel Bailey was third in a time of 10.23.
"Suppose I don't make any quicker times in the 100, I would love to be able to run 18-something seconds in the 200, even if it was an 18.99 race," [Bolt] said in his 291-page book. "I don't think it's totally out of reach in the next season or so. Seriously, who would be surprised if I did it? Who's going to stop me from going faster?" Bolt asked. 'The only man who can bring an end to my status as a star of track and field in the next couple of years is me, and I'm a phenomenon, a serious competitor - a legend for my generation. Believe me, my time isn't up just yet."
WORLD'S FASTEST man Usain Bolt success could be due to simply human evolution says Canadian Olympic 100m gold medallist Donovan Bailey Following up on a promising youth career, Bolt has gone on to dominate world sprinting since bursting on to the scene big time, with three gold medals at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
As expected, the world's top athletes - Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce - walked away with top honours at Scotiabank/Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) Golden Cleats Awards. I will be looking forward to an extraordinary year with these young athletes as they continue to dominate, said Fraser-Pryce, in reference to the likes of IAAF World Youth stars Bryan, Thompson, Michael 0'Hara, Jaheel Hyde, Martin Manley and Marvin Williams, who helped Jamaica to a historic table-topping performance at the championships held in Donetsk, Ukraine, earlier this year.
[Veronica Campbell-Brown] found herself back in seventh place at one stage in the race, but powered her way past the field, which included longstanding nemesis Allyson Felix, to win in 11.01 seconds. Felix (11.13) placed fifth, with Trinidad and Tobago's KellyAnn Baptiste (1 1 .06) second and Jamaica's Carrie Russell (11.08) third. "I felt a little bit of energy in my last couple steps to push forward. It was so electrifying (inside the stadium), I could hear people in the stands saying, 'It is your home, don't let anybody beat you." It is always good to compete here, it is very fun and the crowd motivates me a lot, so it is great."
Alphanso Cunningham hit world record form last Friday, July 26 to capture Jamaica s first gold medal at the 2013 International Paralympic Committee Athletics World Championships in Lyon, France. The 32-year-old Cunningham won the F52-54 Javelin final with a throw of 24.30 metres to claim the country s second medal to date.
'It's a phenomenal season, starting from the first track meet indoors when I ran two personal best times in the 60m and 60m hurdles and it just transferred to the outdoor season. I'm very happy about how things have gone this year," said Williams, a student at the Graham-coached Johnson C. Smith University. 'It really didn't cross my mind at all, to be honest. During the season my coach and I spoke and he asked me if I wanted to go to Jamaica and to the trials and naturally my answer was 'yes', because I always look forward to competing in Jamaica. But making the team and winning at trials was never in my head," Williams admitted.
News broke on July 14 that five Jamaican athletes had failed drug tests at the national championships in June, setting off one of the biggest drug scandals ever faced by Jamaican athletes and authorities. In addition to [Smikle], global stars, former 100-metre world record holder Asafa Powell and Olympic 100-metre silver medalist She rone Simpson, as well as Allison Randall and 19-year-old Damar Robinson also failed drug tests. The news broke one month after it was announced that Veronica Campbell Brown, another global star and two-time Olympic 200-metre champion, had failed a drug test after competing at the Jamaica International Invitational in May.
Two-time Olympic 100 metres champion, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (second left), winning the women's Olympic Development 100 metres in 11 .47 seconds at the Queen's/Grace Jackson Invitational meet at the National Stadium Saturday, January 26. Two time Olympic 100-metre champion ShellyAnn Fraser-Pryce displayed good early-season form to win the women's sprint event at the Queen's/Grace Jackson Invitational meet at the National Stadium on Saturday, January 26.
"I got a lot of offers from a number of North American colleges, but I chose UWI, Mona because I don't really plan on leaving Jamaica. I was supposed to leave but decided to stay. I have grown and developed my skills here and I think it is the best option for me," [Federick Dacres] said. Ten sports scholarships were also awarded to footballers, with former Wolmer's Boys' goalkeeper Amal Knight leading a contingent, which also includes Taniel McKenzie, Davian Montaque, Shamal Thomas, Mitch Wright, Jerondy Henry, Daryl Denny and females Samantha Watson, Alicia Richards and Trudi Ann Young. The UWI netball programme will also be strengthened with the acquisition of Terry Ann Jones and national Under-21 Sunshine Girl Antionette Stone. Basketballers Kedar Clarke and Damion Johnson will also take up sports scholarships, along with volleyballers Solene Walker and Wolmer's Girls standout Vanessa Jones.
"When I look at the 200m, the record is so far out there, so for me I just try to improve each year and it's definitely not at the top of my list," said Felix touching on the records. "I never like to say never as far as the record is concerned but realistically speaking, I do think that they are very fast; I don't think at least in the 200m where my focus is. I don't think that record is going anytime soon. I can be wrong because track is like that, where amazing things happen that you are not suspecting." "I love running with Veronica and I love high-quality races and I wish we could meet more, it's just how it works out sometimes," Felix added.
A quartet of Jamaicans, led by world silver and Pan Am gold medallist, Nicholas Dussard, will take the mat at the annual International Tae kwon-do Federation's (ITF) New York Open, in Queens, September 29. The New York Open is an ITF event and [Ashieka Dyer]'s coach, [Jason McKay], said things could be tougher for the 19-year-old in Queens. "However, this is ITF, a different type of fight. She was left off the squad for Spain, next month, as she had failed to impress at the ITF World Cup in Brighton, England, last year, which was largely used to determine the squad for Spain."Dyer's form from Brighton had also cost her a spot on the female combined team at the Gold Cup in Orlando, where Subrina Richards performed creditably and landed a spot in Spain.
"Overall, I'm just happy to come away with a win," said [Fraser-Pryce]. "Today I didn't run according to how I wanted but still came out with a viotory. That made me happy. There is a lot more room for improvement in the 200m, and I'm looking forward to more races to see how best I can put a complete race together." The men's 100m also featured three Jamaicans, but it was American Justin Gatlin. 9.97 - the Olympic lOOm bronze medallist, who crossed the line first in a tight finish; barely bettering his compatriot Mike Rodgers and Jamaican Olympic 4x1 00m relay gold-medal winner Neata Carter, who both posted season-best times of 9.99. Jamaican Shericka Williams struggled in sixth place, despite posting a season best 52.23 with 200m specialist [Felix] running second in 50.19 and Great Britain powerhouse Christine Ohuruogu finishing third in a 50.53 season's best.
