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Gold and Bronze to start the Medal Tally for Jamaica in Beijing!

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Congratulations to our first medal winner of the World Championships in Beijing 2015, O’Dayne Richards for winning the Bronze in Shot Put! A first for Jamaica at a senior World Championship, as we now start to widen our dominance in the sport. Richards finished with 21.69, a new National record. He set the mark going into the lead at one point, putting the pressure on the American and German to surpass that mark. They went on to go over the 22 mark, which Richards says his aim is for the future.

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Now, for the race the world was waiting for. The Legendary USAIN BOLT delivered, winning the Men’s 100m Men’s Final in Beijing in 9.79s ahead of Justin Gatlin’s 9.80s! The odds were against him to win. Literally. 1.85 to Justin Gatlin and 1.90 to Usain Bolt. Usain has been plagued with injuries and has hardly been able to compete all season. This should be difficult for any athlete to recover from, much less win. His last race was in London at a Diamond League meet, where he ran 9.87s. So I understand the feeling of doubt by Jamaicans and others. But if there was no sign of panic in Usain’s camp, the ‘BIG MAN’ said he was ready and from you watched his heat on Saturday morning, that doubt should have vanished. Nerves were there, naturally more than usual with a fake smile and less jovial antics at the start, however his confidence was there as well.

Gatlin now, has been practically running sub 9.8 all season. But guess what? He did not do that after rounds. Those were one-off races without the pressure of the real ‘Big Man’, Usain Bolt. Gatlin tightened up from 50m. We all know that if Bolt is ahead at 50m, with the start he had, it means ‘Catch me if you can’. Seeing the race slip away from him even further and possible memories of the last time he met and was beat by Bolt in Moscow 2013, Gatlin literally buckled under the pressure and started begging for the line from about 10m out.

If Gatlin focused on his own race instead of watching Bolt, could he have clipped Bolt at the line? No. Suga thinks Bolt would have felt him coming and since he has now been described as a super hero, would have flown across the line. Anyhow, ‘coulda, shoulda, never’! Gatlin just never won and no matter what he tried, running his own race or not, he would not have beat Bolt in that final. Who told him to run 9.77 in the semis and overwork his legs? Unnecessary and foolish. If Bolt didn’t stumble and have to run hard to play catch up and win in his semi-final, the outcome could have been even more embarrassing for Gatlin. So he messed up and he knew it. All those sub 9.8s didn’t matter after the final yesterday. He could not beat the ‘World Boss’, hence the choking back of tears in one of his interviews afterwards. You would think he would humble himself now, but not at all after various delusional tweets about how he let Bolt win and he will break the World record in Rio etc. Remember Gatlin, we still have the 200m to go!

Oh wait, the usual question after a 100m major final is finished, where was Asafa? The ‘Sub 10 King’ failed to live up to his title by placing 7th in 10.00s. He ran to the line this time though. It is clear after a hard run in the semis with Tyson Gay that his legs just did not have any more strength to medal in the final. I have thought for a long time that Asafa should attempt the 200m to develop more endurance in the 100m. Sadly it may be too late for that now, as age is not on his side. But thanks for at least making a decent effort this time.

Speaking of 200m, if Usain decides to run, he is ready. Look out for the Canadian, De Grasse, as Suga thinks he is even better at the 200m than the 100m, so will be a threat to Jamaica’s Warren Weir and even Gatlin.

Continue to enjoy the Championships and stay tuned to Suga Lifestyle! Now let us watch that 100m final AGAIN!

Beijing 2015 Sunday to Monday Morning Schedule Including the Men’s and Women’s 100m FINALS!

