A 65-member team was named by the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) to represent Jamaica at the 17th Pan American Games set for Toronto, Canada July 10-26.

Jamaica will participate in seven sporting disciplines — track and field, swimming, badminton, cycling, shooting, golf and tae kwon do.

Reigning Sportswoman of the Year, Alia Atkinson, the 100m-breaststroke short course world record holder, is among six swimmers in the team.

A powerful track and field aggregation is responsible for 50 athletes to be headed by tied 2008 Olympic 100m silver medallists, Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart, plus 2014 Commonwealth Games champions Rasheed Dwyer and O’Dyane Richards. There will be 25 females and 25 males with the legendary duo of Bertland Cameron as head coach and Trevor Campbell as team manager.

For the first time in Jamaica’s history, a golfer will participate at the Pan American Games in Ian Facey, while Jamaica will be involved in cycling, but not in the traditional sense. The country will see Maliek Byndloss competing on the BMX.

BMX is a chaotic combination of speed, wheeled agility and fearlessness that pits eight cyclists at a time in an all-out race to the finish on a purpose-built dirt track filled with jumps, tight bends and obstacles.

Four people are down for badminton in Gareth Henry, Davyon Reid, Ruth Williams and Katerine Wynter, with Dwayne Ford the lone shooter on the team in the 50m rifle category. Kenneth Edwards and Cyriese Hall will compete in tae kwon do.

Compton Rodney will be Jamaica’s chef de mission of 29 officials, including coaches, team doctors and physiotherapists and masseuses.

Jamaica will be one of 42 countries participating in 38 sporting disciplines which will involve over 6,000 athletes.

— Howard Walker