Olympian and national 400m record-holder Johnathan Jones has challenged members of the Elite Distance Track Club to aim high and make every moment count at the upcoming CARIFTA Games in Grenada.
Barbados will send a record 61 athletes to Grenada for the championships, including 16 from Elite Distance, while two club swimmers will compete at the CARIFTA Swimming Championships in Martinique.
Members of the Elite Distance CARIFTA Games squad, along with sponsors and team coaches. (KH)
At a special reception held on Sunday at Co-Operators General Insurance, Jones reminded the young athletes that being selected for the squad is already a major milestone, and now they have the chance to prove themselves on the regional stage.
“Y’all have earned your spots on the Barbados team. It wasn’t just given to you and when y’all go, the medals are earned on the day. Don’t assume that one country has this person, because you don’t know what’s going through that person’s head. The medals are there for you to take on the day, so get through each round individually and go after the medal.”
Reflecting on his past experiences at the games, Jones recalled what he described as his ultra-focused mindset.
“A lot of the medals I won, I had the Elite Distance mentality that [Coach Ramon] Armstrong is known for… it worked for a lot of my friends at the time, a lot of the athletes that I was with, we all came back with medals, not saying if you don’t medal that is not a success in some aspects, but we had that kind of dog-eat-dog mentality, where we didn’t think anyone was better than us. We were the best and we were going to prove it on that day,” Jones explained.
He called on the young team members to embrace the upcoming opportunity to represent Barbados.
“…. You gotta go in there with some aggression.You gotta go in there really to enjoy the experience because this could be your last CARIFTA, or this might be your very first CARIFTA and you have more to come, but I enjoyed each edition. The ones that I didn’t get gold medals at, I still enjoyed just as much as the ones that I did.
“Just being with the team, building those friendships that I still have. I have friends from CARIFTA to this day that I can message if I get down in the dumps, I can message Sada, names that y’all might know but names that y’all also might not know. So again, I want y’all to enjoy the experience, but you still gotta think I’m the best,” he stated.
Jones, who is currently based in Florida, where he trains, added: “I don’t want to say good luck because I believe luck is for people that don’t actually work hard. Yes, sometimes you get lucky in life, but when you do hard work, I’ll just wish you all the best cause that’s what I expect. Y’all give your best and whatever that is, I could be happy with the result regardless.”
Meanwhile Armstrong, who is also a member of the Barbadian coaching delegation for the games, congratulated his charges.
“I want to say congratulations to everybody. Over the years we’ve watched you train and over the years we’ve watched you growing from strength to strength, and we know that we are gonna go there and we’re gonna give of our best. As Jonathan said, the medals are won on the day and you are just as good and better than anybody else out there.”
Armstrong reminded the athletes that what’s at stake goes beyond personal glory. “Whatever performance you had before, they’re gone and when we get on the line, we all start at zero, so we all have a shot at those medals. So we go there and we do good for our country, we do good for ourselves. We’re representing Barbados, we’re representing ourselves, our families, our schools, and our club. Well done to everyone so far, but the work is still yet to be done.”
