Jamaicans will be in the running for the prize bonuses of US$20,000 and wildcard entries for the World Athletics Indoor Championships Nanjing 2020 set for March 13 to 15.

The local athletes hope to use the 2020 World Athletics Indoor Tour — which begins in January — as a stepping stone to the World Athletics Indoor Championships Nanjing 2020. The winners of the event which starts in January will be eligible for wildcard entry to the World Athletics Indoor Championships Nanjing 2020, subject to the approval of their national federation.

The fifth edition of the World Athletics Indoor Tour will kick off in Boston (USA) on January 25, with stops in Karlsruhe (Germany) on January 31, Dusseldorf (Germany) on February 4, Torun (Poland) on  February 8 and Glasgow (UK) on February 15. It will then move to the newest addition to the circuit in Lievin France on February 19. The final meeting on the World Athletics Indoor Tour will be held in Madrid in Spain on February 21.

Jamaica sent a fairly strong team in 2018, headed by double Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson, who was fourth in the 60m. Triple jumper Kimberly Williams and shotputter Danniel Thomas-Dodd secured silver medals as Jamaica ended eighth in the medal table. Tovea

Jenkins was fifth in the women’s 400, Aisha Praught-Leer was sixth in the 1500m

and Remona Burchell was eighth in the 60m. Olympic champion Omar McLeod who won

the 60m hurdles in 2016, withdrew at the last minute citing injuries.

The Jamaican team has not been selected yet, but with this year being an Olympic year, most athletes will want to use the Indoor season as preparation for the big event in the Summer.

The tour will feature 11 point-scoring disciplines (those that were not part of this year’s tour programme), six for men — 60m, 800m, 3000m/5000m, pole vault, triple jump and shot put; and five for women — 400m, 1500m, 60m hurdles, high jump, long jump.

Each athlete’s best three results will count towards their point score and the athlete with the most points in each discipline at the end of the tour will be declared the winner at the finale in Madrid and receive the US$20,000 bonus. The winners of each individual event will receive US$3000 with the tour offering a combined prize purse of US$570,350.