Wilson

Multiple championship winning Holmwood Technical coach Maurice Wilson is expected to be approved today as head coach of the Jamaica team to the August 27 - September 4, IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Daegu, South Korea, sources familiar with the situation have told Star Sports.

This appointment is perhaps just reward for his much acclaimed work at the Common-wealth Games in Delhi, India, last year and his constant success at the local high school level with the eight-time consecutive Girls' champions Holmwood Technical.

Wilson effectively replaces Racers Track Club patriarch Glen Mills, who announced in 2009 that he was ending his 'reign' as national senior head coach; a position he held for 22 years and spanned every Olympic Games since 1988 and every World Championships in Athletics since the inaugural staging in 1983 and the 2003 instalment.

We have also been reliably informed that the G.C. Foster College of Sports and Physical Education head coach will be joined in Daegu by another track and field heavyweight Fitz Coleman who has been appointed as technical director.

Coleman, who heads the IAAF High Performance Training Centre in Kingston, replaces Donald Quarrie in the technical director capacity.

The 'rotation' move was described by one Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association source as a means of ensuring succession planning within the organisation as well as a way of adding to the levels of competence and experience of several persons within the system.

Olympian Grace Jackson was earlier announced as the team's manager, and has been busy ensuring that everything is in place for the team, ahead of their arrival in the Asian city.

in jeopardy

Months ago, this publication revealed that the customary pre-competition camp was in jeopardy because of a scarcity of rooms. The situation has since been rectified with the Daegu organisers eventually identifying sufficient accommodation for the Jamaican delegation, which is yet to be named. There was, however, a concern with the availability of adequate training, gym and medical facilities in Daegu.

Jackson, however, advised that the organisers have now identified these facilities and that everything was in place for the camp, which will run from August 18 - 23. After the camp, the team will move into the Athletes' Village to continue its preparation for the championship.

"We have been making all the plans and everything is now set for us to get in on the August 18) for the five-day camp after which we will move into the (Athletes') Village," said Jackson when contacted yesterday.

"The IAAF has been doing a lot of the bookings and that has helped and most if not all the athletes will be there," Jackson added.

National 100m hurdles champion Indira Spence will be taking part in the University Games during the camp.