DEVIA Brown’s road in pursuit of her athletics and life dreams has been dotted with bumps and sharp turns.

But with a steady head on her shoulders and rigid family support, she has successfully negotiated the treacherous paths she has so far had to travel.

Brown, who turns 21 years old on March 21, is a specialist in the throws, competing with distinction for her alma mater Hydel High School and Jamaica at the youth levels.

The St Thomas native continues to blaze a trail in discus, shot put, javelin and the indoor hybrid weight throw for Central Arizona College in the USA.

Brown told the Jamaica Observer that while she enjoys all versions of the throw, she thinks the shot put is shaping up to be her specialist event.

“I wouldn’t say I have a favourite, as it really comes down to what I am doing well in at that moment in time. But this indoor season I am really standing out in the shot put, breaking a number of NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) indoor and outdoor records, so I would say for now shot put is my favourite,” she said from her Arizona base on Thursday.

Only recently, Brown registered a personal best 18.49 metres to win the weight throw event at the NJCAA Men’s and Women’s Indoor Championships in Pittsburg, Kansas. At that same meet, the Jamaican was second to Trinidadian Cherisse Murray in the shot put.

“I would describe the weight throw as being a very difficult and technical event…weight throw is an indoor event which is pretty similar to the hammer throw. I started doing the weight throw in 2017, which was my first year in college at Central Arizona College,” noted Brown.

The track and field version of weight throw is most popular in the United States as an indoor equivalent to the hammer throw, which can only be held outdoors. The 35lb weight throw (men) and 20lb weight throw (women) are not recognised by the International Association of Athletics Federations.

Brown, who attended Morant Bay Primary, admitted that while she has remained competitive in javelin and discus, they are her weaker areas.

“I would like to think that javelin and discus are my weaker events. Though I am working on getting better in the discus, I don’t think that it’s the event that will take me to the Olympic stage, which I am working towards.

“I do think I should start specialising, and the plan is to drop one event when I move on to University, which is the javelin throw,” Brown shared.

She is planning to move to the university of Minnesota this fall, to ultimately continue her academic pursuits and compete at the higher National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) level.

Brown, who is a twin to sister Devion Brown, said her time at Central Arizona College has shaped her for bigger, better things in athletics and life in general.

“I have grown a lot since I started attending Central Arizona College, both athletically and as a person…I’ve become more focused on what I need to be doing versus high school, when it was all about doing athletics and little to do with my academics.

“I’m amazed to see how much I have improved and excelled academically, and I think the main thing that keeps me going is knowing that I have my twin sister Devion Brown to repay and make proud, since she was the one that opened this great path for me,” noted Brown.

Brown, whose twin Devion was herself an athlete before injury derailed her career, is on her final leg of an associate of Art Degree in Sports management.

“I am looking to graduate this coming May, though I will officially finish my requirements this summer after I have completed seven credits that are remaining,” she noted.

In her career as a Jamaican youth representative, Brown has been to the 2015 World Youth Championships in Athletics and attended the World Under-20 Championships in Poland a year later, making the final in the shot put and discus, respectively.

They are experiences that have left a special mark on her and served to fuel dreams of one day being promoted to the senior level.

“I can proudly say that I have represented my country all the way up to the World Junior level. At the 2015 World Youth games I advanced to the finals, throwing the shot put 15.68m. At the World Juniors I made history by becoming the first Jamaican to advance to the final with a distance of 49.56m in discus.

“I am also proud to have been to four Carifta Games in Martinique, St Kitts, Grenada and Curacao, where I have had two top-two finishes,” Brown told the Observer.

While she has enjoyed her junior career for Jamaica, and junior college career so far, Brown has eyes on higher goals.

“I am aiming to one day be at a World Championships and or Olympic Games… I believe I am highly capable, with the World Championships standard in the shot put set at 18m, and I am optimistic that I’ll reach that mark by the end of my college season, having already thrown 17.76m,” she said.

Brown, who said she admires international throwers American Joe Kovacs, Croatia’s Sandra Perkovic and Cuban Denia Caballero, conceded that she is pleased by the strides that Jamaicans are making in the throws.

She takes particular pride and inspiration in the success of males Fedrick Dacres (discus) and O’Dayne Richards (shot put), females Danniel Thomas-Dodd (shot put) and former Hydel schoolmate Shadea Lawrence (discus).

“I am really satisfied with the strides that field events, particularly the throws, are making. I have always said that throwers should be respected, and I am happy that as Jamaican throwers we have that passion — and I think that’s the main force behind our continued improvement as a country,” Brown reasoned.

As the Jamaican thrower looks to bloom on the international stage, she reflects on her humble upbringing, strong family bonds, and those early years in what has blossomed into a promising athletics career.

“At Hydel I started to learn the discus and shot put in seventh grade…I was also a very fast learner so learning the technique for the throws came together nicely. By ninth grade I made my first national team and everything took off from there,” Brown reminisced.

She said she will be eternally be grateful to her coach at Hydel, Linval Swaby who, she claims, polished her rough edges and transformed her in a competitive beast in the dynamic throwing events.

“I will forever respect Coach Linval Swaby because he was the one who has always encouraged me, always telling me that I am a champion; and he would just keep pushing me to do my best,” Brown said.

Her twin sister Devion is said to have been a mountain of strength and support on the journey.

“My twin sitter is my biggest support because she got injured at an early stage… she never got the chance to really excel the way she dreamt, so she supports me a lot and I could not have done it without her,” Brown stated.

Growing up poor in west St Thomas, the athlete asserted, served as motivation, especially with the backing of parents who sacrificed so she could follow her dreams.

“I grow up in St Thomas and life was always challenging for me, although my parents taught me well to be content. My twin sister and I would often go to primary school at times with only bus fare, and no one would ever notice that we [were] hungry.

“My mother (Yvonne Murray) and father (Devon Brown) tried their best, though it was oftentimes a struggle. My mom would only be able to cook once per day, so what we would do is eat half of that plate of food and leave the next half for later on.

“My parents tried their endeavour best to support me by all means necessary, though they had a hard time making ends meet. They taught me to work hard for whatever I want and to be content with whatever I have, so now I am working hard that one day I will be able to give them the life they never had before it’s too late,” Brown ended.