Head coach Danny Hawthorne. - file

BRESSANONE, Italy:

Jamaica's head coach to the sixth IAAF World Youth Championships in Bressanone, Italy, Danny Hawthorne, has lauded the performances of medal winners Traves Smikle and Danielle Dowie.

Smikle threw a personal best 61.22 metres to capture Jamaica's first world-level discus medal, a bronze, on the opening day. Dowie's silver came on the penultimate day in the 400m hurdles.

Dowie, Hawthorne said, showed a great deal of 'focus and tenacity.

As for Smikle, Hawthorne described him as "an excellent guy"."He was focussed from he left Jamaica and again he stuck to the task and it paid dividends," the coach added.

As in any championships, there were positives and disappointments.

For coach Hawthorne, the medley teams were two of the disappointments of the championships.

"I thought we could have done much better in both relays but I think inexperience got the better of us," the head coach said. The girls' team finished sixth whereas the boys', anchored by Javere Bell, who fell under pressure close to the line, did not finish.

"We have to give thanks for what we have done," said Hawthorne. "We have to go back to the drawing board and next time we will do better."