KINGSTON, Jamaica — The incomparable Usain Bolt, Rio Olympic gold medallists, Elaine Thompson and Omar McLeod along with defending hurdles champion Danielle Williams, head a list of 59 athletes consisting of 30 males and 29 females selected for the London World Championship between August 4-13.

Bolt, 30, who will be retiring at the end of the championships, will be defending the 100m title he won in 2009, 2013 and 2015. He is joined by Yohan Blake, who won the 100m title in 2011, as Jamaica seek to continue its domination of the sprints.

Bolt will only be competing in the 100m and a weakened 4x100m relay team that will be without Asafa Powell, who has not recovered in time to prove his fitness after withdrawing from the Senior Championships.

Olympic 110m hurdles champion Omar McLeod forms a powerful sprint hurdles trio of Hansle Parchment and Ronald Levy. Calabar High schoolboy and World Junior champion Dejour Russell also makes the trip as standby.

Meanwhile, Sprint Queen Elaine Thompson leads 29 other females into action in what is really a team in transition without the likes of Veronica Campbell-Brown, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Sherone Simpson or Kerron Stewart.

Thompson, the Rio Olympic double champion, will be competing only in the 100m and is a heavy favourite to defend the title won by Fraser-Pryce in 2013 and 2015.

Interestingly, only three females were selected for the 400m hurdles in Ronda Whyte, Ristananna Tracey and Leah Nugent. In-form Janieve Russell was not taken as standby but, four male runners were selected for the 400m hurdles in Jaheel Hyde, Kemar Mowatt, Ricardo Cunningham and Andrae Clarke.

Danielle Williams, who is rounding into good form, will be defending the 100m title she won in Beijing and will have company in Megan Simmonds, Yanique Thompson and Rushelle Burton.

Jamaica will be well represented in the field events with Fedrick Dacres highly touted for a medal in the discus and O’Dayne Richards in the shot put.

 Howard Walker