NATIONAL men’s long jump champion Carey McLeod is to begin Jamaican athletes’ quest for Wanda Diamond League titles on Wednesday at the two-day Weltklasse Zürich in Switzerland.

A total of 37 Diamond League trophies will be handed out over the two days.

The men’s long jump will be one of five field events finals set for the Sechseläutenplatz on opening day, before the action switches to the Letzigrund stadium on Thursday.

McLeod will contest the men’s long jump against Olympic Games and World Championships gold medallist Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece, Simon Ehammer of Switzerland, Liam Adcock of Australia, and Italy’s Mattia Furlani.

In addition to the Diamond League titles and the attractive prizes ranging between US$30,000 and US$50,000, wild cards for next month’s World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, will be at stake.

While 10 Jamaicans are scheduled to compete in Switzerland, most attention will be focused on Thursday’s second day when two wild card spots could be on offer.

In the best-case scenario, Jamaica could get as many as three additional spots at the World Championships if Olympic Games women’s 100m finalist Tia Clayton and the defending Diamond League men’s 100m champion Ackeem Blake can earn the wild cards.

Under World Championships rules, each country is allowed three entries per event, inclusive of athletes achieving qualifying performances or World Ranking quota spots.

Teams can, however, add a fourth if an athlete gets a wild card which can come from being the defending champion or the Diamond League 2025 champion.

But no country can have more than one wild card spot, and with Sha’Carri Richardson being the women’s 100m champion, no other American can get in via a wild card in that event. That means that if Clayton wins the Diamond League title, or finishes second to an American, Jamaica will earn an additional spot.

In an additional twist, if women’s defending champion Shericka Jackson opts to run only the 200m in Tokyo her compatriot Jodean Williams, who was fourth at Jamaica’s championships in June and has the qualifying time, could be entered for the event.

In the men’s 100m, if Blake gets the wild card then Ryiem Forde, who was fourth at the national championships and a finalist at the 2023 World Championships in Hungary, could be the fourth Jamaican in the men’s 100m in Tokyo.

On Thursday, in addition to Clayton and Blake in the 100m races, Jamaica will also have Romaine Beckford in the men’s high jump; Jordan Scott in the men’s triple jump; Shanieka Ricketts in the women’s triple jump; defending world champion Danielle Williams and Ackera Nugent in the 100m hurdles; Orlando Bennett in the 110m hurdles; and Andrenette Knight in the women’s 400m hurdles.

— Paul A Reid

Carey McLeod Photos: AFP