Paralympians Toni Greaves and Javon Campbell have secured their places at the 14th ‘Paralympiad’ in London this summer after comfortably achieving the qualifying marks in the javelin (F54) and 200m (T46), respectively, at the UTech Classic at the National Stadium at the weekend.
Greaves won the javelin event with a throw of 12.01 metres, while Campbell clocked 23.13 seconds in the men’s 200m competing against the able-bodied athletes.
They will join decorated paralympians Tanto Campbell, Alphanso Cunningham, Sylvia Grant and Shane Hudson who had already qualified prior to the meet, and according to Christopher Samuda, president of the Jamaica Paralympics Association, “There is tremendous expectation that other athletes will qualify in the coming months for the paralympic ‘Jamaica to the World’ campaign in the historic city of London”.
The paralympians will have until June 30 to make the qualifying standards in their respective events.
On Saturday, Campbell won the mixed shot put event with a throw of 10.83m, beating Kevon Reid, 8.95, followed by Jenard Williamson, 6.29, and Coleen Morrison, 5.30.
Michelle Gardens, a former student at Holmwood Technical, missed the 1 minute 05.00 seconds cut-off for the 400m after she ran 1:14.24 in the 400m in the pouring rain, while David Brooks ran the 800m in 2:04.0.
The JPA is hoping to be the first Caribbean country to field an ambulant 4x100m team at the event which will be run between August 29 and September 9.
Source: Jamaica Oberver
