BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – TODAY (Aug. 25), marks the 10th year since Kim Collins brought positive global attention to the twin-island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis when he was crowned World Champion by winning the 100 meters dash at the 2003 World Championships held in Paris, France.
Running in lane one, Collins became a rare winner from the inside lane, with his 10.07 seconds being just enough to edge a blanket finish with Trinidad's Darrel Brown and Britain Darren Campbell who both clocked 10.08.
The victory came as a shock to many as the race featured the likes of Dwain Chambers and, World Record Holder at the time, Tim Montgomery, but Collins upset the odds and recorded the first ever gold medal achieved by an athlete from St. Kitts and Nevis in the history of the World Championships.
Collins’ victory sparked islandwide festivities as Kittitians and Nevisians celebrated the occasion, and one government official declared that the day be in honour of his achievement.
Prior to that achievement, Collins had also won the first medal ever for St. Kitts and Nevis at the 2001 World Championships in the 200 meters. He was also their first ever Olympic finalist at the Sydney Olympics and had been the flag bearer on three occasions at the Olympics.
A hero’s welcome had greeted him at the Robert L Bradshaw International Airport which saw a motorcade go across the Highway named after him just three years before following his Olympic exploits. His welcome climaxed with a concert on the Bay Road in Basseterre and an islandwide motorcade followed about a week later.
Only five countries have ever gained success in the 100 meters. These countries are the USA, Great Britain, Canada, Jamaica and St. Kitts and Nevis.
Kim Collins made his debut at major championships at the 1996 Olympics, where he qualified for the second round in the 100m. He quickly improved and, at the 2000 Summer Olympics, he became the first athlete from the Federation to qualify for an Olympic Final, finishing seventh in the 100m. In the following year he won St. Kitts' first World Championship medal when he tied for the bronze medal in the 200m.
At the 2002 Commonwealth Games, Collins won his first major title.
After the 100m race, which Collins won after two other favourites pulled out of the final with injuries, he tested positive for doping. However, it was found that the banned substance was part of the asthma medication he had been taking for several years, but had neglected to mention it to the Medical Commission.
Collins eventually was allowed to keep his title and got away with a warning.
His achievements were recognised with him being featured on a set of two stamps from St. Kitts that were issued in 2002.
The 100m at the 2003 World Championships became the biggest triumph of his career.
With Olympics and World Champion Maurice Greene eliminated in the Semi-Finals, the field was wide open. And in a very close race, where the top four athletes finished within 0.02 seconds, Collins won and became the first World Champion from Saint Kitts and Nevis.
At the 2004 Olympics he again made the Finals in the 100m, finishing sixth, while at the 2005 World Championships he claimed a bronze medal behind Justin Gatlin and Michael Frater, though he was given the same time as the latter.
Finishing fourth in his heat, Collins qualified for the Finals in the men's 200m race in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and finished in sixth on 20 August 2008. He competed at the 2009 World Championships and reached the Quarter-Finals of the competition but was eliminated after finishing in fourth behind eventual finalists Asafa Powell, Darvis Patton and Marc Burns.
Collins announced his retirement from international athletics in September that year, bringing an end to a career that spanned almost 17 years.
At age 34, he however rescinded that decision on 29 January 2011 at the Aviva International Match in Glasgow and finished fourth in the 200 metres.
He then won at the Russian Winter Meeting in Moscow, where he recorded a 60m personal best and national record of 6.52 seconds to win at the PSD Bank Meeting in Düsseldorf, overhauling his best mark which he had set nearly 11 years earlier.
That time however did not stand for long as he ran 6.50 seconds in the hearts of the BW-Bank Meeting a few days later.
Collins won both his heat and Semi-Final races in the 100m at the 2011 World Championships before finishing third and winning a bronze medal in the Finals after the disqualification of Usain Bolt.
At the men's 4x100m Relay qualifying heats, Collins ran the second leg for the St. Kitts and Nevis relay squad and helped clock a national record of 38.47seconds, leading to St. Kitts and Nevis' first-ever Finals as a relay team.
At the XVI Pan American Games in Guadalajara in 2011, Collins broke the 28-year-old Pan-American Games record with a time of 10.00seconds in the early heat.
He finished second in the Finals to Jamaica's Lerone Clarke. His silver medal was the first-ever medal for St. Kitts and Nevis at the Pan-Am Games.
Even now at age 37, he continues to ply his trade and has surpassed his personal best just this year running 9.97seconds, which is also a national record.
Collins’ achievements as an athlete have made him a National Hero in the eyes of countless citizens and residents of St. Kitts and Nevis.
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