2023 BLAZING IN BUDAPEST
WELCOME! OLIVE MCNAUGHTON
… to the 5th Edion of the Jamaica Sports 876 Magazine, Blazing in Budapest A s I pause for a few minutes in Cape Town to finalize this welcome for the fih Jamaica Sports 876 Special Edion Magazine and Digizine , I feel thankful and blessed on the journey of a decade and more. Over the past few weeks, I’ve travelled to Australia to witness the Reggae Girlz achieve historic performances, then journeyed from Perth in Western Australia to Cape Town, South Africa to be in the stands and cheer on the Sunshine Girls. It’s Independence day, August 6, and I can’t help but reflect on how blessed we are as a naon in terms of our global sporng prowess and achievements. The past year has indeed been a challenging one, navigang the logiscs for three Sportscaon Tours on three connents and in different me zones. FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia, Netball World Cup in South Africa, and Budapest World Athlecs Championships. It has been a dream and a privilege to be there in the stands supporng our Jamaican teams, giving Brand Jamaica deserved visibility in the stands, in the cies, in the media, with friends, family and fans waving the iconic black, green and gold flag. In Perth, I witnessed the Reggae Girlz historic first win in Women’s
place and the bronze medal by beang New Zealand for a second me. We celebrate their Independence Day gi to Jamaica. For all these recent outstanding sporng accomplishments by our ladies, it is track and field where we’ve had the greatest global visibility and success. And so, it is with great ancipaon that we look ahead to the 19th edion of the World Athlecs Championships to be held in Budapest, Hungary from August 19 to 27. Budapest, one of the great European desnaons – the Jewel of the Danube – provides the perfect backdrop for a mouth‐ watering track & field spectacle, where the women’s 100 meters connues to be the blue‐ribbon event. The final, set for August 21, is likely to feature the most talented and highly ancipated line‐up ever assembled, with the Jamaican sprint queens Shelly and Shericka contending with the likes of Sha’Carri Richardson, Marie‐Josée Ta Lou,
The Sports Realtor, Olive McNaughton
World Cup football, over Panama. Of course, since then, they have significantly exceeded this achievement by drawing with Brazil in their final Group match to become the first Caribbean team (male or female) to qualify for the knockout stage of a World Cup tournament. In Cape Town, the Sunshine Girlz connue to shine brightly in their quest for a first Netball World Cup by dismantling fancied South Africa and defending champions New Zealand. Aer these highly‐ ancipated group matches, they made it to the semi‐finals, where they faced perennial foes and many‐me champions Australia. Unfortunately, due to a few fleeng missteps, they were unable to overcome that hurdle, but they have just wrested third
Dina Asher‐Smith and Julien Alfred. The prospect of a Jamaican 1‐2‐3 repeat seems unlikely, with Elaine Thompson‐Herah missing due to injury
Youhoo , the Hungarian racka sheep, will welcome visitors to the Championships in Budapest.
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