Odyssey to Oregon

2022 ODYSSEY TO OREGON

THREE MEDALS FOR JAMAICA'S MEN?

BRONZE FOR BLAKE OR SEVILLE When Olympic semi‐finalist Seville clocked 9.86 seconds for the 100 metres in Kingston on May 21, Jamaicans breathed a sigh of relief. Even though 2011 World Champion Yohan Blake has run under 10 seconds in every season since returning from a horrendous injury, no Jamaican has breached 9.90 since Usain Bolt in 2016. Sighs came from a grateful nation. Then at the National Championships, Blake zipped past Seville in 9.85 seconds. It was his fastest time since his return to the track in 2015. Success would add Seville's name to a long list of Jamaican 100‐ metre medal winners, which includes Michael Frater, Asafa Powell and Raymond Stewart. A win for Blake would make him only the second Jamaican man to take gold more than once. The first was the incomparable Usain Bolt.

Outscored by their female teammates in Doha and Tokyo, Jamaica's men have three reasonable medal hopes in Eugene, Oregon, when the World Championships begin on July 15. Olympic 110‐ metre hurdles champion Hansle Parchment, the men's 4x100 team and either Yohan Blake or Oblique Seville in the 100 metres are strong candidates, with Parchment having an outside At the Tokyo Olympic Games last year, both of the medals won by our men came in one event ‐ the 110‐metre hurdles. Parchment surged past World champion Grant Holloway to win in 13.04 seconds, giving Jamaica the gold medal for the second Games in a row, with Ronald Levy taking third place. In Eugene, Parchment will bring the black‐green‐ and‐gold challenge. He has already gone 13.09 seconds. Until two‐time Olympic finalist Devon Allen scorched Holloway with the third fastest time ever in New York on June 12 ‐ 12.84 seconds ‐ Parchment was the World Championships favourite, but now that role falls to Allen. Parchment turned 32 on June 17 but isn't concerned about the advancing of years. "I feel like, for hurdlers, we can go a little longer, it doesn’t require that much fast running to get the right times, it’s more technique and execution," he said after his Olympic win. His quest in Eugene is for a rarely achieved goal – winning the Olympics shot at the gold medal. SILVER FOR PARCHMENT and the World Championships in consecutive seasons. Only American star Allen Johnson and Jamaica’s Omar McLeod have ever managed this feat. Liu Xiang of China came close with Olympic gold in 2004 and after a silver at in 2005, he won the coveted World Championship crown in 2007. Holloway has raced sparingly outdoors and his time in New York was 13.06 seconds, his best this year. The affable American missed the world record by 0.01 with his 2021 Olympic Trials semi‐ final time of 12.81; in current form, he will battle Parchment for the silver.