Talented junior thrower Joseph Salmon, who claimed the Class Two discus gold medal for Clarendon College at last year’s Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships (Champs), is gearing up for a bigger challenge.

After transferring to Jamaica College (JC) over the summer, Salmon will step up to compete in Class One at the 2025 edition of Champs.

“It is going to be tough, but I am ready for it, because these are bigger boys that I will be competing with at Champs,” Salmon said. “I am feeling okay at the moment, but I am not going to get complacent. The mindset going into the Champs is to hit it hard and to stay on top of my game because I am very confident.”

Salmon, 17, believes he is in even better shape than last season.

“The work that I have been putting in is very consistent, and I am even more confident than last year that I am going to win at the championships this year,” he noted.

With a personal best of 59.90 metres this season, Salmon is setting his sights on surpassing the 60-metre mark at Champs.

“The aim is to throw over 60 metres at Champs this year because my personal best is 59.90m and so I know that I have it in me to do it. I just need to go out there and execute on the day,” he said.

Salmon has credited his smooth preparation to a focus on technique and strength.

“Training has been going good and smooth so far because I have been mostly working on technique and strength. I am now feeling a lot stronger, and I am also very focused right now,” he explained.

Reflecting on his season so far, Salmon added that he is pleased with his progress.

“The season has been good so far because I have done a lot of personal bests and I haven’t thrown less than 59 metres this season. So I am expecting good things from myself throughout the season,” he said.

Salmon’s Coach Rajive Ford is also very confident that his young charge will do well at this year’s championships.

“I definitely think that Joseph has the highest possible chance of winning the gold medal at this year’s championships,” Ford said.

“Of all his competitions so far his lowest distance of over 56 metres is still ahead of the next best competition, who is Dylan Logan of Kingston College. So that gives us a level of confidence in his abilities.

“I have to credit his old coach, because he came to us with a very good base, but it is just one or two things that we had to do to get him to where he is right now,” Ford said.