Although holding no real expectations, sprinter Julian Forte is optimistic of producing his best performance yet when he graces the track at the third JN Racers Grand Prix inside the National Stadium.

With his season marred by injuries thus far, resulting in him missing out at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Australia recently, Forte is aiming to come to his possible best for June 9, which is some 17 days away.

“My season hasn’t been going the way I wanted it to [as] it has been filled with injuries and I haven’t really gotten the chance to train the way I want to. Even at the Commonwealth Games I wasn’t able to compete because of said injury, and I had to fly back home and get treatment, so it hasn’t been what I expected.

“But I am always pressing for improvement; no matter how fast I run I always try to improve, to do better than I did the previous year. So I am really working on that and I am hoping all will be well on the day,” Forte told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

To better his performance in 2017 would be to topple his personal best of 9.91 seconds achieved at the ISTAF World Challenge meet in Berlin, Germany, which saw him reinforcing his position in the annals of Jamaica’s sprint history.

The 25-year-old, who is currently the ninth-fastest Jamaican sprinter in history, had been flirting with the sub-10 mark for some time before eventually stamping his class with a 9.99 clocking at the National Senior Championships in June last year, prior to the Berlin presentation.

There is no doubt that Forte will make further inroads on Jamaica’s sprinting ranks once injury is not a factor. He also boasts a 200m personal best of 19.97, which also places him at number nine on the all-time Jamaican list.

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