Sustaining a hamstring tear before a major sports meet could defeat any athlete, but long-jumper Anthony Chin Jr. says he’s grateful for the experience.
Chin, who travelled as captain for Cayman’s track-and-field CARIFTA team last month, initially felt hopeful for the games.
But he told the Compass that he felt an indescribable pain in his left leg during a warm-up jump before the competition even officially started. He said his immediate thought after feeling the pain was, “This cannot be happening.”
With a bronze-winning leap of 6.48 metres at the 2023 CARIFTA Games in the Bahamas, and just off the podium at 6.91m last year in Grenada last year, both as an under-17, Chin hoped to hit 7.30m this year in the U20 category, which would have been a personal best.
Although Chin has endured sports injuries in the past, he said that this time around was different. “This is probably by far the worst injury I’ve ever had in my whole track career.”
Since being injured, he has undergone regular physiotherapy sessions and daily exercises to aid his physical recovery. As for mentally healing, he said, “Honestly, I feel like the mental part is easier than the physical part, because mentally I feel like I have that [down pat by] just always encouraging myself every day.”
He added, “You’re going to have setbacks, you’re going to have failures, but there’s nothing you can do except just go forward.”
Despite the initial disappointment he felt with not being able to compete, he said, “I’m kind of grateful that this happened, because it gives me more experience and maturity to learn from this setback.”
He remained committed to his duties as team captain while at the competition by showing up and cheering for his teammates at their events. He said that his team also gave him great support after his injury, which he is beyond grateful for.
“I’ll always love the team that came to CARIFTA this year in Trinidad,” he said.
He hopes his story will resonate with people from all walks of life and they will be reminded that life’s setbacks do not have to define your future. “Whatever you’re going through [right now] will help you and build you for the future [so] that you can overcome anything else.”
He said his unwavering faith in God has helped him remain anchored through this difficult time.
Chin aims to return to the sport after his recovery and says his ideal goal remains: “To put Cayman on the map.”
