KINGSTON, Jamaica — Lady Tiger quartermiler Nadia Davy as well as four other former members of the LSU track and field team qualified for the 2004 Olympic Games this past weekend at the Jamaican National Championships.
Davy, a seven-time All-American and anchor of the Lady Tigers’ national championship 4×400-meter relay team, handily won the 400 meters, clocking 50.76 to earn the automatic bid to Athens.
Davy is also scheduled to run on Jamaica’s 4×400-meter relay team that currently owns the world’s third-best qualifying standard in the event according to the IAAF.
Davy will be joined by former Lady Tiger Ronetta Smith in the pool of athletes that will comprise Jamaica’s 4×400 relay team. A four-time All-American while competing for LSU, Smith finished sixth in the 400 with a time of 52.07.
Former Lady Tiger great Debbie Parris will be representing Jamaica in the 400-meter hurdles after winning the national title in 55.30 seconds. A fourth-place finisher in the event at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Athens will mark Parris’ second Olympic Games appearance.
Others set to compete include triple jumper Suzette Lee and decathlete Claston Bernard. Lee finished second in the triple jump to earn the automatic bid, while Bernard, the 16th-best decathlete in the world to date, previously qualified for the Olympics by virtue of reaching the Games “A” standard of 8,000 points earlier this season.
The LSU track and field team will be seeking additional spots at the Olympic Games in coming weeks as 19 current and former Tigers and Lady Tigers will be competing in the U.S. Olympic Trials, July 9-18, in Sacramento, Calif.