KINGSTON, Jamaica — One of the Caribbean’s biggest track and powerhouses is set to send a six-member contingent of elite athletes to the 2026 Paavo Nurmi Games, a top-tier World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event hosted in Turku, Finland, with competition kicking off Wednesday.
The Jamaican lineup boasts some of the nation’s biggest names in throws and jumps, headlined by Roje Stona, the current Olympic men’s discus record holder, and Danniel Thomas-Dodd, the former Commonwealth Games women’s shot put gold medalist. Rounding out the team are in-form 400m hurdler Assine Wilson, long jump competitors Ackelia Smith and Nia Robinson, and two-time Diamond League competitor high jumper Lamara Distin.
Stona, who currently sits 7th in the global men’s discus rankings with a 2026 season best throw of 70.66 meters, will face the toughest test of his season so far, squaring off against the world’s top three ranked discus athletes: Australia’s Matt Denny, Germany’s Steven Richter, and Slovenia’s Kristjan Ceh. He will also compete against Olympic medalist Daniel Stahl of Sweden, adding another layer of intensity to the event.
For Thomas-Dodd, who has posted a season best of 19.34 meters in women’s shot put this year, the competition will also feature a stacked field of elite global throwers. The leading competitor waiting for her is current world top-ranked thrower Jessica Schilder of the Netherlands, alongside two other top contenders: Chase Jackson of the United States and Sarah Mitton of Canada.
Assine Wilson, who recently ran a personal best of 48.29 seconds in the 400m hurdles back in March, enters the race as a clear favorite to take gold. That time ties him for 10th place on the all-time list of Jamaican 400m hurdlers, and he comes fresh off a first-place finish at the Josef Odlozil Memorial held in Czechia this week. His main challengers in Turku will be Slovenia’s Matic Gucek, Botswana’s Kamorena Tisang, and Great Britain’s Alastair Chalmers.
Long jumper Ackelia Smith has already had a busy start to her 2026 outdoor season, competing in four different events over the past month. Her standout performance came at the Goldenes Oval meet in Dresden, Germany, where she took second place with a 6.54-meter jump. She will share the starting line with compatriot Nia Robinson, who advanced to the final of the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championship back in March. The two Jamaicans will compete against a field that includes Americans Monae Nichols and Claire Bryant, as well as Burkina Faso’s Marthe Koala.
Closing out the Jamaican contingent, high jumper Lamara Distin, who has already competed in the last two Diamond League events this season, will line up in the women’s high jump competition. She will face off against Ukraine’s Yulia Levchenko and Sweden’s Louise Ekman, who enters the Paavo Nurmi Games with the leading jump performance across all competitions this season.