MVP carrying on with indoor season

Paul Francis, one of the coaches at MVP track club, said the athletes at his club will continue with their plans for the indoor season despite the postponement of the World Indoor Championships.

World Athletics, the governing body of the sport, was forced to put off the championships until next year because of the outbreak of the coronavirus in China, where the meet was to be hosted.

"Some of our athletes will still participate in some indoor meets, before the season close as part of their preparation for their outdoor season going forward," Francis said. "Athletes will be participating in the 60m this weekend at the Milo Western Relays."

While he expressed disappointment at the postponement of the meet, Francis praised the organisers for taking the safety of the athletes into account.

"The plan was to go to the Indoor championships, however, we put safety first and accepted the postponement until next year and worked with the flow," he said.

The short sprints coach said that he cannot foresee the postponement of the meet having any effect on their preparation of the Olympic Games this summer.

"It doesn't have any effect on our preparation," he said. "Things don't always go smoothly, but it shouldn't affect what we are trying to achieve."

Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association president Warren Blake said that his staff are currently searching to find meets early in the outdoor season to get the country's relay pool running together.

"It would have been another meet to have some of the relay teams working together, and so we are currently in discussion to send some teams to the Atlanta Invitational and possibly others. And we will be attending the Penn Relays as usual," Blake said.