THIS year’s edition of the Jamaica International Invitational meet, (JII), which was set for this Saturday, May 4, has been cancelled due to the lack of funding, said the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) in a press release yesterday.

The JII meet, which is an International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Challenge calendar event, started in 2004 with a yearly budget of approximately US$1.35m (J$180m).

“The current reality is that the level of sponsorship promised/received is insufficient to allow us to stage anything but a watered down version of what is expected of the Jamaica International Invitational meet,” said the released signed by JAAA’s President Dr Warren Blake.

“Accordingly, we regret to inform that after consultation with the International Association of Athletics Federations it has been decided to cancel all plans for this year’s staging of the JII meet,” it continued.

“The stellar athletics event made a name for itself by the numerous world-class athletes which it has consistently attracted from across the globe and the annual staging was only possible from private and public sectors.

“Being an invitational meet which attracts professional athletes, the fees commanded account for greater portion of the budget. We have managed to run the meet on a tight budget over the past 15 years,” Dr Blake said.

“We remain grateful to our various sponsors, past and present, and our many track and field fans for their generous support,” added Dr Blake.

Over the years a convergence of stars lit up the National Stadium, and only last year Jamaican prodigy Christopher Taylor matched strides with American great Lashawn Merritt over 200m, and the 2015 World Championships 200m bronze medallist Anaso Jobodwana of South Africa. Taylor brought the house down and won in 20.49 seconds.

The Jamaica International Invitational meet was established in 2004 as an Area Permit Meet, with the main objective being the development of Jamaica’s track and field programme by bringing many of the world’s premier athletes to the island. The JII meet was upgraded to being a part of IAAF World Challenge Series in 2011.

A World Challenge is the second tier of the IAAF global invitational track and field meeting competition structure which was set up in 2010. Since 2018, the IAAF World Challenge is composed of nine meetings spread across Asia, Europe, South America and NACAC (North America, Central America and the Caribbean) each offering US$200,000 in prize money.