*Channels – TVJ OR TVJSN

*Driving? Radio Station – Hits 92 FM

SUNDAY MORNING, AUGUST 23 – Jamaican time

5:30am     Men’s Hammer Throw Final

5:40am     MEN’S 400M HURDLES SEMI-FINAL

6:10am     MEN’S 100M SEMI-FINAL

6:30am     Men’s Shot Put Final

6:40am     Women’s 800m Heptathalon

7:15am     Men’s 800m Semi-Final

7:45am     Women’s 1500m Semi-Final

8:15am     MEN’S 100M FINAL

SUNDAY NIGHT, AUGUST 23 – Jamaican time

8:30pm    Women’s Pole Vault Qualification

8:35pm    Women’s Discus Throw Qualification Group A

8:45pm    Women’s 3000m Steeplechase Heats

9:00pm    Men’s Long Jump Qualification

9:45pm    WOMEN’S 400M HEATS

9:55pm    Women’s Discus Throw Qualification Group B

MONDAY MORNING, AUGUST 24 – Jamaican time

6:00am    Men’s Javelin Throw Qualification Group A

6:05am    Men’s Pole Vault Final

6:10am    WOMEN’S 400M HURDLES SEMI-FINAL

6:30am    Women’s Triple Jump Final

6:40am    WOMEN’S 100M SEMI-FINAL

7:05am    MEN’S 400M SEMI-FINAL

7:25am    Javelin Throw Qualification Group B

7:35am    Women’s 10,000m Final

8:15am    Men’s 3000m Steeplechase Final

8:35am    WOMEN’S 100M FINAL

GO JAMAICA !!!

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World Champs Schedule this AM up to the Women’s 100m Heats at 11pm tonight!

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*Channels – TVJ or TVJSN

SATURDAY MORNING, AUGUST 22 – Jamaican time

5:30am     Women’s Shot Put Heptathalon

5:35am     MEN’S 400M HURDLES HEATS

5:40am     Men’s Pole Vault Qualification

6:10am     Women’s Triple Jump Qualification

6:20am     MEN’S 100M HEATS

7:05am     Women’s Shot Put Final

7:15am     Women’s 200m Heptathalon

7:50am     Men’s 10,000m Final

SATURDAY NIGHT, AUGUST 22 – Jamaican time

7:30pm     Men’s 20km Race Walk Final

8:00pm     Women’s Long Jump Heptathalon

8:10pm     Women’s 100m Preliminary Round *No Jamaicans

9:05pm     Men’s Shot Put Qualification

9:25pm     WOMEN’S 400M HURDLES HEATS

9:50pm     Women’s Javelin Throw Heptathalon Group A

10:10pm   MEN’S 400M HEATS

11:00pm   WOMEN’S 100M HEATS

11:05pm   Women’s Javelin Throw Heptathalon Group B

World Champs Schedule for Tonight into Tomorrow Morning!

*Channels – TVJ OR TVJSN

FRIDAY NIGHT, AUGUST 21 – Jamaican time

6:35pm    Men’s Marathon Final

8:00pm    Women’s 100m Hurdles Heptathalon

8:30pm    Men’s Hammer Throw Qualification Group A

9:10pm    Women’s Shot Put Qualification

9:20pm    Women’s High Jump Heptathalon

9:25pm    Men’s 3000m Steeplechase Heats

9:55pm    Men’s Hammer Throw Qualification Group B

10:15pm  Women’s 1500m Heats

10:50pm  Men’s 800m Heats

11:40pm  Men’s 100m Preliminary round *No Jamaicans

SATURDAY MORNING, AUGUST 22 – Jamaican time

5:30am     Women’s Shot Put Heptathalon

5:35am     MEN’S 400M HURDLES HEATS***

5:40am     Men’s Pole Vault Qualification

6:10am     Women’s Triple Jump Qualification

6:20am     MEN’S 100M HEATS***

7:05am     Women’s Shot Put Final

7:15am     Women’s 200m Heptathalon

7:50am     Men’s 10,000m Final

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Schedule for the Track and Field World Championships in Beijing!

The Jamaican athletes have returned to Beijing! Are they ready?! Can they make the same impact as the last time they were there? We shall see.

Kemar Bailey-Cole is injured so count him out of the 100m and our 4*100m Men’s relay team has been weakened. The ladies’ 4*100m team is not as strong either. But when our athletes hit the track, we know they will do their best and make us proud.

The World Champs starts this Friday but the real action starts this Saturday when the Jamaicans show up on the track. See the schedule for Saturday and Sunday below. Note that the Men’s 100m final will be this Sunday morning! Will lightning strike? Jamaica has been experiencing sudden showers of rain.

Suga will post the day by day schedule to keep you in the loop so stay tuned.

