On their road to victory
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – BEING ranked the third fastest relay team in the world is no easy accomplishment; it is a major achievement, particularly for a group of young men representing one of the smallest nations in the world.
Fresh off their recent achievements at the IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, three of the four men who are a part of the St. Kitts-Nevis 4 x100m relay team, told SKNVibes of their travels along the road to victory.
Delwayne Delaney 29 of Conaree, Antoine Adams 23 of Cayon and Jason Rogers 20 of Sandy Point, shared their joyful experience in Daegu and how they first got into track and field.
Adams who is also known as Zaggadon said that he has been running since he was a child from pre-school straight through to High School.
“After High School I got some encouragement to take it to the next level. I first went to Miami in 2006 but got injured and returned home. I was injured for a year and then I went to Houston, Texas where I started training with Eric Francis and did my associates degree there,” he said.
Delaney said that like everyone else, when it came to his school’s Sports Day he would participate and would be winning at the primary school level.
He said when he attended High School he received a reality check and considered himself average and fairly good but wanted to be better.
Donnell Esdaille, a local coach, who had introduced Adams to Francis in Houston had also seen something special in Delaney and invited him to train with him.
A few years after, Delaney received a scholarship to attend Texas Christian University (TCU) where he received his Bachelors degree in Business Administration specializing in Marketing.
Delaney said while attending college he was introduced to various coaches and even trained in Jamaica with Usain Bolt’s former coach.
He said he is now being coached by TCU’s former coach.
Rogers said that he too started running at a very early age at the Sandy Point Primary School and was involved in other sports like Football and Cricket.
“Every sporting event I heard about I wanted to be a part of. I loved running and it turned out to be one of my favorite sports at a young age as I used to travel and represent St. Kitts since I was in grade four,” he said.
Apart from his mother who saw something special in him, Rogers said that a former teacher of Sandy Point, Mr. Matthew, who was also a former athlete, began training him.
After Matthew left St. Kitts, Rogers began training with Coach Broody, a former Sandy Point coach and he also trained with Stuart Joseph.
He is now being coached by former World Champion Kim Collins who was actually the person he passed the baton to in the men’s 4X100m relay finals.
He said that in January he started training with Collins who also trains one other person - Lestrade Roland, a junior athlete of St. Kitts.
Being an athlete not only takes talent but also dedication. Five out of the seven days of the week, for a few hours, the athletes can be found at their respective tracks undergoing training.
Delaney says that he also attends the gym three times each week.
“After work, from about 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. I will be training. It can be taxing on the body so you have to make sure you are taking your supplements, your vitamins, taking care of your body and eating healthy,” he said.
With so much time spent on the field training the guys are usually left with little or no time for leisure fun.
“Being disciplined becomes a part of life; the drunkards would go out and drink; the smokers smoke; so we run track that’s what we do, so it doesn’t feel like there’s something you’re missing out on because you were never really a part of it,” Delaney said.
However, Adams has a deep love for music and has actually produced some of the Federation’s hit songs for artistes like Infamus and C-Money.
“When I’m not doing track, I am probably working on a beat, and it’s probably what I will be doing after track,” he said.
He has produced ’21 Gun Salute’, ‘Gonna Make it’, ‘World on my shoulder’ and ‘Love me from the heart’ all by Infamus while he has produced ‘SK Sweet’ by C-Money and other songs for other artistes.
He also enjoys going to the movies and watching comedy movies with Will Smith being one of his favorite actors; he is also fond of Kevin Hart as a comedian.
For Delayne, he is adamant about seeing his beloved Conaree Football team emerge as champions in the national football league.
He serves as trainer and PRO for the team and also enjoys comedy movies and going out with his teammates and cracking jokes on them.
Rogers said that apart from track he used to play basketball but he would get too many injuries during that sport, but overall has a keen interest in sports.
“I want to reach as far as possible. It’s every sprinter’s dream to be named the fastest man in the world and I would like to be named that even if it’s just for a month,” he said.
It was not Roger’s first time at the World Championships as he was there at the junior level last year where he was ranked sixth in the world.
The athletes said that it was an overwhelming feeling having placed third in the relay race at the World Championships; they were warmed by the outpouring of love shown to them by the Federation.
