BARCELONA, Spain — It was truly Black Friday for Jamaican athletes on yesterday’s fourth day of the 14th IAAF World Junior Championships at the Montjuic Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain as despite qualifying for five finals, they came away empty-handed failing to add to the two medals won previously.

In Spain, the unlucky combination is Tuesday the 13th, but try convincing the Jamaican contingent that came to the stadium in an expectant mood yesterday of that.

Julian Forte, who established himself as the man to beat in the 200m, was taken off the track in a wheelchair after he pulled up about 20m from the line looking well set to land gold.

Forte appeared to have reinjured his hamstring as he grabbed the back of his legs while finishing the race. His participation in the men’s relay finals today is doubtful.

The former Wolmer’s Boys runner had looked the best bet for gold and covered the field off the curve. He was heading for glory when disaster struck.

Munro College’s Delano Williams, who had won the Boys Champs and Western Champs Class One sprint double, claimed the Turks and Caicos’ first ever medal at the World Juniors when he set a new National Record 20.48 seconds. Meanwhile American Aaron Ernest won his second silver in a personal best 20.53 seconds and his teammate Tyreek Hill was third in 20.54 seconds.

Earlier Javarn Gallimore in the men’s 400m hurdles, Shericka Williams in the women’s 200m, Chanice Porter in the long jump and their pair of Chrissann Gordon and Olivia James in the women’s 400m, all failed to add to the medal tally as Jamaica fell to joint 10th with Colombia in the medal tables.

And to pile on the misery, the women’s 4x100m relay team did not finish their race, dropping the baton on the second exchange between Edwin Allen High teammates Shawnett Lewin and Christiania Williams.

Head coach Michael Dyke could barely mask his disappointment when he spoke to the Jamaica Observer, describing the day as “one of the roughest days I have ever had as a coach”, as he shook his head in disbelief.

He, however, found a silver thread in all the dark clouds when he pointed out that despite the failures there were successes as one athlete, Porter set a National Junior Record 6.58m, while placing fourth in the long jump, and Gordon and James both ran season best times in the 400m final.

Dyke said they came into the day expecting “to win at least two medals from the five finals with Gallimore and Forte,” pointing out that in the latter’s case, the athlete was injured “and there’s little we can do about that as his personal coach and physio were also here with him”.

He said while there would be disappointments in the camp, there were things they could look forward to on today’s fifth and penultimate day of the championships.

“We have things to look forward to on Saturday as we are in two finals and hope to get a medal in both in the women’s 400m hurdles with Janieve Russell and the men’s 4x100m team,” he said.

Female sprint hurdlers Samantha Scarlett, who ran a personal best 13.62 seconds for third in her first round heat and Chrisdale McCarthy, who ran 13.68 seconds for second place in her heat, both advanced to the semi-final.

The mile relays will also have their first round today.

Also yesterday, triple jumper Clive Pullen needed one jump to advance to the final and to establish a new personal best 15.92m.

There might have been warnings as the day started under cloudy skies with threats of rain after four days of brilliant sunshine.

After an hopeful morning, the series of disappointments started in the women’s relay heats as minutes after the Bahamas team suffered an injury to their third leg runner, the Jamaican team failed to make the exchange in almost the exact same position as Williams appeared to have moved off too fast for Lewin.

Gallimore had given the Jamaicans hope of a first ever 400m hurdles medal at this level with his then World Junior leading 50.45 seconds in the semi-finals and looked well set in the final yesterday, but struggled into fourth place in 50.49 seconds, his second fastest time ever, as the USA’s Eric Futch (50.24 seconds) took the gold.

The women’s 200m was next where Jackson, who ran a season’s best 23.35 seconds in the first round, never got back to that level running 23.53 seconds yesterday for last place after 23.8 into a strong head wind in the semis a day earlier.

The Bahamas’ Anthonique Strachan completed a fine sprint double winning in a Championship record 22.53 seconds after taking the women’s 100m on Wednesday.

Gordon and James were outmatched in the quarter-mile as they battled hard but came up short with times of 52.31 seconds and 52.68 seconds for seventh and eighth, respectively, the second season best of the week for James, the bronze medal winner in Italy at the World Youth level last year.

In the long jump, Porter who earlier in the day qualified for the high jump final tomorrow, held third place for two rounds but lost a medal after a wind-aided 6.80m (2.7m/s) from the German Lena Malkus pushed her off the medal podium behind Great Britain’s Jazmin Sawyers who had one legal jump 6.67m on her first attempt.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson of Great Britain took the gold with a wind-aided 6.81m (2.5m/s).

In the men’s 4x100m heats, the team of Jevaughn Minzie, men’s 100m bronze medallist Odean Skeen, Senoj-J Givans and Jazeel Murphy used some conservative baton exchanges to ensure safe qualification, finishing second in their heat to a Great Britain team anchored by Adam Gelimi cruised to a season’s best 39.19 seconds to the winners’ 39.09 seconds.

With Forte’s injury, it is now expected the same team will battle for medals today.