Jamaica will return to the World Athletics Relays when the sixth staging gets underway at the Thomas A Robinson stadium in Nassau, Bahamas, and despite the absence of some of the island’s top athletes, there is cautious optimism that the mostly younger athletes could rise to the occasion.

Action in the two-day global relay showpiece is set to begin this afternoon.

A lot will be riding on the results this weekend as good performances will be rewarded by points towards qualification and placement in preferred lanes at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris, France.

The likes of World Championships gold medallists Shericka Jackson and Antonio Watson, as well as Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Rohan Watson, have opted to miss this global event while a number of others, including Stacey Ann Williams and Kemba Nelson, who were initially named, have since withdrawn.

Jamaica did not feature at the most recent staging, in Silesia, Poland in 2021, but had won at least two medals in the other four stagings: three in the Bahamas and the other in Yokohama, Japan. They won gold medals in 2014, 2015 and 2017, in the Bahamas.

According to World Athletics, “a total of 32 teams are entered for the men’s 4x100m and 30 are entered for the women’s 4x100m. There’ll also be 32 teams for the men’s 4x400m, 27 for the women’s 4x400m and 30 in the mixed 4x400m.”

Jamaicans are to line up in the preliminaries of the mixed 4x400m relays as well as the women’s and men’s 4x100m and the 4x400m events with hopes of advancing to the semi-finals and finals set for Sunday.

Additionally, the organisers have included similar relays for junior athletes, and Jamaica is expected to be represented in all three relays.

The country’s build-up to the World Relays was less than spectacular with Jamaica winning just one relay at last weekend’s 128th staging of the Penn Relays Carnival. The men’s 4x100m won in a pedestrian 39.59 seconds, racing against just one national team, Ghana, and four club teams.

The Jamaica women’s 4x100m team was beaten by Spain, and the men’s 4x400m team ran 3:07.54 minutes to finish third behind Portugal and Spain.

Jamaicans have only won a bronze medal in the mixed relays event that was first contested at the 2017 staging. This time around they will be represented by arguably the strongest pool named by the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association — Sean Bailey, Karayme Bartley, Tovea Jenkins, Roneisha McGregor, Janieve Russell and Assinie Wilson.

Jamaica’s Janieve Russell runs in the women’s 4x400m relay final during the World Championships at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest, Hungary, on August 27, 2023. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)

The men’s 4x100m squad features Ackeem Blake, Ryiem Forde, Kadrian Goldson, Bryan Levell, Odaine McPherson and Sandrey Davison. The latter was a late addition after anchoring the team at the Penn Relays.

The men’s 4x400m squad comprises Zandrion Barnes, Bartley, Roshawn Clarke, Anthony Cox, Demish Gaye, Malik James-King, Rusheen McDonald and Wilson.

On the women’s side, the 4x100m is to feature Remona Burchell, Tia Clayton, Yanique Dayle, Mickaell Moodie, Natasha Morrison, Alana Reid and Jodean Williams, while the 4x400m pool includes Leah Anderson, Junelle Bromfield, Tovea Jenkins, Roneisha McGregor, Janieve Russell, Ashley Williams and Charokee Young.