Hurdler Hill nominated for Rising Star award

World Under-20 100 metres hurdles champion Kerrica Hill is vying to become the first Jamaican female athlete to be named World Athletics Rising Star.

Hill, 17, is among the five finalists for the award given to the best Under-20 athlete which has seen future World and Olympic champions crowned such as World and Olympic triple jump champion Yulimar Rojas and World and Olympic 400m hurdles champion and world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.

The former Hydel High athlete is coming off a strong 2022 campaign which saw her achieve success at both local and international levels, highlighted by her gold medal in Cali, Colombia, at the World Under-20 Championships this August.

Hill clocked 12.77 seconds for victory, the fastest time in the world by an under-20 athlete in 2022. She also twice broke the World under-18 record in the 100m hurdles last April at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Athletic Championships, first running 12.89 in the preliminary rounds and lowering the mark to 12.71 in the final. Hill was also a member of Jamaica's sprint relay team which clocked a World Under- 20 record (42.59 seconds) in the Cali final.

No Jamaican female has won the award since it was introduced in 2005, with Bahamian Anthonique Strachan (2012), the only Caribbean athlete to cop the top prize.

Hill's opponents for the award include Commonwealth 3000m steeplechase champion Jackline Chepkoech and World Under-20 3000m steeplechase champion Faith Cherotich, both from Kenya. Both have displayed strong performances at the senior meets this season with Chepkoech winning the Brussels Diamond League meet this year, while Cherotich was third in this year's Diamond League final. The other nominees are World Under-20 shot put champion Mine De Klerk of South Africa and World Under-20 javelin champion Adriana Vilagos of Serbia. The winner will be announced next month.