Julian Forte

{{short description|Jamaican track and field sprinter|bot=PearBOT 5}}

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| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1993|1|7|df=y}}

| birth_place = Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica

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Julian Forte (born 7 January 1993)[http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/jamaica/julian-forte-247930 Julian Forte]. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-05-26. is a Jamaican track and field sprinter. His personal bests are 9.91 seconds for the 100 metres and 19.97 seconds for the 200 metres.

Originally a horizontal jumps specialist, he won the long jump and triple jump titles at the 2009 CARIFTA Games. He took the sprint double at the 2010 Jamaican High School Championships and went on to be a 200 m finalist at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics. He won his first senior medal at the 2014 IAAF World Relays, taking gold with the Jamaican 4×100 metres relay team.

Career

=Early life and high school=

Born in Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica, he first began running at Vaz Preparatory School in Kingston. Encouraged by his school coach, and inspired by the feats of Michael Johnson, he continued to focus on sprinting.[https://archive.today/20140527181211/http://www.charliefrancis.com/community/showthread.php?21290-Jamaica-schools-champ Spotlight on Julian Forte]. Nevada Morgan . Retrieved on 2014-05-26. Forte also competed in the long jump and in 2008 set a personal best of {{T&Fcalc|6.90}} and came third at the Jamaican High School Championships.[http://www.tilastopaja.org/db/atm.php?ID=104013&Season=2008&Odd=0 Julian Forte]. Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2014-05-26. His first international competition came at the 2008 CARIFTA Games, where he was eighth in the long jump and third in the triple jump.[https://web.archive.org/web/20130831130219/http://www.wjah.co.uk/wojc/CAJG/CAJG2008.html 2008 CARIFTA Games]. World Junior Athletics History. Retrieved on 2014-05-26. He attended Wolmer's Boys' High School and in 2009, at the age of sixteen, he set personal bests of 10.75 seconds for the 100 metres and 21.93 seconds for the 200 metres. At the 2009 CARIFTA Games he won the gold medal in the long jump, clearing {{T&Fcalc|7.25}}, as well as the triple jump with {{T&Fcalc|14.77}}.[http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090414/sports/sports3.html Youngsters sweep sprint relays in Carifta gold rush] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140528010002/http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090414/sports/sports3.html |date=28 May 2014 }}. Jamaica Gleaner (2009-04-14). Retrieved on 2014-05-26.[https://web.archive.org/web/20131203020418/http://wjah.co.uk/wojc/CAJG/CAJG2009.html 2009 CARIFTA Games]. World Junior Athletics History. Retrieved on 2014-05-26.

The following year he changed his focus to the sprints. He took the 100 m and 200 m titles at the Jamaican High School Championships, helping Wolmer's to the team title, and vowed to stay training in Jamaica in the hope of emulating Usain Bolt.Leonard, Tom (2010-05-14). [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/jamaica/7721427/The-young-runners-of-Jamaicas-sprint-factory-in-action.html The young runners of Jamaica's 'sprint factory' in action]. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on 2014-05-26. He came sixth over 200 m at the 2010 CARIFTA Games, one place behind his older compatriot Kemar Bailey-Cole.[https://web.archive.org/web/20131031070036/http://www.wjah.co.uk/wojc/CAJG/CAJG2010.html CARIFTA Games 2010]. World Junior Athletics History. Retrieved on 2014-05-26. He was disappointed not to be selected for the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, but won a silver medal for Jamaica in the 4×100 metres relay at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships.[https://web.archive.org/web/20131220011428/http://www.wjah.co.uk/wojc/CCJC/CCJC2010.html 2010 CAC Junior Championships]. World Junior Athletics History. Retrieved on 2014-05-26. He ended 2010 with sprint bests of 10.49 seconds for the 100 m and 21.04 seconds for the 200 m. He did not perform well in 2011, placing outside the top five at the high school champs sprint events.[http://issasports.com/results/champs/champs2011/110330F002.htm 2011 Champs Boy's 200 m final] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140528010819/http://issasports.com/results/champs/champs2011/110330F002.htm |date=28 May 2014 }}. Champs. Retrieved on 2014-05-26.[http://issasports.com/results/champs/champs2011/110330F001.htm 2011 Champs Boy's 100 m final] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527212804/http://issasports.com/results/champs/champs2011/110330F001.htm |date=27 May 2014 }}. Champs. Retrieved on 2014-05-26. In his last year as a junior athlete he ran personal bests of 10.19 seconds for the 100 m and 20.38 seconds for the 200 m. Over 200 m he won the national junior title, placed sixth at the Jamaican Athletics Championships, and came eighth at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics.

=Senior competition=

Continuing with his studies he enrolled at University of Technology, Jamaica, taking advantage of the institution's sports facilities. In his first outing of 2013, he ran a personal best of 10.13 m to win in Kingston. He experienced his first IAAF Diamond League meeting at the British Grand Prix in June, although he placed last. In Sundsvall, Sweden he dipped under ten seconds with a wind-assisted time of 9.98 seconds. A personal best of 10.12 seconds came during a win at the Athletics Bridge, which he followed with another win at the Palio Citta della Quercia. He opened 2014 with a 400 metres best of 47.18 seconds, before improving his 100 m time to 10.03 seconds.Walker, Howard (2014-05-19). [http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport/athletics/Forte-blasts-10-03secs-at-2nd-JAAA-All-Comers-Meet Forte blasts 10.03secs at 2nd JAAA All Comers Meet] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527212832/http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport/athletics/Forte-blasts-10-03secs-at-2nd-JAAA-All-Comers-Meet |date=27 May 2014 }}. Jamaica Observer. Retrieved on 2014-05-26. This performance gained him selection for the 2014 IAAF World Relays – the debut edition of the competition. He ran the third leg to help Jamaica to a world-leading 37.71 seconds in the heats and then the gold medal in the final.[http://www.iaaf.org/news/report/world-relays-report-men-4x100m-jamaica Report: Men’s 4x100m – Nassau 2014]. IAAF (2014-05-26). Retrieved on 2014-05-26.