Jamaica had its finest showing at the World Under 20 Championships in Cali, Columbia, collecting 16 medals, with 6 gold, 7 silver and 3 bronze. The team performance included milestone performances by Tina Clayton, Brandon Pottinger and Jayden Hibbert. However, this outstanding squad produced several other distinguished performances.

A Lot of Firsts

  • Clayton became the first female to defend the 100m title. Incidentally, Jamaica’s Dexter Lee is the only male to defend the title with his wins in 2008 and 2010.
  • Pottinger, the son of former Kingston College sprinter Marlon, is the first Jamaican to win the high jump title.

There’s more.

  • The 1-2 finish by Kerrica Hill and Alexis James in the 100m hurdles broke new ground, as the first World Under 20 race in this discipline with two medals for Jamaica. In addition, their times – 12.77 and 12.87 seconds respectively – vaulted them to number 5 and number 11 on the World Athletics under 20 all-time performance list.
  • Pottinger beat Hibbert to the honour of being Jamaica’s first champion in a jumping event by minutes as their events, the high jump and the triple jump, were contested in the same session of competition. Hibbert has won all of Jamaica’s medals in the triple having started last year with the silver.

At just 17, Hibbert is just 2 centimetres behind the Jamaican under-20 record set by James Beckford at 17.29 metres. Besides Pottinger, Germaine Mason is the other Jamaican to leap on the podium in the high jump by virtue of winning a silver in 2000 and a bronze in Kingston in 2002.

  • Brianna Lyston is Jamaica’s third World Under 20 champion in the 200m, after wins by Veronica Campbell-Brown in 2000 and Briana Williams in 2018.
  • Kobe Lawrence’s silver in the shot put is our first medal in the iron ball event.
  • Bouwaghjie Nkrumie equalled the national junior 100m record of 10.11 seconds in his semifinal and then lowered it in the final to 10.02 seconds en route to silver. That was Jamaica’s first medal in the 100m since a bronze won by Odean Skeen in 2012. Moreover, Nkrumie is now the seventh fastest under 20, 100m athlete in history.

Roshawn Clarke kept his balance after a spill in the 400m hurdles to win the bronze, matching the finish by Devontie Archer at last year’s meet.