The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

LAST year, the Jamaican Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) sent the second fastest man in the world - Yohan Blake - to compete in the inaugural International Amateur Athletic Federation IAAF/BTC World Relays at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium.

When the JAAA sent their team to the second version of the relays, scheduled for May 2-3, the world’s fastest man - Usain Bolt - will be a part of their delegation.

The IAAF confirmed yesterday that the JAAA met to decide the national team for the competition and they selected Bolt, the multiple world and Olympic champion and world record holder, to be a member of their team.

Bolt, who would have competed in the Bahamas before at the CARIFTA Games, the top regional junior meet, said he is envious of what took place last year and wanted to make sure that he didn’t get left out of all the excitement this year.

“I hear the meet was a lot of fun last year and there was a great atmosphere. Jamaica has a long and successful tradition in relays and when we put on the national colours we always do our best to make the country proud,” he added.

Garth Gayle, general secretary of the JAAA, said they are delighted to be able to utilise Bolt’s services.

“We were extremely pleased that Usain was available for selection and that the world’s fastest man will be running for Jamaica,” he said. “We can expect some sprint magic on the track in the Bahamas on 2nd and 3rd May.”

The full Jamaican team list for the competition will be announced shortly. Jamaica, who had a 38-member team here last year, is celebrating their 31st consecutive victory at the Silver Jubilee celebrations of the Carifta Games in St Kitts and Nevis where they hauled in 85 medals (41 gold, 25 silver and 19 bronze) with the Bahamas regaining its second place position with 31 medals (eight gold, 13 silver and 10 bronze).

The IAAF / BTC World Relays is the newest addition to the IAAF’s global competition programme, and will see more than 600 athletes from around the world compete in five relay disciplines: 4x100m, 4x200m, 4x400m, 4x800m and the distance medley relay for both men and women.

At the IAAF World Relays in 2014, three world records were set and more could fall this year. Without the towering 6-foot, 5-inch Bolt last year, Jamaica still dominated the men’s sprints.

The team of Nesta Carter, Nickel Ashmeade, Julian Forte and Blake ran 37.77 for the gold. The team of Ashmeade, Warren Weir, Jermaine Brown and Blake sped to a world record time of 1:18.63 in the 4 x 200m. After both events, there was all kind of speculations of how fast both teams would have ran had Bolt been a part of them.

Bolt, 28, set the world records in the 100m (9.58) and 200m (19.19) at the IAAF World Championships in Berlin, Germany in 2009. He was also a part of the 4 x 100m team that set a record at the chmpionships, but three years later at the Olympic Games in London, England, Bolt anchored the team of Carter, Michael Frater and Blake, who lowered the current mark to 36.84.

With Bolt, winner of six Olympic Games (two relays) and 10 World Championships (four relays) medals, now confirmed with just about 24 days left, the Local Organising Committee is now swinging into high gear.

“It’s pretty exciting. From an organisational stand point to have the fastest man in the world confirm his attendance is something special,” said Lionel Haven, managing director of the LOC. “We are sure that this will bring a surge in the interest in the ticket sales, a surge in the interest of the media coverage and the general participation of the fans, so we are pretty excited.”

Haven said they will now beef up their high standard of preparation because there will now be an increase in attendance and based on the security aspect that they have in place, he’s confident that the LOC will be ready for the significant impact on their operation. All participating teams have until April 20 to confirm their team entry.

At the IAAF World Relays in 2014, the United States won the overall classification and was awarded the Golden Baton after they accumulated a total of 60.0 points to hold of Jamaica, who got 41.0. Kenya, who posted two of the other three world records that were set last year, rounded out the top three with 35.0. The Bahamas finished eighth with 15.0.

Last year, the top eight countries in both the men and women 4 x 100 and 4 x 400m relays qualified for this year’s World Championships in Beijing, China in August. Jamaica, Great Britain and Brazil were the only countries to qualify in all four relays.

The USA made it in three after the men’s 4 x 100m team got disqualified in the preliminaries. The Bahamas qualified in just the men’s 4 x 400m after taking second place behind the USA.

This year’s IAAF World Relays will serve as a qualifying competition for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Tickets for the event are on sale at the box office at the stadium. The gold tickets are priced at $65, silver at $45 and the bronze are $35. The general admission is $12 for adult and $7 for children under the age of 12. The event will be begin at 7pm each day.