Three athletes added to Jamaica's World Champs squad

Three more athletes have been added to Jamaica's team for the IAAF World Athletics Championships in London from August 4-13. They are field event competitors Glenieve Grange and Kimberly Williamson along with half miler Kimarra McDonald.

The local governing body for athletics, the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) confirmed the addition of the three athletes on Friday.

According to a JAAA release, although the athletes did not meet the automatic qualifying standard for their respective events, they have been invited to participate in the championships by the world governing body, the IAAF , as a result of their world ranking.

According to qualification rules, where less than the ideal number of athletes qualify automatically for an event, the IAAF seeks to reach its quota which is 32 for field events by inviting the next best available competitors.

As such high jumper Williamson who is ranked at 28th in the world this year, shot putter Grange at 71st  and 800 metre runner McDonald at 84th get the nod.

It's understood that Williamson who won the national senior title with 1.88 metres and has a best of 1.91 is already at the team's training base in Birmingham, having arrived on Friday.

Grange who has improved from 14.53 metres to 17.29 in the shot put this year is travelling to Jamaica to sort out visa requirements for the trip.

Speaking to RJR Sports from her Florida base on Friday, the 22 year old former Holmwood Technical star who finished second behind Daniel Thomas-Dodd at the national trials,  expressed shock at her selection but says her late call up should not affect her performances in London.

McDonald in the meantime finished fourth at the national senior championships over 800 metres. She joins national champion Natoya Goule and Jasmine Fray as Jamaica's representatives in the event. The additions bring the overall female squad number to 32 and the number of Jamaican athletes to 59.