With the RJRGLEANER National Sports Awards ceremony being held today, Oblique Seville and Tina Clayton have stood out as heavy favourites to take home the coveted awards of Sportsman of the Year and Sportswoman of the Year, respectively.
Seville and Clayton headline a stacked list of athletes who have been nominated for the evening’s grand prize. The ceremony is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.
Seville leads the pack after an impressive 2025 season where he won the men’s 100-metre world title at the World Athletics Championships, becoming the first Jamaican man to do so since Usain Bolt captured the title in 2015.
He raced to a personal best of 9.77 seconds to claim the world title, which saw him moving to joint-10th on the all-time list.
Seville faces fierce competition from his countrymen, as Kishane Thompson and Bryan Levell are also expected to be in contention for the award.
Thompson had yet another impressive year on the track as he picked up the silver medal in the 100m, completing a Jamaican one-two finish with Seville.
The sprinter also moved sixth on the all-time list when he set a new personal best of 9.75 to win the national championships.
Levell marked a strong transition into the senior ranks, as the former youth standout won the bronze medal in the 200m.
On his way to the podium, Levell showed his quality with a series of impressive times, which was capped off with a personal best of 19.64 seconds in the final.
Also among the list of male nominees are Wayne Pinnock, Raymond Richards, Tyler Mason, Tajay Gayle, Orlando Bennett and Anthony Johnson.
Anthony Johnson stands as the only non-track and field athlete in the nominees list, as he won the country’s first-ever gold medal at the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) Handgun World Championship in South Africa.
TINA’S YEAR
Clayton stands as one of the premiere athletes from 2025, as the 21-year-old sprinter took home the silver medal in the women’s 100m and was a member of Jamaica’s quartet which won silver in the women’s 4x100m relay.
Clayton’s impressive season also saw her win her first national title, topping a field of veteran sprinters.
She raced to a new personal best of 10.76, putting her joint-sixth on Jamaica’s all-time list.
The list of female nominees also includes sprinter Shericka Jackson, hurdler Ackera Nugent and race car driver Sara Misir.
Seville and Clayton both also have the opportunity of a double win on the night, as they have been nominated for the The People’s Choice ‘Performance of the Year’ Award.
Seville has been nominated for his gold-medal winning run at the Tokyo World Championships, where he claimed his first individual medal after years of near misses and close calls.
Clayton, likewise, has been nominated for her silver-medal winning run at the World Championships, finishing behind US speedster Melissa Jefferson-Wooden.
Bennett and Mason have been jointly nominated in the same category, as the duo finished second and third in the men’s 110m hurdles final at the World Championships.
Other notable nominees include Dujuan Richards for his goal against Bermuda in the World Cup Qualifying campaign, and I DREAM AGAIN, with an inspiring run at Caymanas Park to win the 105th running of the Jamaica Derby on Independence Day.
Other awards to be presented on the night include the runners-up of the Sportsman of the Year and Sportswoman of the Year, the National Sports Team award, the Breakthrough Athletes of the Year, Y.O.U.T.H award, the Lifetime Achievement Award and Chairman’s Award and the ISSA School Awards.
