JAAA looking to finalise World Champs camp soon
JAMAICA ATHLETICS Administrative Association (JAAA) president Garth Gayle says his organisation should finalise arrangements for a training camp for the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, by next month.
Gayle said that discussions surrounding three possible venues were ongoing, two of which are close to Eugene. He says that they are looking to have the details signed off before the National Championships, which are scheduled to take place from June 23-26.
“We are currently reviewing three venues that are close to Eugene. One or two are in Portland which is a two-hour drive but we are looking at logistics,” Gayle told The Sunday Gleaner.
“We are hoping to have this done at least before the start of our trials so that we can make the information available to all concerned. We are having conversations with some of the coaches because our technical leader for that event is also in dialogue and working with several of our local and international coaches.”
Gayle confirmed that SprintTech head coach Maurice Wilson will once again serve as technical leader for the championships. The team had to reshuffle their plans last year for the Tokyo Olympics after their Tottori training camp was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. An option that was explored was Los Angeles, which had the most accessible routes to Tokyo.
SUITABLE LOCATION
This year, Gayle said that they are hoping to select a suitable location that will reduce the travel for all athletes once the final team has been selected.
“The importance for us is that once our athletes leave Jamaica after the trials, we want to ensure that the jetlag, the moving around is minimised as best as possible. Because travel does take its toll on an athlete and the athlete’s preparation has to be carefully managed by their coaches and their management team,” Gayle said.
“But we try to reduce as best as possible too much air travel from when the team is assembled and now take up residence for the championships.”
Gayle confirmed that the camp will be no more than a week long as they balance athletes, who have already booked meets on the international circuit in the build-up to the championships which begin on July 15.
Wilson has emphasised the importance of pre-championship training camps, pointing to the impact at last year’s Olympics, there were medals won that were not guarantees.