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Carifta hopeful sweating on passport

Nigerian-born Emmanuel Oniya is sweating on receiving a Jamaican passport in time for him to compete at next month’s Carifta Games in Bermuda.Despite applying for the document five years ago, Oniya is yet to receive the passport and is concerned the delay could scupper of chances of representing his country.He said his father had been contacting the passport office “every other day”, but had been told the passport wasn’t ready.“I have lived here practically all my life, I went to prep school here (in Montego Bay) and I always wanted to represent this country,” said Oniya, who competes in the shot put and discuss.At the weekend, Oniya created an upset when he defeated national record holder Ashinia Miller to win the boys’ under-20 shot put title at the JAAA/Burger King Carifta Games trials at the Stadium East complex.The Munro College pupil, who had broken the Class One records in both shot put and discus at the Milo Western Champs last month, threw a lifetime best 19.09m, which also made him the third Jamaican to attain the IAAF World Junior Championships qualifying mark.More than 500 athletes from 26 Caribbean countries, including at least 50 from Bermuda, will compete in the annual event to be held in Bermuda for the first time in seven years from April 7 to 9.When Bermuda last staged the event in 2004, current world record holder Usain Bolt, of Jamaica, became the first junior athlete to break 20 seconds in the 200 metres in a time of 19.3 seconds.