National middle distance runner Kimar Farquharson says he feels disrespected by the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) for how he was replaced in the national athletics team for the upcoming Paris Olympic Games.

Farquharson is a member of the Texas A&M University team which holds the world leading time of 2:58.37 minutes in the men’s 4x400m relays. This was set at the NCAA Outdoor Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, last month.

He was named to Jamaica’s 66-member team on Sunday as a reserve runner for the 4x400m mixed relay event but then replaced by quarter-miler Anthony Cox, who finished sixth in 46.20 seconds in the men’s 400m final at the JAAA National Senior Championships (Trials) last month.

This was because Farquharson’s name was not included on the JAAA’s “long list”. This is a provisional list of athletes submitted by the JAAA to the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) for accreditation for the Olympics, should they be selected for the national team after meeting the qualification standard and placing in the top three of their event at Trials. The deadline for the list’s submission to the JOA preceded the staging of Trials.

In this February 2020 file photo, Calabar High’s Kimar Farquharson goes on a record run of 1:49.46 in the Class One 800m at the Camperdown Classic inside the National Stadium. (Photo: Karl Mclarty)

“For me, it’s just about respect,” Farquharson told the Jamaica Observer. “Just say, ‘Hey Kimar, we’re going to replace you with somebody. We’re sorry about it but this person had all the information we needed and was on the list’. If they had said something like that, then I’d understand.”

Farquharson, who spent most of his career competing at the 800m distance, has been doing 400m races this season. He says he has been training since last August to realise his dream of competing at an Olympics and is disheartened by the outcome of events.

“If it was someone who didn’t have the same mental strength as I do, they would probably quit tracks and be done with it,” he said. “This is everyone’s dream – everyone wants to go to Paris.”

His main issue is what he describes as poor communication about the matter by the JAAA.

“I didn’t know I was getting replaced,” he said. “Somebody texted me and said to me, ‘You might not be on the team.’

“They [JAAA] said it to someone that ‘Kimar is not on the long list because he didn’t submit the passport document.’ When I heard that, I tried to reach out to the JAAA.”

Farquharson says he understands that he was replaced by Cox on Monday, the same day he called. He says he called again on Tuesday and Wednesday seeking confirmation but received no clarity.

“I spoke to someone there and they said they’re going to find out and get back to me,” he said. “Whenever I reached out to them, they said they’re going to try to talk to somebody and then get back to me.

“How I found out was that someone sent me a screenshot and said, ‘Bro, you’re not on the team anymore. They replaced you with somebody else.’”

Farquharson said the screenshot was taken from a Facebook post.

The Observer sought a response from the JAAA but was told by an official that there was communication between both parties, but they were not in a position to say more.

Farquharson says he was also not made aware of the steps involved in getting on the “long list”. He says his unfamiliarity comes from his coach handling these travel arrangements for him when he represented Jamaica at the junior level.

“That was something I wanted to learn more about,” he said. “When they said, ‘Kimar, your name is not on the long list,’ I was like ‘Hey, what’s that? What’s the long list?’.

“They said it’s a list of persons who sent in their passport details in time. If it was something like that, then you guys have my number. Just like how I showed up in The Bahamas to run, you guys found a way to reach out to me then. So, just like that, you guys could find a way to reach me about this.”

Farquharson competed on Jamaica’s 4x400m relay team at the New Life Invitational meet in The Bahamas last month in a failed bid to qualify for Paris.

“I didn’t think it was an issue that there’s a deadline to submit your passport,” he said. “They said I’m not the only one who had an issue, but I’m the only person replaced by someone else.”

But Farquharson says he holds no grudges towards Cox.

“I’m happy for him but at the same time, I have to look out for myself,” he said. “I want it just like another person would want it. So, I’m not going to be upset at him because he’s not the person who selected the team.”

Athletics at the Paris Games take place from August 1 to 11.

Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association President Garth Gayle (Photo: Joseph Wellington)

FARQUHARSON… if it was someone who didn’t have the same mental strength as I do, they would probably quit tracks and be done with it (Photo: Collin Reid)