Laurie Foster | Managing a sprint phenom

Edwin Allen High School's sprint phenom, Kevona Davis, continues to stamp her undisputed class and stunning talent on the global track and field stage.

At the 2018 edition of her high-school championships in Jamaica, widely known as Champs, she registered 100m and 200m marks of 11.16 and 22.72 seconds, respectively. At that time, Davis was aged 16 years and 3 months. The fact that previous campaigners at this level, Veronica Campbell (11.13) and Simone Facey (22.71) were both 18 years and 10 months, speaks eloquently to her brilliance. With two years remaining on her clock at the junior (Under-20) level, and given good health, proper guidance and coaching, her transition to the senior level could be even more startling.

Foster's Fairplay can claim little knowledge or experience regarding the ingredients required to have young talent translate to equal acclaim when it takes on the rest of the world in elite competition. What is needed is the ability to identify and point an athlete away from paths which could prove to be disastrous.

Davis is fortunate to have as exemplars, previous queens in her discipline, such as back-to-back Olympic 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and reigning double sprint champion Elaine Thompson. She can elect to have them as role models if she considers them as able to inspire her to greater achievements. The choice is hers. Something to be noted by Davis and the group she chooses to guide her future exploits, is that neither of these two ladies had junior careers with anything close to the promise that Davis has shown. In fact, they did not make global teams as she has already done at the World Under-18 Championships in Nairobi last year.

Following the maxim, that failure to plan is plan for failure, it is not too early to embark on a course of action which can set the stage for what the country is dreaming about from Davis. Already, there is talk of the towering heights she can possibly attain. Despite what is now on display, there can be no guarantees and the future should not be viewed as an automatic follow-up to the eye-catching performances of today.

'She is a gem'

Stamped on the mind of this journalist are remarks at the end of Davis' record-breaking run in the 200m at Champs 2018. They came from technical director named by the local governing body and top-flight coach, Maurice Wilson, who exclaimed, while caught in the rapture of the moment, "She must be properly managed. She is a gem."

If the lyrics, now expressed, differ marginally from Wilson's original, rest assured that the tracks are properly relaid. Like many who were watching live or by the electronic media, the Sprintec boss was moved by Davis' electrifying display and the thoughts it had evoked.

Foster's Fairplay and, one is confident, many other supporters of the country's athletes, are all acutely aware of some of the unfortunate happenings in the sport. It has been plunged into a murky pool, where it is commercialised in a potentially destructive way. Young athletes are being manipulated and forced into situations without appropriate guidance or legal support. There is nothing against the introduction of monetary incentives to assist athletes, the majority of whom are from less-than-desirable economic circumstances. However, exploitation and greed, to the detriment of the athletes' future, are quite a different matter and steps should be taken from the sports hierarchy to minimise, if not eliminate, these evils. There are stories going the rounds that illustrate all this. It is difficult to imagine how they have escaped the intervention and action by the authorities. What will it take to bring them to light?

As the unfolding of the Kevona Davis athletic gifts is eagerly awaited, let her handlers be alert to some of the pitfalls, as cited. It would be a shame on the country if this awesome talent is allowed to fritter away.

There is a role to be played by those who seek to drive the wheels of the sport, not the least of which is the Government.

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