BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IT has been eight months since former World Champion and national sprint icon Kim Collins stepped down from the international athletics stage, a decision he says has been followed with both personal challenges and great benefits.
When Collins announced on September 14, 2009 that he would no longer be competing at the highest level in track and field, it came as a blow to Kittitians, Nevisians and track fans around the world. Collins is a true icon in the sport and has continually put the Federation in the global spotlight since becoming the 100m Commonwealth champion in 2002 and IAAF World Champion in 2003.
In an exclusive interview with SKNVibes, Collins said that ending his globetrotting ways has been a personal battle in some ways.
“One of the hardest things I’m trying to do now is move away from living out of my suitcase, which I have done for so many years. That is one of the biggest challenges I have because I was so accustomed to moving and now I’m settled in one spot.
“It is almost like a readjustment again, but I’m working on that and it’s going to be slow but sure,” he said.
While the sprinter turned family man said that he sometimes feels he has “nothing to do”, he said he continues to find ways to stay busy and still maintains some of his training.
“But it’s that phase where you’re letting it go and it’s difficult.”
However, retirement also comes with many upsides. Collins is now able to focus on his wife and four children without having to leave them for months at a time to train or run on the international circuits. Then, of course, there is the food.
“The best part about it is that you get to eat what you want! Even though there wasn’t a strict diet [when I was training], there were a lot of things that you would stay away from because of what it does to the body. I can have a lot more pig snout now!” he told this media house with a chuckle.
Though retirement has brought on a slower pace of life for Collins, fans in St. Kitts-Nevis can still expect to see him on the track in one capacity or another in the near future.
At a recent ceremony to honour the athlete with a trust fund established by the St. Kitts-Nevis National Olympic Committee, Collins announced his plans to host a training camp this summer in the Federation and pass on the wealth of knowledge he developed over his 17-year international career.
The camp is expected to feature not only Collins, but also some of the biggest names in track and field history.
“Sometimes you just have a chance to sit back and look at the journey that got you where you are. One of the things I looked at was that I did a lot of camps in Belgium, England and so many different places, so why not St. Kitts?
“I’m working on getting professional athletes as well as coaches to come down and really talk to the athletes. A lot of people might not listen to me, so having people like [five-time World Champion] Maurice Greene…come down would draw a lot of attention to the country and would do a lot for the sport,” Collins stated.
The camp would cater to athletes of all ages and would pass on tips about everything from running technique to shoe selection and the business of being a professional athlete. Collins told SKNVibes that he hopes his legacy, perhaps best symbolized in the famous Adidas ‘Impossible is Nothing’ ad campaign, can live on in St. Kitts-Nevis well beyond his years.
“[Today’s athletes] don’t even realize the true potential of themselves. The thing is that before I came along nobody thought it was possible. Now people know that it can be possible. I believe that we have the people here. We don’t have to have a million people in our country.
“I am hoping that this summer, after I have my camp weekend, we will be able to identify some true potential and really nurture it,” he said.
