KINGSTON, Jamaica — Former St Elizabeth Technical High (STETHS) 400m hurdler Leonardo Ledgister of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC) is on the verge of booking a spot at the Olympic Games in Tokyo later this year after he achieved the qualifying mark at the NCAA West Regionals at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas on today’s final day of competition.

Ledgister who was a finalist at the World Athletics Under 20 championships in Finland in 2018, ran a personal best 48.79 seconds to place second in the breaking the TAMU-CC school record for the third time this season as he dipped under the 48.90 seconds Olympic Games standard.

To secure his place on the flight to Tokyo however, Ledgister has to compete at the Jamaican Senior Trials set for June 24-27 at the national stadium which will serve as the Olympic qualifier.

He is the second Jamaican man to achieve the Olympic standard, ironically, joining former STETHS and TAMU-CC runner Kemar Mowatt whose record he had broken earlier this year.

The men’s 400m hurdles final was originally scheduled to be run on Friday afternoon but almost the entire schedule was rained out and rescheduled for today.

Paul A Reid