National shot put champion Dorian Scott in action. - File

When the 2009 IAAF World Championships gets under way in a few weeks, one athlete, shot putter Dorian Scott, will be hoping to become the first athlete from Jamaica or the Caribbean to medal in a throwing event at these championships.

The 27-year-old Florida State University graduate is undoubtedly the best-ever Jamaican in this event and has the national record of 21.45 metres, done a year ago in Tallahassee, Florida.

Scott, who made it to the final stage of the competition at the 2007 championships in Osaka, will want to make up for his disappointment as he failed to put up a mark then as he had three no-throws.

From strength to strength

Since then, he has grown from strength to strength as the following year was his most impressive to date as his career-best mark had him at number six on the world list. Because of his ranking, he was able to compete on a regular basis with the top throwers in the world which has definitely helped his confidence.

Despite going into the Olympic Games highly ranked, Scott found the going tough as, in the qualifying round, he only threw 19.94 metres for 15th place. Once again, he seems to be regaining his best form. He showed that good form earlier when he had a heave of 21.09 metres at the Jamaica International Invitational meet in May.

Ranked number seven

Going into Berlin, the Jamaican is ranked number seven on the world list but will have to surpass his personal best if he hopes to give the nation its first medal here.

At the recent World Youth Track and Field Championships in Italy, Calabar's Traves Smikle became Jamaica's first medallist at an international meet at any level when he finished third for the bronze medal in the discus. This could be some inspiration for Scott and although the Americans Reese Hoffa (21.89m), Christian Cantwell (21.82m) and Daniel Taylor (21.78m) are the top three ranked athletes in the world this year, Scott, like Smikle a few weeks ago, could pull off a surprise. Definitely, it is going to take much more than his personal best to be among the medals but if he does not achieve this and he makes it to the finals, surely this will be an inspiration for local throwers.