Mixed first morning for Jamaican women amidst JAAA muck up

Photo: Jamaican team manager Ludlow Watts will need to explain the non-inclusion of sprinter Nesta Carter from the 100m entry list.

The two Jamaican women participating on the first morning of the 15th IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China experienced mixed fortunes in their respective disciplines amidst an inexcusable mishap by Jamaica’s track and field governing body, the Jamaica Administrative Athletics Association (JAAA).

Danniel Thomas failed to advance to the finals of the Women’s Shot Put, while Salsia Slack completed two events of the Heptathlon, but bronze medalist from the 2013 World Championships. Nesta Carter however, will not line up in the Men’s 100m heats after the JAAA’s failed to register the athlete before the deadline date of August 10th.

Thomas who threw a distance of 16.62m, failed to meet the minimum standard of 18.30m required to advance to the finals. Medal favourites, China’s Lijiao Gong, Germany’s Christina Schwanitz and USA’s Michelle Carter achieved the qualifying standard with the first efforts.

In the first track event of the day, Slack stumbled to 13.98s after she hit a number of hurdles before finishing 7th in her heat. She returned to produce a season’s best in the high jump when she cleared 1.62m before failing on all three attempts at 1.65m.

The biggest talking point of the morning for Jamaica however, was the non-inclusion of Nesta Carter in the Men’s 100m. The backlash on social media has already been intense and the JAAA’s will be at pains to explain the circumstances that led to Carter being left off the list.