Anthony Foster, Freelance Writer

South African track star, Geraldine Pillay, at the launch of the Grace Jackson Track meet at The Queen's High School on Wednesday. - Junior Dowie/Staff Photographer

The successes of the local Maximising Velocity Power (MVP) Track & Field Club over the past few years has not gone unnoticed. It is now becoming a destination for international athletes.

One such athlete who has found the University of Technology-based Stephen Francis-coached club as the place to help her move forward is South African Geraldine Pillay.

"What pushed me would probably be the performances of his athletes. He has a couple or more than a couple of people performing and I said to myself, 'I can only benefit from that programme if I am in that camp,' " Pillay told The Gleaner at the Queen's/Grace Jackson track meet launch on Wednesday.

Jamaica has been producing world-class sprinters for many years, but few were trained locally.

In the 1940s and 1950s, there were Olympic gold medallists Arthur Wint, Herb McKenley, and George Rhoden. They were followed by others such as Lennox Miller, Donald Quarrie, Bert Cameron, Merlene Ottey, Juliet Cuthbert and Grace Jackson.

The current generation includes Veronica Campbell, world 100m record holder Asafa Powell, Usain Bolt and Sherone Simpson.

The country has only just started, under Francis, to really train world-class athletes at home.

World Junior 100m record holder and 2003 World Championships silver medalist Darrell Brown of Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaican-born British high jumper Germaine Mason, along with other athletes from the eastern Caribbean, have been training or have trained at MVP.

Made final decision

Pillay, who won silver in the 100m at the Commonwealth Games last March said she first spoke to Francis a couple times on the circuit and with Simpson at the Commonwealth Games last year, but it was the meeting between herself and the coach in September which brought her to Jamaica.

"I saw coach Francis in Athens and that is when I made my final decision that I wanted to talk to him to find out if he would accept me in his camp. "I spoke to him and our conversation went very well and at the end of that conversation, I was planning my trip to Jamaica," she said.

Since arriving in the island last October, Pillay said things have been going very well.

"First of all, It is a great privilege for me to be associated, and not just associated, but to be in the company of such great athletes, Sherone Simpson, Brigitte Foster-Hylton, Asafa (Powell), Darrell (Brown), Michael Frater. Training with them motivates me to put in the hard work because they are products of the hard work right now," said Pillay, whose personal best times are 11.07 and 22.78 for the 100m and 200m, respectively.

The 29-year-old Pillay believes there is no better place to train than at the MVP with Francis.

"... If I do what is told to me by my coach, I think I can achieve my personal goals, so it's just a privilege working with them. They are so helpful, motivating, and encouraging, I would not change this for anything else," said Pillay, who has a diploma in information technology from Cape Peninsula University of Technology in South Africa.

Fitter, stronger

So far, she said, things could not be better as she is in the best shape of her life.

"If I look back and I have to compare, I am so fitter and stronger now than I have ever been in my career, and that is really exciting," added Pillay who has competed in two World Championships.

As she prepares for another World Championships, Pillay believes she has the best chance to create an impact, but first she has to go back home.

"I am really looking forward to trials (South Africa National Trials) and to the season and the seasons that will follow. "I have been training hard and smart, and I know if you put in the hard work you will reap the benefits," said Pillay, who will open the season with a 400m run at the Queen's Grace Jackson Track meet next weekend at the Stadium East complex.

She was also full of praise for the Jamaican weather, which she said is ideal for her preparation.

"I love the warm weather. It's excellent for me to train. We don't have a rainy season in Jamaica, so that means we can train every day. It's good for me."

Feedback: anthony.foster@gleanerjm.com