Raymond Richards (Photo: Observer file)
Richards admits mixed feelings after big jump at Queen’s/Grace Jackson Meet
THERE were mixed feelings for Raymond Richards after his outstanding performance in winning the Men’s High Jump at The Queen’s/Grace Jackson track and field meet at the National Stadium on January 25.
His effort of 2.31m made him the second-best Jamaican ever in the event.
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But his celebrations for the mark, which surpassed his previous best of 2.25m set in February last year, were cut short with the news that the mark would never be recognised by World Athletics as the meet was not one of those that had been included on the list sent by Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) to World Athletics.
Under new arrangements which started in 2023, meet organisers must indicate more than 70 days before their event if they want results from the meet “to be included on the global calendar in order for the performances achieved by athletes [to] allow them to earn ranking points”, a release from the national ruling body said.
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The Queen’s/Grace Jackson meet is one of 14 local meets that did not meet the deadline and were not submitted for performances to be recognised by the global governing body.
Richards, who works out with the MVP Track and Field Club, set a meet record and personal best.
“I felt great with my performance but I am also very disappointed with the [inaction] of the JAAA,” Richards told the Jamaica Observer on Wednesday.
His effort would have been the best clearance in the world so far and a mark that would almost certainly have qualified him for the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, in March. The qualifying mark for the world indoors is 2.34m, and had his 2.31m been ratified he would have joined Beckford as the Jamaicans to attain the standard.
Richards’ mark is only behind Germaine Mason’s national record 2.34m set in August 2003 at the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It also passed the 2.30m set by his former Buff Bay High School training partner Romaine Beckford, who is the multiple NCAA champion at both University of South Florida and University of Arkansas.
Richards’ mark passed the previous best-ever achieved on Jamaican soil — 2.28m done by Mason in 2008 — and a similar distance achieved by American Adam Shunk in May 2005.
Richards, who has never competed at the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships, said he only knew that he would competing a few days before the meet.
“I was only told on Wednesday of that week that I would be opening my season at the Queen’s/Grace Jackson meet.
“I was very surprised by the jump, as in training I was still doing my short run-up. I am doing only five strides, not my full run-up, so I was not expecting to have jumped that high,” he explained.
Despite his achievement, at this his first meet of the season Richards said he is keeping his feet firmly on the ground.
“I don’t want to get complacent. I don’t want to say, ‘I am where I want to be.’ It’s just more work from here on to make sure that I can repeat what I did on Saturday to prove that it was not a one-time thing.”
While he said he was not sure when his next meet would be, he said he is looking forward to competing indoors so he can get a feel of the environment.
“I would love to be part of that world indoor team, and I would also like to get some indoor experience to get an idea of what to expect.”
Competing for Jamaica alongside his fellow Buff Bay High teammate would also be great, he said, as Beckford and Horatio Humphrey — who both competed at the high school championships — were among his early motivators.
“Seeing that we are from the same background — and even though I never got to compete at Champs — they inspired me,” he said.
Richards is also still close to his high school coach Kevin Brown, who was the one who introduced him to the event.
“He was the second person that I messaged after the jump on Saturday,” he said.
