Trevor ‘TC’ Campbell, head of delegation to last weekend’s IAAF World Indoor Championships in Portland, Oregon, has given top marks to the 24-member team that won one gold, a silver and a bronze in the four-day event at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland.

Two national indoors records were set over the days of the competition, with Omar McLeod running 7.41 seconds, a world-leading time, to be the first Jamaican man to win gold in the 60m hurdles on the final day. Asafa Powell twice ran 6.44 seconds, also world-leading in the first two rounds on his way to a silver medal in the men’s 60m, while Elaine Thompson won a bronze medal in the women’s 60m in her first indoor appearance.

Thompson, the outdoor 200m silver medallist last year, beat Dutch pre-championship favourite Dafne Schippers in the semi-finals, hours before the final.

“I would give the team an ‘A’… they worked hard and ran well,” Campbell said.

“Looking back, you have to say the team did well; we had some great performances, some not so great and some mishaps, but three medals, one of each colour, is not bad. We tried hard and there was no letting up from the team members, so one has to be grateful for what took place this weekend,” he said.

Stephenie-Ann McPherson was fourth in the women’s 400m finals, just missing a medal. Triple jumper Shanieka Thomas was eighth in her final, while both 4x400m teams made it to the medal round.

The female relay team had misfortune after lead-off runner Patricia Hall was tripped on the second lap and crashed out, suffering bruises to her shoulder and hands, while the men’s team was fourth.

World outdoor champion Danielle Williams, who was expected to do well, hit the first barrier in the 60m hurdles semi-final and crashed out of contention.

While praising McLeod’s golden run, Campbell said: “It was unfortunate that both female hurdlers did not perform as well as we hoped… I can’t ever recall seeing a female hurdler damage a hurdle, but Danielle did that, she tore off the top of the hurdle,” he noted.

The former national athlete defended the make-up of the team, which many felt was second-rate and inexperienced.

“I don’t know if we had so many newcomers… if we look at the team, a number (of athletes) were based in the US, they had experience in the college system, so I would not say we had an inexperienced team. It was a good balance, and those who had not competed on the boards before got a glorious opportunity to get some experience,” Campbell argued.

On the operational side, he said most things went well and again defended the decision to arrive in Portland on Wednesday, a day before the start of the championships and two days before the first Jamaican would take part.

“Getting here was a job. It took us almost 24 hours to get here, but the accommodation was great, facilities were absolutely wonderful and I can’t ever recall going anywhere and seeing such friendly people. There are great track people in Oregon, but they also treated us well,” Campbell said.

“A number of the athletes who were here (in Oregon) live in the US and of the 24 persons who were in the team, only about seven or eight left from Jamaica. Yes, we could have gotten here a bit earlier, but I don’t think it impacted the performances.”