KINGSTON, Jamaica — Despite winning discus gold at the NACAC Championship but failing to achieve the World Championship mark, Fedrick Dacres said he is not perturbed.

“Wasn’t really paying that any mind. I was really working on my strength and technique for the big one in September,” he told Observer Online.

“Hence why I didn’t make any real effort to compete in Europe. I needed to stay home and get in the groundwork,” he explained.

Dacres won Jamaica’s first gold at the NACAC Championship with a throw of 65.10m and won ahead of American Sam Mattis with 64.06m. Jamaica’s Chad Wright got the bronze with 62.85m.

However, Dacres, whose winning mark of 65.10m, is well short of the 67.50m needed to directly book his ticket to the World Championship in Japan in September.

If Dacres fails to reach 67.50m, the other option would be that he could still qualify for the plane to Japan via the World Ranking Quota system, which allows 36 athletes in the discus event.

He is currently ranked 20th, with a season’s best of 66.33m and a personal best of 70.78m. Dacres could still secure his spot at the World Championship, as the qualifying cut-off date is August 24, 2025.