DONETSK, Ukraine:

Jamaica's team manager at the IAAF World Youth Championships, Ewan Scott, is not expecting the late arrival of several members of the 26-member squad to affect the team's performance here.

Eleven team members and two officials arrived in Donetsk between Sunday and yesterday afternoon, meaning that yesterday evening's training session involved all team members for the first time since the first batch or 21 athletes and officials arrived last Friday for a pre-championships camp.

The Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) found itself in a spot last week, when visa issues and difficulties securing flights to Ukraine forced a delayed departure for most members of the delegation.

However, Scott told STAR Sports that the medical team of Dr Tahira Redwood and physiotherapist Andrea Saunders has put together a programme to limit any possible effects of jet lag or general tiredness ahead of the championships, which starts tomorrow at the Regional Sports Complex (RSC) 'Olimpiyskiy'.

special attention

"The medical staff has been brilliant in that we all agreed that those who came in last night (Sunday morning) and today (yesterday morning), they will pay special attention to them and give them massages and so forth to keep them in top shape. They have been doing a lot of work in that regard," Scott said.

"Everybody has settled in quite fine and those who came in last night, they trained this morning (yesterday) and those who came in today (yesterday) trained this evening," continued Scott.

Scott, who is also the JAAA's director of records, believes that despite the obvious setback, the decision to keep the team together in Jamaica after learning of the complications will go a long way in helping the athletes to come together.

"From we were in Jamaica, even when we had the issues, we didn't send home anyone, we kind of had a mini camp back home and utilised the time to get some training in together as well," said Scott.

Jamaica's best ever performance at the IAAF World Youth Championships in Lille, France, in 2011 when the country won nine medals; four gold, one silver and four bronze. Jamaica also won nine medals at the 2007 championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic, winning two gold, five silver and two bronze medals on that occasion.