Anthony Foster, Freelance Writer

( L - R ) Lawrence, McDonald - file photos

WHEN JAMAICAN athletes take on the world at this summer's Beijing Olympic Games in China, at least eight, who made the last trip to Athens, Greece, will not be in attendance.

As expected, track and field has the bulk of those who will be absent - Patrick Jarrett, Brandon Simpson, Beverly McDonald, Tayna Lawrence, Sandie Richards, Debbie-Ann Parris-Phynes and Kimberly Barrett.

Lawrence, who recently got her 2000 Olympic Games 100m bronze upgraded to silver, McDonald, who was part of the 4x100m silver medal winning team in Sydney, and Richards, who last week got an upgraded 4x400m relay gold medal from Sydney, lead the retirees.

Part of winning time

McDonald was a member of the Athens 2004 squad which won gold in the women's 4x100m relay. She, however, only ran in the semi-final.

Parris-Phynes, a member of Jamaica's gold-medal winning 1600m relay team at the 2001 World Championships, has also called it quits. Parris-Phynes won the Commonwealth Games 400m hurdles title in 1994 and was fourth behind her teammate, 400m hurdles gold medallist Deon Hemmings-McCatty, at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Quarter-miler Simpson, a member of Jamaica's 1600m relay silver medal team at the 2003 Paris World Championships, and Barrett, the first Jamaican shot- putter to participate at an Olympic Games, have switched allegiances.

Meanwhile, in the pool, swimmer Janelle Atkinson, fourth-place finisher in the 400m freestyle final at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, will also be missing in action as she has retired. In the coming weeks, look out for interviews with this year's Olympic hopefuls on this page.

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