Manager Lincoln Eatmon has described the 48-member track and field team as 'well balanced' but he cautioned that there may be problems with the availability of some athletes who are competing on the European circuit.

"Whoever goes, we expect to do well," Eatmon said. The track and field team is scheduled to arrive in Brazil on July 17, six days before competition starts.

Jamaica won medals in all four relays in Santo Domingo and the trend is expected to continue as there is a great deal of depth in all the relay squads.

Individually, the strong medal contenders among the women are Delloreen Ennis-London and Vonette Dixon in 100m hurdles, Sheri-Ann Brooks in the 200m, Shereefa Lloyd over 400m and Chelsea Hammond in the long jump.

Veteran Clement Campbell has been running well in the 100m and he should be among the medals in this event. There is also Commonwealth 200m champion Omar Brown who was not at his best at the National Championships but should be nearing peak form now. Another veteran, Dean Griffiths, is also a strong medal contender in the 400m hurdles while national decathlon record holder Maurice Smith is expected to be among the first three in the multi-discipline event.

Competition dates: July 22-29.

Jamaica will be represented by a two-member male team, John Martin and Emelio Mendez. Both will compete in men's singles and men's doubles.

Coach Kingsley Ford said the Games will be a good learning experience for both players.

"Our more senior players, Charles Pyne and Bradley Graham, have opted out of the Games.These two young players will be trying to make a name for themselves in the absence of the big boys," Ford said. Ford expects the regional powerhouse, United States, Canada, Mexico and Peru to do well in this event.Competition dates: July 14-19.

The women's basketball team is eager to do well after becoming the first English-speaking female basketball team to qualify for the Pan Am Games.

Assistant manager Cloyfeld Thomas expects the team to do fairly well.

In addition to the local standouts, such as Oberon Pitterson, Sharon Wiles an Byfield, the team also includes Simone Edwards who has played professionally in several countries and new player, Demoya Williams.

Williams, who is originally from St. Elizabeth, now plays professionally in the Czech Republic.

"The Americans should be our main rivals but Cuba, Mexico and hosts Brazil all have very good teams," Thomas said.

Competition dates: July 20-24.

Experienced manager Leroy Brown says the two-man boxing team is of very good quality.

"Featherweight Nicholas Walters is our brightest prospect in many years. He has won at the Caribbean championships twice and named outstanding boxer so we have high hopes for him," Brown said.

He, however, added that the draw would be important.

"Like in tennis, you may meet the top seed in the first round. We hope that Walters gets a good draw, as the more fights you get that helps to build up confidence," Brown said.

Ricardo Smith has just moved up to the welterweight ranks, one of the toughest at the Games.

According to Brown, Smith's boxing skills are sufficient to take him through some of the rounds and if he gets a good draw he could make it to the quarter-finals.Competition dates: July 20-28.

The Jamaica Cycling Federation (JCF) is expecting a lot from Ricardo Lynch at the Games. "He has been working for the last few weeks in Colorado Springs with the U.S. national team and we expect a good showing from him," said JCF president Vaughn Phang, who will also be team manager at the Games. Phang added that coach Carlton Simmons and himself will be able to fully evaluate how far Lynch has come when they arrive in Brazil.

The other member of the team is Marloe Redwood who is attending his first major Games. Phang sounded an optimistic note going into the Games.

"We are certainly aiming for medals. We will be doing three events and from those three we expect a medal in two. At the Pan American Cycling Championships in Sao Paulo last year, we earned a bronze in the keirin from Lynch. "Competition dates: Road - July 15 and 21. Track - July 16-19.

Women: The female footballers were the first to leave for the Games and that has not fit well into coach Charles Edwards' preparation plans.

"Our preparation time has been very limited. We have been limited to just five weeks but my overall outlook was not to complain about that. What I did was to take the optimistic route and try and see how best we can prepare the team and go to Brazil with a very positive mentality," Edwards said.

Edwards said he is hoping that the girls will do well at the Games and make Jamaica proud. The team, which will be led by the skilful Venicia Reid, has loads of experience. Reid, Nicola Bell and Diana Hue are expected to be three of the top players for Jamaica at the Games. Jamaica are grouped with Ecuador, Brazil, Uruguay and Canada.

Men: Coach Wendell Downswell is cautious going into the Games as, according to him, the team has not had the 'ideal preparation'.

"Some of the players had examinations so we had only about two weeks of preparation ... so when you look at the squad, I can't guarantee a certain level of performance. From a developmental standpoint, it will be good for the team as these youngsters will be ahead of their time."

Downswell said he is hoping that some of these players will be able to make the transition to the Under-23 team. Keammar Daley, John-Ross D' Oyley, Duwayne Jarrett and Dwayne Miller are four who should do well.

SWIMMING

The swimming team is pinning a lot of its medal hopes at the Games on the performances of Olympian Alia Atkinson who will compete in 50m freestyle, 100m and 200m breaststroke and 100m butterfly.

"I think Alia (Atkinson) will do very well," said manager Gail Gascoigne.

"She has been performing well for Texas A&M University and has been training there to prepare for the Games," Gascoigne added.

Atkinson's best event is the breaststroke where she holds national records at 50m, 100m and 200m.

Natasha Moodie, Brad Hamilton and Jonathan Wong have all done fairly well at the regional level - especially in the Central American and Caribbean age group meets.

Competition dates: July 16-22.

Manager/coach Conrad Jenkins represented Jamaica at the 1987 Games in Indianapolis and so he has some idea of what it will take to do well. Jenkins is confident Kenneth Edwards, who will compete in the 72-78kg class, will be among the top contenders in his division at the Games. "Edwards has the experience and is in very good shape," Jenkins said. Edwards does most of his training at the Hillel Academy and in Mandeville.

Competition dates: July 14-17.

Eldad Campbell and Dominic Pagon, who will compete in men's singles and doubles, have been training twice per day with national tennis director Douglas Burke at the Eric Bell Tennis Centre. Manager Kadija Richards is hoping for a good performance from the players at the Games. "They will be on par with most but the higher seeded players will be more challenging," Richards said. "Most of the players they will see at the Games will be those they played at the junior level and in college."