National record holder and 2018 Commonwealth Games champion Danniel Thomas-Dodd is banking on her years of experience to lift her to a podium finish in the women’s shot put event at the Olympic Games in Paris.

Thomas-Dodd, who has been competing in the event for over 10 years, will be participating in her third Olympic Games.

The 31-year-old Jamaican finished 25th overall at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro with a throw of 16.99m. She placed 13th in Tokyo at the Games held in 2021 with an improved mark of 18.37m.

Thomas-Dodd, the 2019 World Championships silver medallist, will head into the Olympic Games with a season’s best throw of 19.32m, which ranks her 11th in the world this year. Sarah Mitton from Canada is currently the world leader and gold medal favourite with her mark of 20.68m.

The former Edwin Allen standout, who is based in the United States where she is coached by her husband Shane, has a personal best and national record mark of 19.77m.

She told the Jamaica Observer that her primary objective is to secure a place in the final of the event, and once she achieves this, her next step is to aim for the podium.

“I have to make the final, and that is my number one goal going into Paris. I have to give myself a chance, and that would be the big focus going into the Olympics,” said Thomas-Dodd.

“I just have to give myself a chance, make it to the final, and once I make it to the final, then I think anything is possible,” she added. “It is just to take things in stride. I am not rushing ahead to where I need to be, and definitely, experience plays a big part. I think at the end of the day, when the Olympics come around, the experience will show,” Thomas-Dodd explained.

Thomas-Dodd, who won her ninth shot put national title at the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association Championships in June, also indicated that she is hoping to have her coach with her in Paris, which will be a massive motivating factor for her at the Olympic Games.

“My coach being there is definitely going to be a factor because at the last Olympics, he wasn’t there, and I felt that all the preparations we did going into the Olympics kind of went to the wayside,” she stated. “I didn’t have him there giving me the cues that I am used to getting, so I’m hoping this time around he will be able to be in Paris with me,” Thomas-Dodd asserted.

“I am not putting anything on my shoulders, but experience definitely plays a big part because I have been to two Olympics before. So, going into this one, we are taking a different approach this year,” she added.

Lloydricia Cameron, who has a season’s best throw of 17.73m, will be Jamaica’s other representative in the women’s shot put event in Paris.

The women’s shot put qualification round is scheduled to begin on August 8.