Olympian Oblique Seville says he welcomes any opportunity to share his experiences with athletes following in his footsteps.

Seville was a guest of honour at Immaculate Conception High School’s Adi Day, an event sponsored by adidas, who provides the school’s track and field equipment. The event was seen by Head Coach Franz Forde as a motivational boost for Immaculate athletes as they prepare for the start of the 2025 season next month.

The athletes were treated to an inspirational speech by adidas-sponsored athlete and Jamaica’s sprint star Oblique Seville during a ceremony held at the school on Saturday.

Seville, a finalist in the men’s 100m at the Olympic Games in Paris last summer, expressed his delight at the opportunity to share his experiences with the athletes.

“To give these young athletes some words of advice, I think, will motivate them, knowing that they are hearing from someone who has been on the international stage and has done tremendous work for Jamaica,” Seville said.

“I think this will be great for them, knowing that they are hearing from an elite athlete. Their response was very intelligent because Immaculate Conception is a brilliant school.”

“This is my first time giving advice to athletes and so it’s something that is good, and I am happy to do it.”

The 23-year-old Seville, who is the second-fastest Jamaican in the world this year, with a personal best of 9.81 seconds, says he hopes to share his experiences with more Jamaican athletes in the future.

“This is definitely something I would like to do in the future because everyone needs attention, extra motivation, and help in different aspects of life. It was really good for me to be here at Immaculate,” he said.

Forde says Seville’s message was well received by the students and would serve as added motivation as they approach the new season.

“This is our second anniversary of Adi Day, and we use it to bring in adidas-sponsored athletes to speak to the girls and for them to learn how important a brand is to an institution,” Forde said.

“We love this partnership and appreciate it. As you know, we are considered the small fry in track and field, and for an apparel brand to give us an opportunity and recognise the hard work we’ve been doing is great for us. We’re very happy about this.

“This has been going on for two years now, and they’ve been helping in various ways. We are very grateful.”

Team Captain Jaida Creary says she and her teammates are thrilled that Seville took time out of his busy schedule to speak with them and says his message was well received by her teammates.

“It’s always great to have somebody as inspiring as Oblique to keep us focused on our goals and remind us that we can do it too. He came from a Jamaican high school, just like us.”

Olympian Oblique Seville (crouched in red shirt), Immaculate Conception High School’s track and field team, and its head coach Franz Forde (crouched in green shirt) pose for photos at the second staging of Adi Day, an event put on at the school’s auditorium in St Andrew by its equipment sponsor Adidas on Saturday, December 21.