Taylor: I have no expectations
Published:Saturday | September 13, 2025 | 12:10 AMGregory Bryce/Staff Reporter
When he takes to the track for the heats of the men’s 200 metres at the Japan National Stadium, Christopher Taylor will have “no expectations” as the sprinter said making it to the World Athletics Championships was his main goal this season.
Taylor will make his first international appearance for Jamaica since 2022 as the sprinter has returned from a two and a half years ban for “evading, refusing or failing to submit to sample collection.”
Taylor last competed at the 2022 World Championships as a member of Jamaica’s 4x400m relay team, and said his goal was to return close to the level since his last competition.
This meant targeting a spot on Jamaica’s team for Tokyo, the same city he had made his senior debut during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Having now achieved his main goal of the season, Taylor said he is entering the championships with no expectations regarding his on track performance.
“Quite frankly, I have no expectations,” he said. “I’ve achieved my ultimate goal for the season and that is to get back close to where I left when I last competed in 2022 and I think I’ve achieved that.
“Making it to the World Championships was a big thing for me even if I’d only made it for a relay team. I said I wanted to come back to Tokyo because my professional career started here so it’s best to come here and start all over again.
“I came out for the last eight months and I did that and I am reaping what I sowed basically. I made it to the World Championships. A lot of persons have been training for this and I came back from not competing for many years and made it and that’s a big achievement.”
NOT A REDEMPTION
The sprinter, who rose to prominence during his junior career, said he is not viewing his return to the track as a redemption season.
Rather, he believes he has moved past his suspension from the sport and is now focused on returning to his very best.
“It’s not a redemption. It’s just a stepping stone for me. It’s just to keep on building on where I left,” he explained.
“I don’t hold grudges. [I’ve] moved on from the situation that happened and I left it behind me so I wouldn’t dwell on it and say I’m coming back for redemption here or anything like that, no.”
Taylor will line up in the men’s 200m, alongside Bryan Levell and Adrian Kerr.
For the sprinter, it will a trial by fire as he said his preparation for the championships has been hampered by difficulties following his time away from the track.
However, he is ready to take on the field at the best of his abilities.
“I haven’t been competing for three years there about, so it’s like learning to run all over again,” he explained.
“Events such as the 200m are very technical so I had to make certain adjustments in how I push coming off the bend, or I go down the home straight.
“Those are taking a longer time to get back to. I’m still not here fully, but the championships is here and I have no time left so I just have to work on what I have.”
Taylor’s season’s best is 20.28 seconds, a time he will hope to lower throughout the rounds of competition.