Two-time 100m gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and debutant boxer Ricardo Brown will be Jamaica’s flag bearers at Friday’s Opening Ceremony at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games in Japan.
Fraser-Pryce is seeking an unprecedented third 100m gold medal at her fourth Olympics, having repeated at 100m champion in 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London, before a toe injury forced her to settle for bronze in 2016 in Rio.
Meanwhile Brown, the super heavyweight boxer is Jamaica’s first representative in that discipline since 1996.
As the Jamaican delegation takes shape at the Athletes’ Village, competitors have started arriving, with the first being Ebony Drysdale-Daley, who competes in judo, a first for Jamaica at the Summer Olympics.
She was followed by Brown, and since then gymnast Danusia Francis, and swimmers Keanan Dols and Alia Atkinson have also arrived.
Chef de mission Gary Peart has told the Jamaican media that everything has gone smoothly thus far and they continue to prepare for the arrival of the bulk of the athletes. Jamaica will be represented by 50 athletes at the Games.
“No complaints so far, the food is good, the bed is firm, despite what people say, it’s pretty innovative and we continue to prepare for the arrival of the majority of athletes, but we have athletes and their coaches here; room allocation is going well, allocation of the gear is going well, so we are moving along,” Peart told the media.
Peart and his management team comprising deputy chef de mission Peter Higgins, COVID Liaison Officer (CLO) Elaine Hayden; Lisa Jondeau, deputy CLO; Gregory Hamilton, logistics; Walter J Davis, games specialist; and doctors Lincoln Cox and Kevin Jones had arrived well ahead of the athletes.
