Jamaica’s national record holder in the women’s discus throw Shadae Lawrence has sent a strong message that her third trip to a major global track and field championship will not be for ‘developmental’ purposes, but instead she is ready to stake her claim in the top eight.

On Saturday, Lawrence threw a season’s best 63.75m at the University of South Florida (USF) Bulls Invitational in Tampa, Florida, which elevated her to her highest-ever world ranking of number five.

Her national record of 65.05m, which was achieved at an NCAA meet in 2019, would have been enough to get her over the Olympic qualifying mark of 58.00m, but Saturday’s big throw bolsetered her confidence.

Two other Jamaicans were in the competition in Florida in Shanice Love of Florida State who threw 56.98m, good enough for third in the NCAA Divison 1 rankings, while former St Jago thrower Shania Scott, in her first year at the University of Albany, threw 46.94m in her first college outdoors competition.

Lawrence, who had completed her NCAA eligibility at Colorado State University after first attending Kansas State and who participated at the Rio Olympics in 2016, the World Athletics Championships in London a year later and the World Athletics Cup also in London in 2018, told the Jamaica Observer her goals had expanded.

“My mindset is going to the Games and placing in the top eight. I want to do more than just make trips,” she said, admitting to some butterflies before Saturday’s competition.

“That was my first competition since Doha 2019. I was a bit nervous, but competing in the shot put the day before helped me shake off the cobwebs,” she said. “I was not surprised [by the results] but excited that the work my coach and I put in daily showed.”

The two-time national champion wasted little time as she jumped into the lead from the first throw, going out to 63.75m and followed up with two more over 61.00m and one just short of 60.00.

While she did not have to worry about the qualifying mark for the Olympics, Lawrence, who had competed for both Edwin Allen and Hydel High with her twin sister and world-class triple jumper Shardea, said getting a big throw on her first trip into the ring sets up her season nicely.

“I had achieved the standard in 2019, but to surpass it in my first meet is exciting. It shows that the work we’ve been doing is working. It also shows that if we continue to work hard great things will happen,” Lawrence said.

While she is based in Florida and trains at USF, Lawrence is coached by Julian Robinson who is based in Kingston and says he is “a blessing”.

The 25-year-old said, “Even though the training is remote, I don’t feel alone. He is active, ensures that I get my programme”.

“Every session is analysed and we communicate well. I also have the throws coach at USF that twice a week I’ll jump in with her athletes. I would let her know what I’m working on and she would monitor me or give her input,” Lawrence outlined.

Competing in the World Athletics Diamond League “with the best in the world”, is one of her goals this year. “The main goal is the Olympics though, I want nothing else but to go to the Olympics and do the best,” she noted.

Lawrence was a week away from her first competition last year when the season was shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic and said while it caused some “uncertainties”, it could have been a good thing to get another year to prepare.

The cancellation of the season she said was “uncertain because I was on a one year work permit and the plan was to get another Olympics under my belt so I could apply for my athletic green card”.

“When the event got cancelled I wasn’t sure if that would make the process harder. So that was stressful; in the end it still worked out perfectly.

“In terms of training, it helped. I wasn’t able to start training until January 2020. Doha ended October 2019 and I had to focus on my studies after that because I graduated December 2019. I didn’t resume training until late January 2020. I missed all of the background training so I knew I wouldn’t fully be prepared for the Olympics August 2020. The postponement gave me time to prepare,” she explained.

For now she has some “local meets lined up and my agent is working on getting me into other meets”.