THE 2007 RJR Sports Foundation Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year Awards have been decided and problems still abound but, while many have learnt to live with them, the talk of how Jamaican World Youth silver medallist Meisha-Gaye DaCosta was treated remains on the lips of a number of track and field fans.

DaCosta, one of six individual medallists at the IAAF World Youth Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic, was the only one who went unrecognised at the awards function which took place in late January.

As to how DaCosta, coached by Mark Prince out of Immaculate High, had her achievement go "unnoticed", only selection committee members Ed Barnes, Vilma Charlton, Mike Fennell and Myrtle Weir can say. As the story goes, when young DaCosta, accompanied by her mother, arrived at the function, she was not allowed to sit with her teammates, including fellow medallists from last summer's event.

Possibility of demotivation

Many track and field observers are now wondering how badly this will affect the athlete's will to leap higher, especially this season which is a World Junior Championships year.

Dexter Lee, the 100m champion, Ramone McKenzie, who won the 200m title, and Nickel Ashmeade, who took silver in the 100m and bronze in the 200m, along with silver medallists, Latoya McDermott and Shermaine Williams from the 400m and 100m hurdles respectively, were all awarded, and deservedly so.

The girls' medley team, which was made up of Jura Levy, Gayon Evans, Shana-Gaye Tracey, McDermott and alternate, Shavine Hodges for silver, along with the boys' team of Lee, McKenzie, Ashmeade and Dwayne Extol, which took bronze, were also awarded - again, they deserved it, but, in the light of all that, one must ask how could they have omitted DaCosta's historic feat?

Inconsistencies

I say historic because DaCosta was the first Jamaican to win a field event medal at the World Youth Championships since its inception in 1999, and the first Jamaican female high jumper to win a world medal.

National high jump record holder Germaine Mason, who now represents Great Britain, won silver and bronze for Jamaica at the World Juniors in 2000 (Santiago) and 2002 (Kingston), respectively.

As to why DaCosta was not recognised? Is it because she is a field event athlete or was this an error on the part of the RJR Sports Foundation, a group whose chair-man, Michael Hall, believes makes the 'right decision' at all times.

In my last column, I pointed to the inconsistencies of the committee over the years in selecting their Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year, and was criticised by Hall and Barnes. The latter went on a radio talk show to defend his committee's decisions, but no mention was made of DaCosta's sad treatment.

Again, I maintain that the committee is inconsistent. Why? In 2005, the body, then with not exactly the same selection committee members, gave a special award to 100m hurdler Natasha Ruddock, mentioning only her silver medal achievement at Pan Am Junior Championships that same year, seemingly forgetting a similar effort at the more prestigious World Youth Championships in Marrakesh.

Fair compliment

That same year, Latoya Greaves, who defeated Ruddock at Pan Am Junior Championships, was also awarded for her gold accomplishment. It was also mentioned that Greaves was a silver medallist at World Youth in 2005, which was a mistake. She won her World Youth silver all the way back in 2003.

However, nothing was wrong with awarding Ruddock for her silver medal performance at Pan Am or if it was really for her performance at World Youth ... that would also be a fair compliment.

Still, another problem arose when Schillonie Calvert and Latoya King, both bronze medallists at the 2005 World Youth Championships, were not recognised ... or maybe this was because they won bronze?

If that were so, fine, but how would they explain why Anneisha McLaughlin, who won the gold in the 200m, to be the only other individual winner at the same Pan Am Junior Championships in 2005, was not recognised like Greaves who, as mentioned before, was the only one of two gold medallist to be recognised.

Maybe this again was another oversight?

In 2006, Kaliese Spencer was Jamaica's only individual winner at the World Junior Championships. She became the first Jamaican to win the 400m hurdles at this level, but not even that could help her to get an award. Spencer also helped Jamaica to bronze in the 4x400m.

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