Jamaica’s national senior championships to select its team to this summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan gets underway on Thursday (June 24). It will be the country’s first Olympic trials without Usain Bolt in 17 years but it promises to be no less compelling.

Led by Bolt’s eight individual Olympic gold medals, Jamaica’s male sprinters dominated for more than a decade. The likes of Asafa Powell, Nesta Carter, Michael Frater and Yohan Blake proved to be a worthy supporting cast, winning medals or combining to set world and Olympic records.

That magnificent golden era effectively ended with Bolt’s retirement in 2017 but while Jamaica’s strength in the men’s sprints has waned, its women still rank among the best with the likes of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Elaine Thompson and a brand new supporting cast rising fast to take their place in the annals of Jamaica’s Olympic history.

And that is where we start when it comes to what events to look out for come Thursday.

Thirty-two women are registered for the women’s 100m. Among them are the usual suspects of two-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who is gunning for an unprecedented third Olympic 100m title that would see her break the tie with Americans Gail Devers and Wyoma Tyus, who also have two 100m Olympic titles.

Fraser-Pryce set a world-leading time and new national record of 10.63s mere weeks ago and will be looking to go as fast on Friday night in the hope of securing another national title.

In her way is the 2016 Olympic champion Elaine Thompon-Herah, who beat Fraser-Pryce at the national championships in 2019, even though both were credited with the same time of 10.73. Having gone as fast as 10.78 so far this season, Thompson-Herah might have to run faster than she ever has before in order to retain her national title.

Beyond the two champions, the field is stacked and includes 19-year-old Briana Williams, who has lowered the national U20 record three times so far this season and expects to lower it even further this weekend.

Williams will have to because Natasha Morrison is perhaps in the best form of her life. Morrison ran 10.96 at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing and did not do so again until this year when she dipped below three times with a season-best 10.87 in Miami.

Kemba Nelson is the fifth Jamaican woman to dip below 11 seconds this season and boasts a personal best of 10.91. She comes into the championships in good form having clocked a wind-aided 10.90 while finishing fourth in the blue-riband sprint at the NCAA Division I Championships just over a week ago.

Perhaps the biggest surprise among the entrants for the 100m is World Championship 400m bronze medalist Shericka Jackson, who this season has run a personal best of 11.02 and is perhaps expecting to go even faster at these championships. Will she be able to bump someone out of a spot?

Another, surprise entrant is World U18 100m record holder Ackera Nugent, who ran a personal best of 11.09 this season.

Not to be overlooked is two-time Olympic 200m champion Veronica Campbell-Brown, who is hoping for one last go-round at the Olympic Games to add to her already magnificent legacy.

The incredibly deep field also includes 2014 NCAA 100m champion Remona Burchell, 2011 World Championship relay silver medalist Jura Levy, 2019 4x100m relay gold medalist Natalliah Whyte as well as Shashalee Forbes, the 2018 CAC 200m champion and 2016 NACAC U23 100m champion.

Seveny-three men are entered for the 100m dash that will likely feature Nigel Ellis, whose 10.04 makes him the fastest Jamaican in the world this year and Yohan Blake, who has a personal best of 10.05 this season.

Julian Forte and Oblique Seville, who have run 10.07 and 10.10, respectively, are also expected to run even faster this weekend. Tyquendo Tracey, Andre Ewers and Nickel Ashmeade, who is returning from a long injury-induced layoff will certainly make things interesting.

The women’s 100m hurdles is also shaping up to be quite spectacular.

The fastest Jamaican woman in the world this year is the youngster Brittany Anderson, who has gone faster every time she has taken to the track this season.

Her times of 12.58 and 12.59 in Jacksonville Florida last month puts her in the position as favourite over 2019 World Championship bronze medalist Danielle Williams, who was among those beaten by Anderson in Jacksonville.

Her time of 12.65 makes her the second fastest Jamaican this year but she will have to be a lot better if she is to overcome the talented Anderson as well as holding off the challenge of NCAA bronze medalist Ackera Nugent (12.76), Arkansas’s Daszay Freeman (12.85), Clemson University’s Trishauna Hemmings, and the plucky Megan Tapper, who will be keen on finding redemption after falling after the first hurdles at the 2019 World Championships in Doha.

Shimayra Williams (12.83) and Shermaine Williams will also be intent on breaking into the top three of the women’s sprint hurdles and booking a trip to Tokyo.

The real barn-burner this weekend could be the men’s 110m hurdles that will feature three of the top-five fastest men in the world this year including world-leader Omar McLeod, the 2016 Olympic and 2017 World champion who has returned to his best.

Rasheed Broadbell, whose season-best of 13.10 makes him the third-fastest man in the world this year, presents a clear threat to McLeod’s rule as national champion.

Damion Thomas, who has run a season-best of 13.22 will be hoping to rediscover the form that made him NCAA indoor champion, form that abandoned him when he finished eighth at the NCAA Championships.

Orlando Bennett and Ronald Levy, who is steadily returning to his best while recovering from a fractured shin two years ago, will make the battle for places extremely intense.

Carey McLeod, Tajay Gayle, Shakwon Coke, Wayne Pinnock and Ryan Brown, have all jumped over eight metres this year, which means that in the men’s long jump, everybody will be required to bring their ‘A’ if they intend to make the trip to Japan this summer.