JAYDON Hibbert says his winning of The Bowerman award at Thursday’s US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Convention held in Denver, Colorado, is a dream come true which made up for his disappointment at this year’s World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

The 18 year-old second-year student athlete at University of Arkansas set a number of firsts when he was announced as the winner of the award which started in 2009 to recognise the most outstanding track and field athlete in the US Collegiate system for the previous season.

It was a clean sweep of the awards for the Caribbean as St Lucian sprinter Julien Alfred of University of Texas, who attended St Catherine High School in Jamaica, was named the female winner.

In addition to being the first Jamaican, Hibbert was also the second-youngest winner and the first male freshman to win the award; after Sha’Carrie Richards of Louisiana State in 2019 and Athing Mu of Texas A&M in 2021 were the female freshmen to be named winners.

While he was the first Jamaican to win, Andrew Riley of University of Illinois, who won the 100m and 110m hurdles at the NCAA outdoors in 2012, was a finalist as well, so too was Janeek Brown, also of Arkansas, in 2019.

With his father and mentor Ricky Martin sitting in the row behind the honorees Hibbert, who had won all the events he competed in during the NCAA indoor and outdoor seasons — setting two world Under 20 records in the process — said: “This moment is truly a dream come true — and I could say that it definitely made up for what happened in Budapest. As I look under the surface of this prestigious award I see a reflection of a kid that God did not and will not give up on, and it’s also a reminder of how He can transform you from nothing to something great.”

Hibbert went into the World Championships as not just a medal favourite but the odds-on favourite to take the gold. And after he qualified for the final with one jump (17.70m), ironically the longest jump of the championships, his destiny appeared to be set in stone.

As fortune would have it, however, he picked up a hamstring strain on his first jump of the final and was ruled out.

On Thursday he singled out Martin who he said was the first person to see his potential and who he described as “the blueprint”, as well as his coaches from Vaz Prep to Kingston College and now at Arkansas.

He also had special words for his fellow finalists Kyle Garland of University of Georgia and Leo Neugebauer of the University of Texas, both decathletes, saying: “This doesn’t define you, even though I have the trophy, [as] you both have done great things and I will forever model your character and drive towards the sport.”

According to a release from the Sports Information Department at University of Arkansas, Hibbert produced “an undefeated collegiate season in the triple jump, which included a sweep of SEC and NCAA titles as well as breaking decades-old collegiate and world U20 records while finishing the year as world leader, [and thus] created an elaborate résumé beftting the prestigious award”.

Freshman finalists at the Bowerman are few and far between, and the other men who have been shortlisted include German Fernandez (Oklahoma State, 2009), Edward Cheserek (Oregon, 2014), Donavan Brazier (Texas A&M, 2016), and Mondo Duplantis (Louisiana State University, 2019).

The Arkansas release also pointed out that Hibbert was one of four other Bowerman winners who were born outside the USA — the late Deon Lendore of Trinidad and Tobago won the award in 2014; Derek Drouin of Indiana (Canada) in 2013; Cam Levins of Southern Utah (Canada) in 2012; and Ngoni Makusha of Florida State (Zimbabwe) in 2011.