Jamaica National Racquetball Team
World Championships 2002 - Puerto Rico
The women's team would eventually get a chance to battle Ireland for a gold medal. The women's team, made up of veteran Lurine Barnes and newcomer Jackie Gopie would show great teamwork as they dominated Ireland in both games. The Jamaicans would win the gold by limiting Ireland to only 4 points in the first game and 7 points in the second. Barnes would frustrate the Irish by controlling the pace of the game and eliminating offensive opportunities for her opponents. All Army athlete, Gopie would then step in to take advantage of scoring opportunities to move the Jamaicans rapidly forward to the win.
In addition, Gopie would go on to meet top ranked international player Claudine Garcia from the Dominican Republic in the finals of her singles division. While Gopie would battle her point for point in the first match, Garcia would eventually pull ahead for the gold and Gopie would proudly take the medal podium for the silver.
"All in all, this team did a phenomenal job," said Jeff Hanno, coach of the team. "It was incredible to see Jamaicans up on the medal podium especially to get the gold." The Jamaican squad would dominate the medal podium by earning four of eight possible medals!