Kelly-Ann Beckford ran a personal best and University of Houston outdoor programme record 2:02.88 minutes at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in Austin, Texas, on Thursday to kick-start her outdoor season and bid for a place on the Jamaica team to the Olympic Games in Paris this summer.

The former Albert Town High and Carifta Games medallist is coming off a disappointing end to her indoor season. She failed to make it to the final of the NCAA Indoor Championships at the TRACK at New Balance in Boston this month after arguably her best season.

The 2022 national 1,500m champion had won her school’s first Big12 title, clocking an indoor personal best, school record and Big12 indoor record 2:00.99 minutes. It is the fourth best all conditions (indoor or outdoor) by Jamaicans still competing.

Beckford is the former NCAA Division 2 champion at Lincoln University while training under Jamaican Coach Harold “Poppy” Thomas.

Come late June at the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) National Championships, she could be facing many-time national champion and national record holder Natoya Goule; 1,500m record holder Adelle Tracey; and former quarter-miler Chrisann Gordon-Powell for a spot on the team to the Paris Games. Hopefully, by then Beckford would have run the qualifying time of 1:59.30.

A week after she ran a personal best 52.79 seconds to win the 400m at the 41st Victor Lopez Classic, Beckford lowered her 800m outdoors personal best from 2:05.88. It also went under the previous school record 2:03.80 set 32 years ago by Theresa Dunn-Fuqua.

Earlier this month, after failing to get past the first round at the NCAA Indoor National Championships, Beckford, who was named Big12 Indoor track and field performer of the year, told the Jamaica Observer she was focused on qualifying for the Paris Games.

“Everything is going pretty good. I have just been training hard…and I’m just going to go back to training, train hard to stay focused.

“I am hoping to make the Olympic team this year, this is my main goal,” Beckford said, looking ahead to what is expected to be a gruelling outdoor season.

She was brutally frank about her performance at the NCAA Indoor National where she finished 14th overall with 2:06.55. “I have no idea what happened, my head was just not in it today,” she said before adding she was ready to make amends in the outdoor season.