KINGSTON, Jamaica—The ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls Athletics Championships witnessed its first gold medal victory on Wednesday as Kingston College’s Odane Noble delivered a spectacular performance in the Class 2 boys long jump event. Noble secured top honors with an impressive leap of 7.18 meters (0.5m/s) on the second day of competition at the national stadium.
The young athlete demonstrated remarkable consistency throughout the event, achieving three jumps exceeding the 7.00-meter mark. Among his four legal attempts, Noble recorded distances of 7.07m and 7.09m, showcasing his technical prowess and competitive dominance.
The silver medal position was claimed by Calabar High’s Talshawn Edwards, who posted a strong jump of 7.02m (1.7m/s). The bronze medal decision required a tie-breaker procedure after St Jago High’s Winaldo Faulknor and Cornwall College’s Zhi-Hew Whitter both recorded identical best jumps of 6.79m (1.5m/s).
Faulknor ultimately secured third place based on his superior second-best jump of 6.77m (0.8m/s), which exceeded Whitter’s secondary effort of 6.72m (0.6m/s) from the opening round. The intense competition highlighted the exceptional talent emerging within Jamaica’s high school athletics program.