With a group that boasts some of history’s finest as well as a collection of the planet’s most promising talent converged at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, Jamaica’s Technical Director Maurice Wilson described the marquee event as a critical milepost in Jamaica’s track and field development.

Wilson, who has served in various capacities on Jamaica’s coaching panels at major championships for much of the past two decades, believes the experience will not only fortify the foundations built upon by the established world-beaters in the team, but will prove an important exercise for the next cohort of Jamaican track and field stars.

Twenty-eight Jamaicans will be making their first appearance at the championships, which starts today and ends on July 24 at Hayward Field — America’s spiritual home for athletics.

“The fact that we have so many youngsters signifies that we are well in the transitional mode. For these meets, a lot of times experience can make a difference, so it is just about how they deal with the experience. We are trying to provide the necessary conditions to facilitate that. I do believe that this will be the watershed year leading to another World Championships next year, the Olympics in 2024, and another World Championships in 2025,” Wilson told the Jamaica Observer.

“I do believe this is an extremely important championship. When we did not perform so well in 2017 in England, I had said that the Commonwealth Games in 2018 would be a watershed year for us to get back to where we were. We did very well at the Commonwealth Games, came back to Doha in 2019, and again did very well, so I would attribute the same to this,” Wilson added.

Exciting young sprinters Oblique Seville, Kemba Nelson and Ackeem Blake; sprint hurdlers Britany Anderson and Rasheed Broadbell; quarter-milers Candice McLeod, Charokee Young, Jevaughn Powell and Christopher Taylor are among the World Champs debutants for Jamaica.

Wilson pointed to the support being offered by the elder statesmen and women within the squad and believes this will not only facilitate strong performances by the youngsters in Eugene but will help to secure success in years to come.

“I’m recognising that we have a lot of new athletes. I think they are very enthused but there is something that is special about these athletes. They are extremely respectful, they are very light-hearted and comfortable, and I think the future is bright.

“The senior athletes that are here are leading by example and I’m very proud of how they have operated. You can see them basically galvanising the youngsters; they gravitate towards them, and I think they are providing great leadership to these youngsters,” said Wilson.

Jamaica’s mixed 4x400m relay team will be the island’s first representative at the championship and will line up in the second heat starting at 11:56 am today.

Jamaica secured 12 medals at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar, a strong response to the disastrous four-medal let-down two years prior in London.