MONTEGO BAY, St James — Jamaican shot putter Raymond Brown can’t wait for the Jamaica International Invitational (JII) to come as he looks forward to what will be his biggest competition in at least a year.

Brown threw a personal best 20.13m in February, the best in the world at the time, but has since slipped to 15th, but even more important, he has achieved the B qualifying standard for the IAAF World Championships in Moscow in August.

He hopes he will be one of at least two shot putters in Jamaican colours in Moscow with national record holder Dorian Scott already qualified.

Today Brown hopes better competition from the likes of second-ranked American Ryan Whiting and 2008 Olympic Games silver medallist Christian Cantwell will pull him to the A standard of 20.60m.

“Even if I don’t get the A standard (at the JII meet), I am on course to get it by June,” he told the Jamaica Observer after an early morning workout in Philadelphia last week.

Brown came into the season with a 19.41m personal best and he said last week while at the Penn Relays, new coach Marlon Gayle, and assistance from a Finnish businessman he met by chance have made the difference.

Brown, who previously attended the University of Technology, said he had gone to visit a friend at a hotel in Kingston when the CEO of the Finnish company, who was a guest there, saw them and struck up a conversation.

They started talking about track and field in Jamaica and then took the Finn to the UWI Classic and a bond was established immediately.

With his supplements now taken care of and his diet and rest a part of the equation, Brown said Gayle, who also coaches at Edwin Allen High, has improved his technique in that he is stronger and faster in the circle.

Brown managed only 18.55m for fourth place at the Penn Relays last week, but said that competing in front of a Jamaican crowd would boost his energy levels.