The 2022 staging of the Commonwealth Games is scheduled to take place from July 28 to August 8 in Birmingham, England. Jamaica’s participation has long been a significant feature of this event showcasing both our athletic prowess and Brand Jamaica since our entry into the Games in 1934.

This year will be a very special one in the history of Jamaica as it marks the 60th anniversary of Independence as well as the entry of Jamaica into the Commonwealth.

At the last Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast in Australia, Jamaica mined 27 medals, the largest count ever. This year there is a push to increase that number significantly.

Jamaica will be participating in a record number of 17 sports, including swimming and diving as the water sports, athletics, badminton, boxing, cycling, gymnastics, judo, lawn bowls (for the first time), squash, triathlon, wrestling, table tennis, weightlifting, netball, rugby, and para-athletics.

Unlike the Gold Coast where the athletes were housed in one space, this year they will be housed across four villages, the Commonwealth Games Village in Birmingham, Warwick, National Exhibition Centre and the New City Centre.

Jamaica’s delegation will be led by Chef de Mission Rudolph Speid, chairman of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) Technical and Development Committee, with supporting management team made up of Martin Lyn, president of the Aquatics Sports Federation; Elaine Hayden, secretary general, Rowing Association of Jamaica; Kaydean Webley, Games manager for the Paralympic Association; Horane Brown, president of the Lawn Bowls Association; and Wayne Thompson, Jamaica Teqball, secretary general.

President of the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) Christopher Samuda says that he intends to make a “blast” in Birmingham.

“In Birmingham, the Jamaica Olympic Association will create a blast. A blast that will signal to the world that we are now totally of age, not only in track and field, but in other sports and that is the promise that the Jamaica Olympic Association made when we came into office in 2017 and transitioned into 2021.

“That is the mission that we are pursuing and that is the mission that is clear to us, must be the lot of Jamaica in the future and as we roll out the Summer Olympic Games, we will equally roll out the Winter Games for in Italy we shall create history,” he promised.

Samuda is expecting massive support from the diaspora in Birmingham which has a sizable Jamaican population.

“It will be a Commonwealth blast in Birmingham where we will celebrate with the diaspora that is waiting patiently but with a sense of enthusiasm and conviction for our arrival and we shall arrive.

“My commitment and my directors’ commitment, is to make Jamaica a signal sport powerhouse, 17 sports and I can promise you on the next edition, nothing less than 25,” he ended.

While Jamaica had its largest haul of medals in Gold Coast in 2018, the largest number of goal medals have been earned in Melbourne, Australia, in 2006 and Glasgow, Scotland, in 2014 when Jamaica captures 10 on both occasions.