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JAAA NEEDS TO SHED LIGHT ON MORGAN’S NON-SELECTION FOR MOSCOW
The best discus thrower from the United States this year is Jarred Rome who threw 63.59 metres on May 11. That’s more than two months ago and almost two months after Jason Morgan threw 65.94m at a meet in Ruston, Louisiana.
The latter’s mark is still the best by a Jamaican or a US thrower with the IAAF World Athletic Championships less than two weeks away. The ‘B’ qualifying standard for the discus is 64m while the ‘A’ standard is 66m. Yet Morgan, who is only six centimetres shy of the A standard will not be representing the country of his birth because – based on reports – he missed the national championships in June because he was being sworn in as a citizen of the United States, a country in which he and his family have called home for more than a decade.
Yet, because he missed the national championships Morgan, who going forward has the option of representing the United States at future track and field events, will not represent Jamaica in Moscow. All that the Jamaica Athletic Administrative Association would say is that Morgan’s reason for missing the championships was not sufficient but it has a hollow ring to it and here’s why. If Morgan is being forthright and his documents were not in his possession then there was no way he would have been able to travel to Jamaica to participate in the championships so for them to say that that is not a good enough reason makes one wonder just how Morgan would have been able to board a flight to Jamaica from Louisiana if he was not in possession of his travel documents.
It is on that basis that the JAAA’s reason for his non-selection doesn’t wash.
Being a US citizen also does not preclude Morgan from selection. Felix Sanchez was born in the US but represents the Dominican Republic by choice on the global stage. Besides, a great of number of Jamaican athletes either have green cards or are on the verge of becoming US citizens. So that also cannot be a reason for his non-selection.
Morgan is easily Jamaica’s best discus thrower this year. Traves Smikle, the national record holder, has been plagued by injury and now faces a probable suspension for ingesting something that saw him return an adverse finding. Chad Wright, the 2013 national champion, has also failed to get the B standard to compete in Moscow, so why then is Morgan not going to be on that plane?
If the JAAA’s executive knows something that we don’t they need to say because right now they are looking like an arrogant organisation that ignores the fact that without the athletes they matter very little to anyone. Morgan can be an inspiration to emerging Jamaican throwers and to exclude him from the national team can potentially be harmful to the development of a discipline that has made significant gains in the past four years.
That cannot be the objective of the JAAA.
http://gleanerblogs.com/sports/?p=2042
The best discus thrower from the United States this year is Jarred Rome who threw 63.59 metres on May 11. That’s more than two months ago and almost two months after Jason Morgan threw 65.94m at a meet in Ruston, Louisiana.
The latter’s mark is still the best by a Jamaican or a US thrower with the IAAF World Athletic Championships less than two weeks away. The ‘B’ qualifying standard for the discus is 64m while the ‘A’ standard is 66m. Yet Morgan, who is only six centimetres shy of the A standard will not be representing the country of his birth because – based on reports – he missed the national championships in June because he was being sworn in as a citizen of the United States, a country in which he and his family have called home for more than a decade.
Yet, because he missed the national championships Morgan, who going forward has the option of representing the United States at future track and field events, will not represent Jamaica in Moscow. All that the Jamaica Athletic Administrative Association would say is that Morgan’s reason for missing the championships was not sufficient but it has a hollow ring to it and here’s why. If Morgan is being forthright and his documents were not in his possession then there was no way he would have been able to travel to Jamaica to participate in the championships so for them to say that that is not a good enough reason makes one wonder just how Morgan would have been able to board a flight to Jamaica from Louisiana if he was not in possession of his travel documents.
It is on that basis that the JAAA’s reason for his non-selection doesn’t wash.
Being a US citizen also does not preclude Morgan from selection. Felix Sanchez was born in the US but represents the Dominican Republic by choice on the global stage. Besides, a great of number of Jamaican athletes either have green cards or are on the verge of becoming US citizens. So that also cannot be a reason for his non-selection.
Morgan is easily Jamaica’s best discus thrower this year. Traves Smikle, the national record holder, has been plagued by injury and now faces a probable suspension for ingesting something that saw him return an adverse finding. Chad Wright, the 2013 national champion, has also failed to get the B standard to compete in Moscow, so why then is Morgan not going to be on that plane?
If the JAAA’s executive knows something that we don’t they need to say because right now they are looking like an arrogant organisation that ignores the fact that without the athletes they matter very little to anyone. Morgan can be an inspiration to emerging Jamaican throwers and to exclude him from the national team can potentially be harmful to the development of a discipline that has made significant gains in the past four years.
That cannot be the objective of the JAAA.
http://gleanerblogs.com/sports/?p=2042