Posts
Close to five years ago I was making my first venture into the training world by assisting to coach the track team of my Alma Mater Harrison College. It was during this time that I met a talented 11 year old by the name of Mario Burke. From that time it was clear that this youngster had a future in track and field. Back then he did the sprints and dabbled a bit in long jump. Whatever event it was it was clear that Mario was a talented youngster but more so that Mario was a kid with heart and I kid who wanted to succeed. One example is an evening training Mario in the long jump event and having to plead with him to quit training for that day whilst all he wanted to do was to keep training because he wanted to get everything right. To me this was the attitude of a champion in the making.
Fast forward to today and Mario is the pride and hope of a nation who desperately needs a sporting hero. Gone are the days of swimmer Leah Martindale, athletes Obadele Thompson and Andrea Blackett, and cyclist Barry Forde. All current hopes for Olympic or World glory rest on the shoulders of former World Champion hurdler Ryan Brathwaite. Brathwaite’s recent form and the emergence of a new batch of hurdle sensations, have many believing that hopes of him repeating his glory are slim at best. So up steps the hopes of many of seeing this talented 16year old being the reason the broken trident is once more flown at international events.
What Mario has accomplished already is no small feat. At his school’s athletic meet Mario broke an over 20 year record formerlty held by Obadele Thompson. Thompson was for a long time the island’s track sensation with his pinnacle achievement placing 3rd in the Olympic finals of the 100m in 2000. He has gone on to win his divisional title at the recently completed Carifta Championships. Something no one from his island had managed for a decade. He went on to finish 2nd in the 200m. it was however his leg on the 4x400m than garnered the most praise by many and showed to others what this writer has known for 5 years. Mario is a kid with a heart too big to explain with words.
Getting the baton in 3rd place with approximately 40-50m between him and the leaders many figured he would be running to secure the 3rd place. No one could predict what was to happen next. No one that is other than maybe Mario himself. As the cameras, commentators and I’m sure the majority of the fans focused on the battle for 1st Mario was doing the unthinkable. Mario was closing the gap and closing it rapidly. For me to try to describe the way he fought back and finish would be to insult the caliber and class of the performance. You can view it for yourself here. Mario stormed from 50m behind to finish 2nd by 2/10th of a second. I for one believe that had he had about 5 less metres to cover that he would have won the race. The look of disappointment on his face despite running probably the most impressive anchor legs in recent history reflected the character of this young man. Watching it seems as though he was upset that despite how well he ran him nor more importantly his team didn't win.
However having heart and talent can only take you so far. So with that I’m pleading to the parties involved to get behind Mario and this new batch of track stars that he leads. The likes of Akela Jones, Tristan Evelyn, Rivaldo Leacock and Sonia Gaskin promise so much for our future. In other sports such as judo, badminton and swimming we are seeing many young talents emerging that have the potential to be world class phenomenal athletes. So I’m pleading to the powers that be to stop giving mouth service to these athletes and put the necessary support behind them. Carifta is a great accomplishment but I dream of the day we can watch these stars wearing the blue and gold on the international stage. I would hate to see them fall by the wayside as many have before.
