Odyssey to Oregon

2022 ODYSSEY TO OREGON

IT'S IN THE BLOOD –

BRENDON RODNEY, CANADA Pretty often, while Hughes and Francis are following directions from sprint guru Glen Mills at the UWI/Usain Bolt track, another overseas sprinter with Jamaican blood is pushing himself to the limit at the GC Foster College for Physical Education and Sport in Spanish Town. Born in Toronto, Canada and resident from time to time as a lad in Jamaica, Brendan Rodney hones his sprint speed under the watchful eye of Sprintec Track Club head coach Maurice Wilson. The Long Island University graduate has World and Olympic relay bronze medals himself and a 200‐metre personal best of 19.96 seconds. JUVAUGHN HARRISON, USA Born to Jamaica's 400‐metre Olympian Dennis Blake and former St. Jago High 400‐metre hurdler Georgia Harrison, JuVaughn made track and field observers sit up and take notice last year. His stunning high jump/long jump double at the US Olympic Trials took him to Tokyo, and has personal bests of 2.33 and 8.27 metres, respectively. In Eugene, the baby‐faced combination jumper, who stands almost 6 foot 4 inches tall, will be concentrating on the high jump. Asher‐Smith, Hughes, Rodney and Harrison are following in the footsteps of Linford Christie and Donavon Bailey, Sanya Richards, Colin Jackson and Tessa Sanderson, Jamaicans who excelled in athletics for their adopted countries. As with those stars, no one from Jamaica will bear Asher‐Smith, Hughes, Harrison or Rodney any ill will if they shine in Eugene. After all, it's in the blood.

100 and 200 at 10.83 and 21.88 seconds, respectively. Injury dissolved her Olympic aspirations last year and in 2022, she has been slowly returning to top form. ZHARNEL HUGHES, GB When Asher‐Smith took the European 100‐metre title in 2018, it was one half of a British double. The other half was taken by another sprinter with links to

THE JAMAICA CONNECTION W herever Jamaicans go, their children speed to prominence in track and field athletics. Stars with

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the land that grows some of the fastest runners on earth, Zharnel Hughes. Born in Anguilla to a Jamaican mother, Hughes first emerged as a prospect to watch at the Carifta Games. A move to Jamaica has helped his prospects. Running for Kingston College, he set a Boys ‘and Girls’ Championships Class 1 100 record of 10.12 seconds in 2014. A year later, out of school and training with the unrivalled Usain Bolt at the world‐famous Racers Track Club, he reached the World Championships 200‐ metre final in Beijing. He'll be in Eugene to erase his dubious memories of the Tokyo Olympics, where he reached the 100‐metre final only to false‐ start before the racing began; in the 4x100, Britain placed second but lost the silver medals when CJ Ujah was cited for a doping control violation.

Jamaican blood in their veins have emerged from Barbados, Britain, Canada, the Cayman Islands, the United States and as far away as Japan. More Jamaican descendants go in chase of glory at these World Championships in Eugene, Oregon. DINA ASHER‐SMITH, GB Born to a Jamaican father in London, Dina Asher‐Smith shot to prominence at the 2014 World Under‐20 Championships in Eugene where she won the 100 with a start so fast, Shelly ‐ Ann Fraser‐Pryce would have been proud. After a dominant sprint double at the European Championships in Berlin, the ever‐smiling Dina zoomed through a consistent 2019 campaign, beating the Jamaican at the Diamond League final, getting the 100 silver at the World Championships and winning the 200. She holds the British record in both the