This SATURDAY, AUG. 22 & SUNDAY, AUG. 23

*Jamaicans are expected to compete in the races highlighted in green

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Also, have you seen Shelly’s hair? Go Pocket Rocket!

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The Weekend in Sports – Michael Phelps is back, Tiger Woods’ record broken, Chelsea beaten 3-0 and more!

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What a weekend of Sports! Suga had no idea the weekend would be packed with so many Championships, drama and talent, but the Sports channels certainly delivered some unexpected treats and entertainment.

Swimming – U.S. Nationals in San Antonio

Michael Phelps (30 years old), the most decorated Olympian is not only back but back in Olympic form with 1 year to RIO! Phelps was out of the picture for a while, especially with his 6-month suspension for a DUI that ended 4 months ago. However, he was still not allowed to enter the World Championships in Russia. Instead he was confined to swimming in a more minor, but still important and respected National meet in San Antonio, USA.

Looks like they should have sent him to Kazan, Russia though, because Phelps’ times were faster than the Gold-winning times there. USA also had a poor performance only winning 2 individual gold medals! Phelps’ 3 individual events were the 100m Fly, 200m Fly and 200m IM. He had a late entry in the 200m Breast stroke perhaps just for practice, since he is worst at that one. He finished 5th in that race. But for his 3 main performances? He was body lengths ahead, racing against the clock and not the field. His 200m Fly time was faster than his Gold winning performance at the London Olympics and his 100m FLY and 200m IM times were just tenths of a second off. Spectacular performance. Can the legend on the track, Usain Bolt show he is back and ready for RIO too at the World Championships in Beijing this August 23?!

Golf – PGA Championship

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Jason Day finished the PGA Championship at 20 under with a par on the 18th hole, breaking Tiger Woods’ major championship record set of -19 at the 2000 Open Championship. After 7 top 5s including 3 second place finishes previously at majors and 10 top 10s since 2010, he finally came through and won his first major championship in style. Congrats Jason!

Netball- World Cup 2015

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Surprise Surprise, the Aussie Diamonds won the Netball World Cup in Australia. The Aussies have dominated for decades with their only threat, if any, being from New Zealand. The Sunshine girls from Jamaica played well, finishing 4th overall. They fell to the Aussies in the semi-finals 56-67 and then lost to England in the usual fight for Bronze, 44-66.

Tennis – Rogers Cup, Montreal

Serena Williams was upset by Belinda Bencic (mentored by former rival of Serena, Martina Hingis) in the semi-finals of the Rogers cup in 3 sets. Serena said she felt that she played like an amateur. Did she play like an amateur or did Bencic finally get an opportunity to beat her strategically? Bencic went on to win the cup in the finals by default versus Simona Halep, who retired down 0-3 in the 3rd set due to injury/heat.

For the men, Andy Murray (no. 2) beat Novak Djokovic 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to win his 3rd Rogers Cup and eight-match losing streak versus world no. 1, Djoko. It was not easy though. After Djoko steam rolled him to even sets, Murray took an extended bathroom break before the 3rd and came out to serve first then quickly broke Djokovic to go up 2-0. At 3-1, Djokovic failed many times to break Murray’s serve and Murray finally went up to 4-1 after Deuce #10, a point that lasted over 15 minutes! I think that decided the match. Djokovic still showed some effort but Murray did not give up after losing 4 Championship points. He finally converted the 5th and won. Satisfying for Murray but frustrating for Djoko, whose streaks had to finally come to an end – 30 straight wins at Masters events, 24 straight wins in Masters deciding sets, 12 straight wins in Masters finals and of course, 8 straight wins versus Andy Murray.

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Gymnastics – USA Nationals

All Suga can say is that the men looked pathetic as usual. They were described as sloppy, making it hard for the selection committee to choose the best from the worst with competitors failing in what should be their strongest events individually. There were numerous falls off the bars, outrunning the runway after the vault and even unsure dismounts, one of which had to be repeated. Embarrassing.

Thank goodness for the ladies. Look out for Simone Biles, the women’s all-round Gymnastics Champ.

