High jumper Kito Campbell went into the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships with huge expectations, but a pragmatic approach to his first appearance at the event.

With his solitary loss to other schoolboy competitors coming a week before Champs when he fouled out, the Calabar student knew that nothing was guaranteed to him and that he would have to work for anything that would come his way at the high school showpiece event.

“Yes, I was expected to win, but I knew full well that I could have an off day and be the first one to drop out,” he said.

Campbell’s participation at Champs wasn’t fuelled primarily by the desire to win medals, but by the pride of representing his beloved school.

“But [the expectations] were manageable, because I never cared about winning at Champs, it wasn’t my reason for training.

“I love Calabar, so I did it for my school, but I try to never put medals as my ultimate goal,” he explained.

Winning the gold medal, however, has brought him personal satisfaction as his performance has put paid to some negative feedback he received while preparing to represent his school, from persons close to him.

“This is my first Champs, first time winning anything for track and field, outside of sports’ day and that’s not for lack of effort.

“It’s funny, I expect people are going to try and say I am talented, now that I have won something. But the truth is, if people could see me last year or the year before, they would eat those words.

“Ever since I restarted track in high school people have been telling me to quit, to stick to swimming because ‘tracks ano fi me’,” he said.

Even though he has been able to silence his detractors by winning gold, Campbell is not focused on that, because as he puts it, it was never about them in the first place.

“I feel the same actually. I realised early that people who doubt me are most often people who doubt themselves and they think if they can’t do it, then you shouldn’t either. What they said did not affect me.

“It’s hard to get used to people who you think should believe in you, not believing in you, but once I recognised that it wasn’t about me, I began to pity the people who put me down,” noted Campbell.

Winning gold has brought him pride and a sense of accomplishment, but no resentment towards those that doubted him.

“The pride I feel is from winning that competition, not from silencing anyone or proving anything. It’s from the fact that I have worked hard and did my best and pulled off something that even I thought was a stretch of my capabilities, at one point.”

Having got a taste for gold, the 17-year-old plans to return to Champs next year for more.

“Someone is going to go for that record, I would rather it be me,” he said.

Campbell is also a national representative at swimming and has won a medal for Jamaica at the Carifta Games.

— Dwayne Richards