The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

GREAT Britain’s long jumper Jazmin Sawyers and Trinidad & Tobago’s sprinter Khalifa St Fort said they couldn’t ask for a better teammate than Bahamian two-time Olympic women’s 400 metre gold medallist Shaunae Miller-Uibo.

Sawyers and St Fort were among the members of Pure Athletics Track Club that spent last week in town in a training camp at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium. Also at the camp were Miller- Uibo’s husband, Estonia’s decathlete Maicel Uibo, American sprinter Lynna Irby and Pure Athletics’ founder and head coach Lance Brauman.

Here for her maiden voyage to the Bahamas, Sawyers thanked Miller- Uibo for providing her with the opportunity to view where she came from, how she grew up and what made her such a special athlete to emulate.

“I can’t tell how great it is for me to be able to train with Shaunae,” said Sawyer, who has been part of the track club based in Clermont, Florida, for the past five years. “Since I’ve joined the club, she’s been an Olympic champion twice.

“But it’s not just her accolades that make her such a great training partner. While everybody just sees her on the big screen winning the medals, we get to see the hard work that she puts in and that makes you want to train harder.”

As a jumper, Sawyers said she joined the club to improve on her sprinting to help in her approach on the runway. She said Miller- Uibo has not only inspired her, but she encourages her in all of her endeavours to be the best that she can be.

Back for her second trip here and her first since she represented Trinidad & Tobago at the World Relays in 2017, St Fort said she got to relive some of her memories, but was delighted to experience something new training with Miller-Uibo and Pure Athletics.

“As a training partner, Shaunae is so encouraging,” said St Fort. “She pushes you and as a leader, she’s someone to look up to. Anytime that I feel discouraged, she’s always there to help uplift me and pushes me to do very well.”

St Fort, who actually grew up in Miami and attended St Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, said the Bahamas reminds her so much of her experience in Trinidad with the coconut water and Caribbean food.

“Everyone we have seen has been so hospitable,” she said. “I have really enjoyed my time here again.”

As for her career, St Fort said coming off what many considered to be a pretty good junior sting, she decided to join Pure Athletics in 2020, but unfortunately, everything got sidetracked by COVID-19, but she’s looking forward to seeing what 2022 brings.

“I believe the pandemic has helped me a lot because I got a chance to push myself under coach Lance before I really got out there and tested myself in the major competition,” she said. “I think he’s done a good job of getting me ready and I feel I am making good progress before I start racing this year.”

Having made Trinidad & Tobago’s 4 x 100 metre relay team that competed in the Tokyo Olympics, St Fort said her goal this year is to be the best athlete she can be, whether it’s in running her personal best or getting into a final.

“Win, lose or draw, I will smile and shake the hands of all my competitors because I know that on that day, I was the best Khalifa St Fort that I could be,” she stated. “I am eager to run in my first World Championships and especially on that brand new track in Oregon.”

The compact 23-year-old St Fort said she’s just looking forward to hitting her times in training and watching to see how they will translate in races as she critiques her performances to ensure that she enjoys the best possible season in 2022 as she attempts to improve on her personal best of 11.06 in the 100m and 23.31 in the 200m.

Sawyers, coming off an eighth place finish in the final of the women’s long jump in Tokyo, said her goal is to go for the trifecta this year as she competes in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, and the European Championships in Munich, all held between the months of July and August.

“When will you ever get to do three championships in such a short space of time. I don’t think I will ever again,” Sawyers said. “So I’m taking this up as a fun challenge and not a scary challenge. I just have to work on getting adjusted to the time zones and hopefully I will be okay.”

The 27-year-old Sawyers, with a lifetime best of 6.90 metres or 23-feet, 7 ¾-inches in the long jump, said she’s even more excited about all of the talent she’s surrounded by in Pure Athletics.

“We have Olympic and World Championships champions and a world-record holder, so I’m hoping that I can add to the accolades that the club possess as the only long jumper in the group to win a medal at these three meets that will all take place in the space of six weeks.

“So I’m always aiming high. I haven’t achieved everything that I want yet, but I’m happy and grateful for what I have done. I would like to achieve more and hopefully I can do it this year or over the next few years.”

For her to accomplish the gold-medal feat, Sawyers said she simply needs to clear seven metres or better (22-11 3/4) and she will be a world contender for the podium just like Miller- Uibo has done over the past few years in the 200 and 400m.

She noted that the trip here has rejuvenated her faith in her ability to become a global medalist when she saw the appreciation that everybody exerted towards Miller-Uibo as they traversed around the island.

“It makes me feel like whenever someone comes to my home, I want them to feel as welcome as I was here and so I will cherish the memories that I experienced here,” said Sawyers, who was born in Stoke-on- Trent, Staffordshire and graduated from the University of Bristol.

“I was also impressed with what I saw when we visited her school. I asked the teachers if she ever got in trouble, but they all said no, which was also very encouraging. Now I know why she’s such a successful athlete. She came from very humble beginnings and she carried that over to her professional career as an athlete to emulate.”

For both St Fort and Sawyers, they were just happy to be here to enjoy the wonderful Bahamian experience with Miller-Uibo.