Barclay’s Premier League, BPL

Manchester City, runner up of BPL 2015, surely made their agenda known yesterday with a convincing 3-0 win over Defending Champs, Chelsea. After Terry’s failed attempt to defend the start of a play ending with Sergio Aguero’s first goal (31′), Terry was taken off for the entire 2nd half of the match. Kompany took advantage of a corner kick to head in the 2nd goal (79′) that went in off of the post and then Chelsea’s defense totally fell apart, resulting in Man City’s 3rd goal (85′) by Fernandinho. Mourinho placed players such as Fabregas and more in positions they should not have been, resulting in crucial coaching errors and they also played without their goal keeper who was sent off in the previous match, however Suga thinks Man City would have still come out on top regardless. After a draw with Swansea and a horrible loss to Man City for the opening of BPL, Chelsea has some work to do.

Looking forward to another weekend of high quality competition and variety of sports some time soon! Suga hopes you enjoyed as well.

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Mexico won the Gold Cup but Reggae Boyz won back Jamaica’s Respect

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Firstly, Suga would like to congratulate Panama on their 3rd place win vs the USA in the Gold Cup by penalties. Mexico had reached to the final in an unfair win over Panama. Players and referees were penalized, however what good does suspending players like Aguardado of Mexico do after the final aka after the fact? He should have been suspended for the final. Sadly for Jamaica, he was the one who scored the first goal against us in the first half. The second goal just minutes after the start of the second half is what could have deflated the Reggae Boyz’ hopes of winning and the third was a dagger, especially since they were a result of poor defending by Hector who cried after the game. Sorry can’t by soldier lorry Hector, but thanks for showing great effort to defend well after those goals were conceded, which should have been done from the beginning of the match. At least he did not give up or get worse. The Reggae Boyz played to the end and Mattocks scored a goal in the 80th minute for pride.

Well done Reggae Boyz. Suga is proud of you and happy to see that Jamaica is as well. All so called waggonists may not be waggonists after all, as they still applauded their efforts in the bars and at home and showed their love for the Boyz on social media.

Thanks to the Jamaican supporters who represented in Philadelphia. The Gold Cup final was played at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia and it was full! Mexicans slightly outnumbered the Jamaicans in the crowd, but for a final without USA, a full stadium was a delightful sight.

The Reggae Boyz will now continue their pursuit to reach the next World Cup and as a result of not only playing well, but showing tremendous effort, they have earned back Jamaica’s full support and respect.

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The Reggae Boyz face Mexico in the Gold Cup Final TODAY at 6:30pm Ja Time!

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The Just Bet odds for the Reggae Boyz to win the Gold Cup 2015 have dropped from 10 before the semis to 5 to 3.1! Place bets while you can!  Jamaica is going for this one!

The match will be shown on FLOW Fox Sports 2 and TVJ Sports Network. The feed on TVJ Sports network is horrible though. So if you are staying at home with the Sunday dinner, ensure you have those channels!

Go Jamaica! Go Reggae Boyz!

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Lightning Bolt will strike today!

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Usain Bolt will be returning to the track today after being treated for an ongoing pelvic injury. He will compete at the Sainsbury Anniversary Games Diamond League meet in London in the 100m. Check Usain Bolt’s Instagram page and watch his 100m practice video. Can you count in seconds? Suga thinks Usain is ready and lightning will strike!

Who else will be running? So far Suga knows of USA’s Ryan Bailey and Mike Rodgers.

What time is the race? 2:17pm and 2:29pm for the heats. However, they only usually show the final, which we hope he will be in given all goes well at 3:29pm!

*Times stated in London time
*Times stated in London time

For instant updates on Sports, like SuGa Lifestyle’s Facebook Page. Enjoy!

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Reggae Boyz vs USA today at 5pm JA time for the Semifinals of Gold Cup!

Screenshot_2015-07-22-14-28-17-1USA has always been known to have ‘Jamaica’s ticket’. Can the Jamaicans beat the US at the senior level? It is possible. The ball is round and the Reggae Boyz have been showing a lot of effort in this Gold Cup so far. They had a breakthrough in Kingston, June 2013 for the Brazil World Cup Qualifiers, winning 2-1. Let us hope they can do it again!

Go Reggae Boyz!