KINGSTON, Jamaica — Newly minted national men’s 400m champion Deandre Watkin and third place finisher JeVaughn Powell might not be available for selection to the Jamaican team that will seek to qualify, at the very last minute at the national trials on Sunday night, for the men’s 4x400m relays at the Paris Olympics.

Well placed sources told Observer Online that Watkins, who ran a personal best 44.48 seconds on Friday night to upset the field at the JAAA National Championships, is “not feeling well” while Powell who ran 44.79 seconds has a toe injury.

Both men were seen as critical to the Jamaican team running faster than the 2:59.12 seconds, the final place in the qualifying held by Zambia.

Jamaica, who have missed the men’s 4x400m relays at the Olympics once, in 1964 in Mexico, had failed in three previous attempts to qualify, twice at the World Athletics Relays in the Bahamas in early May and again at the NACAC New Life Invitational also in the Bahamas three weeks later.

It is understood that four teams, three of them Jamaicans and one from St Vincent and the Grenadines, will run the race at 8:05pm on Sunday and the top Jamaican team is expected to include World Championships finalists and two-time national champion Sean Bailey, NCAA finalist Reheem Hayles and Zandrion Barnes who were part of the team that paced fourth last year at the World Championships.
-Paul A Reid