7 months ago
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FOLLOWING HER eye-catching performance at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships where she broke the girls’ Class Four high jump record three times, Immaculate Conception High’s Sanique Watt credited her school’s support for the win.
Watt was a cut above the rest on Friday as she stormed away with the title, clearing the bar for the final time with a leap of 1.73 metres.
The next best was Holmwood Technical’s Afharia Anderson with 1.64, while Hydel’s Desta Robinson took the bronze medal with 1.61.
Watt said the gold medal was long in coming as she aimed to better her second-place finish from last year.
“First, I want to take this opportunity to thank God for all he has done in my life because I worked really hard for this. Last year, I won the silver medal and I was really disappointed because I knew I could have gotten gold,” she said.
Watt had already secured the gold medal when she cleared the bar at 1.66 but continued to compete as she knew she could go higher.
She eclipsed Shian Salmon’s 2018 record of 1.67 when she cleared a height of 1.69, and then broke her own record twice over, clearing 1.71 and 1.73.
She would ultimately end her series with a failure at 1.75.
Watt said while she was unaware of what the record was heading into the final, she was determined to set a new mark and simply kept jumping for as long as she could.
“It was my intention to break the record this year and I am just happy that I got the opportunity to do so,” said Watt.
“My coach always told me to have fun and to have confidence. I wasn’t even aware what the record was, I was just jumping and continuing to jump until I couldn’t jump anymore.”
DRIVING FACTOR
Watt explained another motivator behind her performances was her drive to add to Immaculate’s points tally as they seek to finish high on the girls’ standings.
She credited the support of her teammates and her coaches after collecting her gold medal.
“My intention was to give my school points and continuing to build the team and inspire the team to continue fighting.
“My coach Mr Franz Forde, head coach and technical director, along with our coach Floyd Quarrie, coach Sebastian Thompson, our management team and Adidas, our sponsors, continue to motivate me.”
She also made special mention of her principal Stacey Reynolds, who has been a constant figure of support in the team’s training programme.
“Our principal Mrs Stacey Reynolds has been an inspiration to our programme as she continues to believe in and encourage us on a daily basis,” Watt explained.
“She even took time out while being on leave to ensure that we were doing fine and spoke to us. We love her because she never had to leave her vacation to come to us every day while we were on camp.”
Immaculate’s head coach Franz Forde was a proud figure after her achievement, saying he was delighted to see the shy athlete blossom into a record-breaker.
He explained his role was to ensure she felt confident and comfortable in her technique on the day.
“We’re feeling excited and feeling elated about the entire situation,” Forde explained.
“The first record, I wasn’t even aware of what the record was.”
“When she came over, you’d have seen me being really excited and I asked her how she felt and she said she wanted to keep jumping. We continued to bring the bar up and just having her feel comfortable and allowing her to just enjoy the moment.”
He added, “She’s still shy about the situation, however, she is happy and this is what she was yearning for since last year.”
English (US) ·