Douglas, Card to lead team to U20 Champs

World 100-metre leaders Shanoya Douglas and Gary Card will spearhead Jamaica’s team to next month’s World Under-20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon, from August 5-9.
Following the release of the team by the executive of the Jamaica Administrative Athletics Association (JAAA) yesterday, Douglas, who is the world leader in the women’s 100m with 10.98 seconds and has also clocked 22.11 seconds in the 200m to lead here, will lead an 18-member female squad. She is set to contest both sprint events.
Douglas will be hoping to improve on her performance at the 2024 Championships in Lima, Peru, where she was originally third in the 200m but was later upgraded to the silver medal after the disqualification of second-placed finisher from the British Virgin Islands, Adaejah Hodge for a doping violation.
Card, the new national junior record holder in the men’s 100m with 9.93 seconds, is also the world leader in the event. With a personal best of 20.28 seconds in the 200m, he is ranked fourth in the world. He will also contest the half-lap event. He is among the 29 male athletes selected.
Tiana Marshall, ranked fourth in the women’s 100m hurdles with 12.98 seconds, and Joseph Salmon, ranked second in the men’s discus with 58.83m, are the other Jamaicans ranked among the world’s top five in their respective events.
Jamaica will be hoping to improve on the five medals – four gold and one silver – it won at the 2024 Championships in Lima, Peru, where the team finished fourth.
The JAAA has also named several reserves, who will only travel with the team if any of the top two athletes in their respective events are unable to compete before the team’s departure.