While still largely unknown in Jamaican athletics circles, 400m runner Leah Anderson’s early-season form had suggested she could be part of the country’s 4x400m squad at the World Athletics Relays in China. But her absence wasn’t due to injury or oversight—it was a conscious decision made jointly with her coach, Olympic gold medallist Derrick Adkins.
Adkins said the move was part of a broader strategy to keep Anderson healthy, confident, and primed to perform at the Jamaican national trials in June—especially after a tough experience at the World Indoor Championships earlier in the year.
“We thought about World Relays. The Jamaican federation sent out the usual forms to athletes who’ve previously committed to the country, but we decided together not to send her,” Adkins told Sportsmax.TV. “The trip to China for World Indoors took a big toll on her—and not just physically.”
Anderson entered the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing earlier this year ranked fifth in the world with a 51.27 clocking but failed to advance past the first round. According to Adkins, it wasn’t due to injury but rather a combination of poor nutrition, weight loss, and the punishing nature of international travel.
“It wasn’t an injury issue,” Adkins clarified. “It was more dietary. Leah naturally weighs around 110 pounds, but we try to keep her at 115 for optimal performance. She made a dietary change about a month before World Indoors that just didn’t work, and the long trip to China caused her to lose more weight. She just didn’t have the energy.”
The travel alone, he explained, was a major factor. “It’s one of the longest trips you can make, especially coming from the East Coast of the U.S.,” Adkins said. “Multiple connecting flights, several time zones. She was tired when she got there, and even more tired when she got back.”
Anderson also struggled to adjust to the food available overseas and experienced further energy depletion just days before her opening round. “She just didn’t feel like herself,” Adkins admitted. “And to top it off, she made some strategic errors in her race. She was a little too excited—it was her first World Championships appearance as an individual, not on a relay, and I think she was still learning how to handle the moment.”
Given that experience, the decision not to return to China so soon was as much mental as physical.
“She was a little pessimistic about going back to China again so quickly,” Adkins revealed. “And I, personally, saw it as a better choice to have her stay here and run some open races where she could target new PRs.”
That strategy paid off. Anderson clocked a personal best 51.15 in Arkansas on May 9, validating the choice to focus on domestic preparation.
“She loves Jamaica and would have loved to represent the country at World Relays,” Adkins emphasized. “But we made this decision to strengthen her chances at the Jamaican trials and ultimately qualify for the World Championships in Tokyo. The competition at nationals is going to be fierce—those girls are going to be running 49s.”
With the Racers Grand Prix in Kingston on June 7 and a few other races, including one in Orlando, still to come, Anderson’s trajectory is building toward a crucial showdown in late June.
“She needs to know how to run that open 400 a lot better if she’s going to be competitive in Kingston,” Adkins said. “This was about the long game—not just showing up for the team, but putting herself in a real position to make the team.”