The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

After a six-month sting in Nairobi, Kenya, which ended with an injury that prevented him from achieving his ultimate goal of qualifying for the 2012 Olympic Games, Oneil Williams is returning to resume his training for a spot on the Bahamas team to the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) World Championships in Moscow, Russia, in August.

Williams, 29, has quit his job at Grant Thornton Bahamas and has packed his bags to leave town on Thursday. He is expected to return home on June 8, having done the necessary work to get him ready to run at the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) National Championships.

“I want to be able to do something that will inspire the younger athletes to mimic what I’m doing,” Williams said.

As one of the top distance runners in the country, Williams said he’s not getting the kind of support from the BAAA to push his career any further and because of his passion and love for the sport, he decided to go on his own and return to the training capital in the world.

“They say distance is not really a Caribbean sport, but I want to show them that at least one person can make it,” Williams said. “Once I can make it, I know that there will be many others to follow in my footsteps as I go through the ranks of the CAC Championships, the Pan American Games, the Commonwealth Games, the World Championships and the Olympic Games.

“It would be a major breakthrough for distance running in the Bahamas if someone like myself can make it. All I want to be able to do is make it. I don’t mind if someone comes behind me and goes even further than I did. At least, I can say that I was the one to pave the way for them.”

On November 3, 2011, Williams took the leap of faith when he went on a sabbatical from his job.

During his stay in Kenya, Williams suffered a hamstring injury and although he managed to get over it, he wasn’t able to qualify for the Olympics when he returned home on June 18, 2012.

This time, as he makes his return to Kenya, Williams is hoping and praying that he can stay healthy.

“My body was properly acclimatised when I first went, but this time I’m hoping that what I went through during the last trip will better prepare me for this trip,” he said.

“The goal this time is to make the World Championship team. If I don’t have any injuries, I feel I can do it.”

On Monday, January 14, Williams offically tendered his resignation from Grant Thornton. He publicly thanked the company, which afforded him the opportunity to have a leave of absence the first time that he went off. But he noted that he had to make the sacrifice and quit his job this time around.

“In life, you want to do something that people can remember you by. You don’t want them to forget you,” he said. “I want them to remember that they had a distance runner who was so eager to represent his country that he did what he did to go to Kenya to train.”

In Kenya, Williams intends to work out under the supervision of coach Aziz. But he’s not sure exactly which city he will be stationed in until he gets there and settles down. He’s expected to be around such athletes like Kenyan David Rudisha, the world 800 metre record holder and American Bernard Lagat.

“It takes hard work. The guys are motivating you every day that you go to practice, not just by what they say, but what they also do when you’re around them,” he said. “They make it look so easy. But at the same thing, you realize that it’s really hard to get up every day and go to the track and work out with these guys.

“Some days you say to yourself that I’m not going today or I’m not going tomorrow. But you have to realise what it is you want to achieve. Nothing comes easy. You have to go out there and do it.”

For this six-month trip, Williams said it will cost him about $5,000 and he thanked the Bahamas Government who has placed him on a developmental subvention. He has also secured some financial and moral support from his two mothers, Dawn Knowles and Kay Smith, as well as his adopted father Dionisio D’Aguilar and his family and friends.

Williams, who gave God thanks for making everything possible, said he hopes at the end of the day, he can make them all proud.

“The climate constantly changes. We will go from being hot to rainy, but mostly it’s rainy and so you have to train in the rain,” he said. “The people there are very friendly and the food there is all organic. They plant things in the ground and it goes from there to the fire and then to the plate. You get everything from the ground.

“And the living conditions are real hard. We take things for granted like going to the bathroom. Over there, you use the ground with the outside toilet. You don’t take showers inside. You just throw the water on you and bath like that. And you live with about 10 people in one house. It wasn’t something that I was used to. But that’s the stuff that I had to get used to to make myself comfortable.”

When he was there for his initial trip, Williams said he was also trying to get accustomed to speaking the native language of Swahili.

Williams said he’s eager to make the two-day trek over a combined 20 flights from here to Nairobi. But he said he knows that his effort will pay off big dividends in the long run.