Woah, hold on, in an astonishing turn of events, the track world just dropped a bombshell. Jamaican heroes, Olympic discus champion Roje Stona and bronze medalist Rajindra Campbell, are reportedly heading to Turkey. The buzz started June 19, 2025, with Track & Field Gazette revealing Stona’s switch and Campbell’s likely follow.
Sources close to the Turkish Sports Ministry confirm a massive $500,000 upfront payment per athlete, plus monthly stipends and bonuses. This comes amid deep frustration over inadequate support, echoing an athlete’s concern about years of neglect in the Jamaican field events.
HUGE NEWS!!
Olympic Champion in the Discus Throw, Roje Stona will no longer compete for Jamaica and has applied for a switch of allegiance to Turkey!!
He and Rajindra Campbell, who is the Olympic Bronze medallist, are two of Jamaica’s Olympic medallists from Paris to… pic.twitter.com/DHXxzqXIHv
— Track & Field Gazette (@TrackGazette) June 19, 2025
The timing’s no accident, switching now secures their Turkish citizenship by June’s end, meeting World Athletics’ three-year eligibility for the 2028 Olympics. It begs the question: what does it say about Jamaican athletics when money talks louder than pride? Could this exodus signal a deeper crisis in how we value our sporting talent?
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