British sprint star Dina Asher-Smith and Ivory Coast’s veteran sprinter Marie-Josée Ta Lou have both promised to deliver exceptional performances on their debut appearances at the Jamaica Athletics Invitational (JAI) on Saturday.

The track and field meet is to take place at the National Stadium, commencing at 7:00 pm.

Both women, competing in Jamaica for the first time, say they are in great shape going into the meet.

Asher-Smith, 29, the 2019 200m world champion, is set to compete in the 200m race at the event. With her father hailing from Jamaica and her mother born in London, she anticipates experiencing a fantastic atmosphere inside the National Stadium.

“I am so excited to be competing here; I feel like this has been on my dream list for my entire career,” Asher-Smith said during Thursday’s press conference at the Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.

“Since I was younger, I always wanted to run in Jamaica. I grew up watching Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, I grew up watching Usain Bolt, and so I was very much the generation that was inspired by Beijing [2008 Olympic Games] and by 2012 [London Olympic Games], so to be able to come here, to what I feel like is the cultural hub of sprinting in the entire world, is a dream come true for me,” she said.

Asher-Smith, who has a personal best time of 21.88 seconds in the 200m, is focusing on executing well on Saturday. “I am feeling good because everything depends on execution. You can be in whatever shape you like, but you really have to perform when it matters, so I am just focusing on executing my race,” she pointed out.

“I have heard so much about the crowd because I have seen the videos of Champs (Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships), and I have seen the videos of the National Trials, and to race in that kind of atmosphere with fans and an audience that is so knowledgeable and passionate, I think that kind of energy produces great performances from the athletes,” Asher-Smith asserted.

Ta Lou, the fastest African woman in history over 100m with a personal best time of 10.72, said she is very familiar with Jamaican culture and its people.

“I am really excited to be in Jamaica, and as I have said, Jamaica is like my home. My husband is from Trinidad, and I have plenty of fans here. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is like my sister, and she is from Jamaica, so it feels like home, and I am really excited to be here,” said Ta Lou.

The 35-year-old Ta Lou, the 2017 and 2019 World Championships 100m silver medallist, is set to compete in the 100m event on Saturday. She stated that this meet was not a part of her original plans for the season, but after receiving numerous messages from fans and others urging her to compete in Jamaica, she decided that she would take up the offer.

“This meet was not even in my programme, but everyone from Jamaica was saying they wanted me to come and run in Jamaica, so I just spoke to my coach, and we decided to add it to my programme,” Ta Lou said. “I hope to do really well because I know that I am in good shape. This is going to be my first official 100-metre [race] of the season, and so I want it to be memorable because it is in Jamaica,” she said.

American reigning World Indoor 60m champion Christian Coleman, who is set to contest the 200m, is aiming to produce a very fast time on Saturday.

“I am super-excited to compete here again because last year when I came here, it was raining on race day, but the fans still came out and were blowing their horns.

“I feel like the Jamaican supporters are really enthusiastic about track and field, and that is something that you don’t feel in many places, so I am looking forward to a great time out there on Saturday,” Coleman said.