TWELVE OF the 13 nominees in the 2024 RJRGLEANER Communications Group National Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year awards have come from the sport of track and field, with the other coming from cycling.
The five nominees for the Sportswoman of the Year are Rushell Clayton, Ackera Nugent, Nikisha Pryce, Shanieka Ricketts, and Llori Sharpe.
Vying for Sportsman of the Year title will be Carey Mcleod, Wayne Pinnock, Roje Stona, Kishane Thompson, Ackeem Blake, Rusheen McDonald, Rajindra Campbell, and Rasheed Broadbell.
The six nominees vying for the People’s Choice Performance of the Year award will be Rasheed Broadbell’s sprint hurdles bronze medal at the Paris Olympics, Ackera Nugent’s world-leading 100-metre hurdles Diamond League time of 12.24, Khadija Shaw’s goal for Manchester City against Liverpool in the Women’s Super League, Roje Stona’s historic Olympic Gold medal in the Men’s Discus final in an Olympic record of 70 metres, Kishane Thompson’s silver-medal performance at the Paris Olympics, and Chavany Willis’ goal for Arnett Gardens against Portmore United in the Jamaica Premier League.
The announcement of the nominees took place at the launch of the RJRGLEANER National Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year awards at TVJ’s Studio A Broadcasting House on Lyndhurst Road yesterday.
The awards ceremony will be held on January 17, 2025, at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel.
Mike Fennell, chairman of the selection panel, explained that the performances of the athletes nominated were outstanding in this calendar year. He added that while it was a tough call to leave out some noteworthy athletes, the board would review the criteria for selection for future nominations.
“We have to maintain our standards, and we must recognise those who perform at the highest level. We should never water down that recognition as we have such a long list of athletes who performed so well. I will be open to that as nothing should stand still forever, and we will look at it. However, I’m not prepared to water down the quality of what we do. We must maintain standards,” he said.
Gary Allen, chairman of the RJRGLEANER Sports Foundation, shared that the 13 nominees produced significant performances that earned them the right for the nomination.
“I think this year presented some challenges for the selection committee. While we had an Olympic year, World Indoor Championships, we had other performances in other sports that were worthy. Thirteen athletes who had significant impact of excellence on the global stage is something that we have to be thankful for,” he said.
Allen also said the dominance of track and field athletes occurred because athletics was an area that stood out in the eyes of the selection committee this year.
“I think that we have to celebrate the excellence in track and field. We should look if they’re gaps and address them, but I don’t think we should automatically go to, how can we bring others in and lower the criteria levels to include average performances rather than keeping it at excellent,” he said.
orane.buchanan@gleanerjm.com
TWELVE OF the 13 nominees in the 2024 RJRGLEANER Communications Group National Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year awards have come from the sport of track and field, with the other coming from cycling.
orane.buchanan@gleanerjm.com
