Despite the absence of a number of powerhouse teams from the 10th and final IAAF World Under-18 Championships set to start in Nairobi next Wednesday, Head Coach Michael Carr says the road to medals will still be tough.

The 24-member team that includes at least four World Youth leaders on the IAAF performance charts left the island yesterday for a 27-hour-plus commute that includes airplanes, trains and bus and will arrive in the east African capital on Sunday.

The delegation, led by experienced track and field official Trevor “TC” Campbell, was due to fly to Miami then take a train to Ft Lauderdale from where they will fly to Dubai before the final leg to Nairobi, Kenya.

While accepting that the absence of seven countries, including the USA, Great Britain, Australia and The Bahamas, Carr says it will “improve the chances to win more medals” but says they will be earned.

“We will still be facing very good competition with or without those who will not show up,” Carr argued.

“A medal is a medal and we will have to go through the rounds and earn everything nothing will be given to us.”

While the word “boycott” has not been used, the countries that have turned down the opportunity to travel to Nairobi have cited the risk of terrorism despite there being no reports of any activities or threats to the event.

Jamaican athletes have benefited in the past from powerful nations not showing up for global sporting championships with cyclist David Weller winning a bronze in the men’s 1,000m Time Trials in the 1980 Olympics held in Moscow when the USA and their allies boycotted the Games.

This is still Jamaica’s only Olympic medal outside of track and field at the Olympics.

Four years later, swimmer Andrew Phillips qualified for the final of the 200m individual medley at the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles that was in turn boycotted by the then USSR and their allies, but still saw representatives from 140 countries turning up with nearly 7,000 athletes participating.