No Bolt on show
2016 Olympic sprint-double champion, Elaine Thompson, and Olympic sprint relay gold medalist, Yohan Blake, will lead a Jamaican team to the IAAF World Relays set for Nassau, Bahamas, on April 22-23.
The squad that will compete in the 4x100m, 4x200m, and 4x400m for both men and women as well as a 4x400m mixed relay.
World-record holder and eight-time Olympic gold medalist, Usain Bolt, will not be in attendance. Bolt had earlier this year indicated earlier that he would not be racing at the games as he prepares to defend his titles at the IAAF World Athletic Championships in London this summer.
Also absent is two-time Olympic 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who is pregnant with her first child.
Thompson, leads a cast of female sprinters that includes World Indoor Tour 60-metre champion Gayon Evans, 2016 Olympic finalist Christania Williams and 2017 Inter-collegiate sprint double champion Sasha Lee Forbes.
Also included in the squad is Jura Levy, who has shown a return to form since she returned to Jamaica from the United States two seasons ago.
The team also boasts a strong quarter-mile contingent including Inter-collegiate champion Verone Chambers, Olympic mile-relay silver medalist, Christine Day, Olympic 400m bronze medalist, Shericka Jackson, relay silver medalists Anneisha McLaughlin-Whilby and Stephenie Ann McPherson.
The female squad also includes Olympic 400-metre hurdles finalists, Janieve Russell and Ristanana Tracey, 2016 World Junior 400m champion Tiffany James, and middle distance runner Natoya Goule.
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Blake leads a men’s squad that includes former world-record holder, Asafa Powell, 2014 Commonwealth Games 100m champion Kemar Bailey-Cole, intercollegiate champion Everton Clarke, and Jevaughn Minzie. Julian Forte, Nickel Ashmeade, Oshane Bailey and Rasheed Dwyer are also expected to make up the sprint relay squad..
Veteran coaches Paul Francis, Jerry Holness, Michael Clarke, Renardo Walcott and Patrick Dawson will be in charge of preparing the athletes for competition. Paul Auden has been named team doctor.
Jamaica’s full squad reads:
Women: Gayon Evans, Simone Facey, Sashalee Forbes, Natasha Morrison, Elaine Thompson, Christania Williams, Samantha Henry-Robinson, Anastacia Le-Roy, Jura Levy, Dawnalee Loney, Audra Segree, Verone Chambers, Christine Day, Shericka Jackson, Anneisha McLaughlin-Whilby, Stephenie Ann McPherson, Janieve Russell, Natoya Goule, Tiffany James, and Ristananna Tracey.
Men: Kemar Bailey-Cole, Yohan Blake, Everton Clarke, Julian Forte, Jevaughn Minzie, Asafa Powell, Nickel Ashmeade, Oshane Bailey, Rasheed Dwyer, Nigel Ellis, Chadic Hinds, Warren Weir, Javere Bell, Javon Francis, Demish Gaye, Steven Gayle, Peter Matthews, Rusheen McDonald, Jaheel Hyde, Martin Manley, and Jamari Rose.
