Athletes considering Indoor Champs snub

The Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association's (JAAA) selection committee could have a problem naming a team for the World Athletics Indoor Championships as a number of athletes may skip the event to focus on making the Olympic team in the summer.

The championships is scheduled for March 13-15, four months after the conclusion of the World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, last year.

Olympian and assistant athletics coach at the University of Texas El Paso, Davian Clarke, said that the short window between the two events is a major concern for athletes.

"What makes this season complicated is the fact that the World Championships last year was in October. So a lot of people got a late start to their seasons and will have to decide whether they are going to compete indoor or even if they doing so, they have to decide how they are going to structure their seasons," Clarke, who represented Jamaica at three summer Olympic Games, said.

CHALLENGES

Maurice Wilson, who served at the head coach for the Jamaican team at the Doha World Championships, acknowledges the challenge that the tight schedule posed, but said that he and the athletes under his tutelage are up for the task.

"This is a very difficult task because I have to make sure that the athletes are recovered from the extended season," Wilson said. If someone is doing something every day, they need a break from it. But, we also have to remember that these athletes are professionals who need to maximise their earning potential, so they should not just plan an athletic season around just one event because anything can happen at that meet."

The JAAA's National Championships, the meet used to select the athletics team for the Olympics, is scheduled for June 25-28, while the Tokyo Games are scheduled to begin on July 24.

The World Indoor Championships is also under threat of being cancelled with the rapid spread of the deadly Coronavirus in China, where the event is scheduled to be held.