Whyte’s shot at redemption
Published:Wednesday | June 23, 2021 | 12:08 AMAndrÈ Lowe/Sports Editor
The last time 400m hurdler Ronda Whyte tried to make an Olympic team, an injury just before the National Senior Championships led to an eighth-place finish in the local trials and a missed opportunity to compete on the greatest sporting stage.
Having missed the Rio 2016 Games, Whyte is determined as ever to book her spot to the Tokyo 2020 instalment and will enter this week’s championships buoyed by a string of performances and a time that has certainly forced a few to take notice.
“It would mean a lot, I always wanted to go to the Olympics,” Whyte told The Gleaner. “To represent Jamaica and become an Olympian would be a really great feeling to know that I am going to inspire people, who can look on and say that if I did it, then so can they.”
With a time of 54.33 seconds under her belt this season, Whyte, who is currently the fifth-fastest athlete in the event in the world, is pretty happy with her level of preparation for the Trials.
“I must say that things have been going on really well. I have made a lot of personal changes in my life and that has helped to contribute to my progress, and so I am now just trying to stay focused and healthy and keep it going,” she said.
“The biggest one is giving my heart to God, and where my mentality is concerned, I used to run and think that I get my identity from that. But I realised that my identity didn’t come from running, and so it became really easy.”
NOT BOTHERED BY EXPECTATIONS
The Sprintec Track Club athlete added that she is not bothered by the heightened expectations going into the championships, as she is determined to keep her eyes on her goals and deliver a performance worthy of a spot on the team to Tokyo.
“I am humbled by it because I have always wanted to get to this level. I used to watch the Olympics on TV and say I want to be like Melaine Walker, and so that really inspired me to remain humble and focused and know that anything I put my mind to, it can be achieved.” Whyte shared. “I try to keep my composure and I tend to focus on myself and the goal ahead of me, and not to get distracted by what people expect of me.”
She credited her coach Maurice Wilson, who discovered her in 2013 during a sports day performance at the G.C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sport, for her development over the years.
“Maurice Wilson, I must say that there is no word to express what he means to me. He is like my dad, my mentor, he is everything to me. He took me from nothing and turned me into something. When no one else believed in me, he saw that I could be one of the best and so he worked until I became good,” said Whyte.
Whyte has a personal best of 54.29 seconds, which was done in 2017.