Anthony Foster, Freelance Writer
(Left)Yohan Blake ... leads Jamaica's sprint hopefuls.
(Right)Natasha Ruddock ... medal contender in the girls' 100m hurdles...races towards the finish line Action an the final day of the Grace Kennedy Boys and Girls Athletics championships at the National Stadium on Saturday 31.3.2007. -file photos
JAMAICA'S JUNIOR athletes are once again ready to take on the world.
This time, the young Jamaicans will take on their peers at the 12th IAAF World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Yohan Blake is the only returning individual medallist from the last Championships, which were held in Beijing, China, and he said he is ready to go.
"Mentally and physically ,I am ready," said Blake, who has not been seen much this season. "I am in good shape and ready to go out there and take home to the gold medal for Jamaica," he said.
Latoya McDermott and Shana-Gaye Tracey, who were members of Jamaica's 4x400m team which won bronze in Beijing, are also back in the fold.
In Beijing, the 28-member team secured two gold, one silver and six bronze medals, to finish behind Kenya (6G, 6S, 3B), China (5G, 5S, 7B), the United States (4G, 5S, 2B), Russia (4G, 3S, 3B) and Estonia (4G).
Top 400m hurdler Kaliese Spencer and the men's 4x100m team accounted for the gold medals, while Sonita Sutherland won the team's only silver.
eyes will be on blake
Sherene Pinnock, Blake, Carrie Russell, the women's 4x400m and sprint relay teams pocketed bronze.
While most eyes will be on Blake, who ran 10.11 seconds for the National junior record and Carifta Games Under-20 title in 2007, big things are also expected from World Youth 100m and 200m champions Dexter Lee and Ramone McKenzie.
Lee and McKenzie won the 100m and 200m gold medals at last year's World Youth Championships in Ostrava. Nickel Ashmeade, who has improved big time over last season, was a triple medallist in Ostrava - winning silver (100m), bronze (200m) and bronze (medley).
While the boys' team seems stronger than the girls', head coach Danny Hawthorne said he is not worried.
girls weaker
Hawthorne admitted the girls' team was a little weaker than the boys, but said, "I think these girls will give a good account of themselves." On paper, Jamaica's best hopes for individual girls' medals will be Natasha Ruddock and Shermaine Williams, 100m hurdles silver medallists from the 2005 and 2007 World Youth Champion-ships, respectively.
Latoya McDermott, the 400m silver medallist from Ostrava last year, would also be hoping to deliver a podium finish in her event.
"As usual, we always expect the best from our athletes and I am pretty sure they will give us their best this time," Hawthorne said.
The team is winding up its preparations in Bydgoszcz, where it arrived last Tuesday for a one-week camp.
The championships start on Tuesday and run until Sunday.
