DAY two of the Issa Grace Kennedy Boys and Girls Athletics Championships on Wednesday managed to attract among its spectators 83-year-old August Town resident Adassa Smith and retired British Virgin Islands (BVI) Olympian Dean Greenaway, who said he was excited to finally be at the event in 2025, after years of wanting to do so.

Smith told the Jamaica Observer that she was not looking forward to any specific race; she was simply anticipating being a part of the fun and excitement.

“I am going to the bleachers. I come to Champs every year, and I decided that from I have health and strength, Champs wouldn’t miss me this year. My grandson went to Jamaica College so I am cheering for them. Other than that, I don’t have a special race that I am looking out for. I just know the winners and the losers and I just come to enjoy myself,” Smith said.

For former BVI athlete Greenaway, who is now a journalist, it was his very first time attending the event. He explained, however, that he has been to Jamaica numerous times, as his wife is Jamaican.

“I wanted to come and experience Champs for myself. I didn’t know what to expect, but one thing I have learned is that at Champs time everybody wears the colours of the school they support. I came into Kingston on the bus and the driver picked up somebody in Mandeville, Manchester, and she was wearing Kingston College (KC) colours. As a journalist, I have to do a little video because a lot of people follow what I do.

“I want to help promote Champs so a lot of people from the BVI or wherever else can join me when I am coming back. I have a friend by the name of Ricky Davis, who used to live in the British Virgin Islands, where I am from. He has been inviting me to Champs for many years. I kept telling him that I was coming but never got to come.

“He called me from January and told me he was going to buy the tickets. He bought the ticket and told me that I better show up. I follow a lot of Jamaican sports. I know a lot of the athletes and I was happy and delighted to see Bert Cameron being honoured. I knew Glen Mills before he became famous. I knew Merlene Ottey, Collin Bradford, and a lot of your long jumpers and some of the hurdlers because I represented BVI at Carifta Games up through to the Olympic Games. I ran the 400m,” he shared.

He shared that it was his first time back at the National Stadium since 1990 when Jamaica hosted the Carifta Games.

“I brought the BVI delegation at that time and we won a medal,” he explained.

“I happened to win the BVI’s first medal at the Carifta Games in 1978 in the 400m event. I have competed in the Olympics and all those things. I also used to be president of the BVI Athletics Association,” he added.

Greenaway and the elderly Green weren’t the only people who were excited about what this year’s staging of the championships has in store for them. Vendors also harboured a similar level of excitement.

Hopie, a snack and beverage vendor on the outside of the National Stadium, said she was grateful for the opportunity to be able to sell her goods at the championships.

“My experience on Tuesday was good. I was the only vendor out here from morning until I left at 10:00 pm. Today, Wednesday, the competition is stiffer because more vendors are out here selling juices, but, whatever happens, I am not going to complain,” she told the Observer as she flashed a bright smile.