Over a year after its resurfacing, Sports Minister Olivia Grange says the National Stadium track has officially been certified by World Athletics.

The announcement was one of the highlights of Grange’s contribution to the sectoral debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

The track was upgraded in March 2025 by international track suppliers Rekortan, ahead of Jamaica hosting the first leg of the now crisis-hit Grand Slam Track.

Despite it hosting a number of events, including the National Senior and Junior Championships and the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships, the track had yet to receive international certification from World Athletics.

As a result, the stadium, which previously held a Grade One classification, was no longer eligible to host World Athletics-sanctioned international competitions or have senior and junior world records ratified.

However, Grange says she’s elated that the track has now received approval from the world governing body.

“I now have the duty to quote from a correspondence which we recently received from World Athletics,” she said. “The message included some technical language, but I will just read the sentence that we are all waiting to hear – ‘all synthetic surface field test measurements comply with World Athletics requirements.

“This means that the National Stadium track — the beautiful and unique black, gold and green track — is certified. The Class One facility certification means that the record setting times that can now be run on our modern track will be fully recognised.”

Olympian and Grand Slam Track organiser Michael Johnson takes a look at the recently re-surfaced track a day before the start of the Grand Slam Track at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica, on April 3, 2025. (Photo: AFP)

In January, World Athletics president Seb Coe said Jamaica would be in a strong position to host events such as the World Under-20 Championships and World Relays but acknowledged the full stadium upgrade would be necessary.

Addressing the stadium upgrade on Tuesday, Grange didn’t give a timeline on when construction would begin, but said that it is in the detailed design stage after completing the feasibility study and concept design.

Another key announcement from Grange was the reintroduction of the National Sports Council which has been inactive since 2016.

Opposotion spokesperson on sport Wavell Hinds and Jamaica Olympic Association president Christopher Samuda have been among the stakeholders who have called for it to be reinstated.

In outlining the council’s mandate, Grange said it will “provide advice to the minister on policy and harmonisation of the sports industry, promote sport development actions, conduct impact assessments and analyses of Government’s policy directives, provide ongoing development of proposals for national policy in relation to sport, advise on strategies to create synergies among sports federations through capacity building, streamlining, funding and infrastructure development and monitor the transformation plan for sports, ensuring timely and effective implementation.”

In relation to the returning Caribbean Premier League franchise, Grange says the partnership with the Jamaica Kingsmen, valued at over $400 million, will see the Government undergo a three-year development programme at the primary school level.

Among the six objectives include increase participation at the Under-13 level and proving greater access to gear and equipment for students.

“This is how we move to the next level in cricket — by going back to the grass roots, equipping our children, training our coaches, putting pitches in schoolyards, and building a pipeline from the classroom to Sabina Park, to the West Indies, and to the world,” Grange said.

Sports Minister Olivia Grange (Photo: Naphtali Junior)