André Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter

His may not be a household name just yet, but after stopping the clock at 19.86 in the 200m earlier this season, there is nothing to suggest that Jason Young won't blossom into Jamaica's next sprinting star.

While some of his club mates prepared for competition at the London Olympic Games, Young, a student of the University of the West Indies, was raising eyebrows in Lucerne, where he clocked the time which makes him the sixth-fastest man in the world over the distance this season.

Highly motivated

Young did not make the senior team this time around, but the World University Games 200m silver medallist was left highly motivated by the exploits of his close friends and training partners from the Racers Track Club, and is determined to be among the numbers at next year's IAAF World Champion-ships in Athletics in Moscow, Russia.

"I was really motivated for me to know that the guys that I train with every day are making it big on the world stage and I know that I am as good as them, so I know that there are only great things to come for me in the future and I'm just looking forward to continue working hard and getting better," Young told The Star.

It hasn't been an easy road, however, with the challenges of balancing school and training taking its toll more often than not.

"The whole Olympics has motivated me to work harder and much smarter. I think that being in school and still studying really puts a toll on my body and I just didn't get enough rest to prepare properly for trials and that really contributed to me not making the team," said Young, who has also posted 19.92 over the 200m this season.

"I am pretty pleased with how my season has gone though," Young noted. "My aim was to go a bit faster, but overall I am pretty pleased with where I am right now."

Young, 22, has already set his targets for 2013, chief among them being the World Championships.

"It's definitely a big target for me to get to the World Championships and be a part of that Jamaican team," said Young. "I know it's going to take hard work and I am just looking to go out there and putting in the work and performing to the best of my ability."