‘I feel like a champion!’
ROSHAWN Clarke of Camperdown High was left beaming with pride and smiling from ear to ear after he shook off the disappointment of losing his first race of the season, when he finished second in the 400m hurdles final at the Carifta Trials, to land the gold medal in a new record and personal best of 49.50s at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships on Friday.
Clarke had the advantage of being able to watch his rival and the only man to beat him this season, Rayon Campbell of Kingston College who was in the lane just outside of him.
A perfectly timed kick with just under 200m to go was enough to give Clarke an unassailable lead as they headed into the home stretch, before he powered away from Campbell and the rest of the field to shatter the old record of 49.86s set by Javier Brown of Jamaica College last year.
Losing at the Carifta Trials was a painful moment for Clarke, but a lesson which he learned from quite quickly.
“It’s a good feeling to come out here and break the record, but I made some mistakes at the Carifta Trials and I listened to my coach and I came out her and did the job,” he said.
Clarke relishes his first gold in the event but has no intention of dwelling on his Champs success as he eyes bigger things which are just around the corner.
“Getting the gold medal makes me feel like a champion but I still have a lot of work to do after this, from Carifta and beyond.”
With the Carifta Games a week away inside the same stadium Clarke is hoping to celebrate yet another gold medal with his mother, who proudly sat in the stands and watched him win gold on Friday.
“I hope to keep my form at the Carifta Games and put out my best performance and come out on top, hopefully.
“My mom is in the stands, I just celebrated with her, so it would mean a lot to see my mom in the stands at Carifta. I don’t even have words to explain how it would feel if she was able to watch me win gold again,” he admitted.
Clarke and Campbell will lock horns again when they represent Jamaica at the Carifta Games next week.
