JAMAICA College’s (JC) Michael-Andre Edwards described his victory in the Class One Boys’ long jump competition at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships as special, dedicating it to his mother who is still recovering from cancer.

It was Edwards’ fourth-consecutive gold medal in the discipline at the championships.

“My mom was the motivation for me behind this victory because she has beaten cancer twice in four years,” Edwards said. “She was in the hospital in February for almost a month, and I just thank God because He is the reason why I am here today.”

Edwards, who previously won the long jump title in Class Three and twice in Class Two, added another triumph to his name with a leap of 7.75m on Wednesday evening. His dominant performance saw him finish comfortably ahead of Peterfield’s Svein Lawrence (7.25m) and St Mary High’s Tonies King (7.14m).

The victory was not without its challenges,however, as the 17-year-old Edwards says he had been battling the flu since Wednesday morning.

“It was a hard victory because I am very sick and I still have not recovered,” he said. “I don’t know how I did it but the crowd gave me a lot of energy.”

Despite the adversity, Edwards says he still pulled through knowing how much this win meant to his mother and his team.

“I think this will be really helpful because she is still in her recovery process,” he said. “It will be like a good morale boost. She just told me to do my best and that she loves me always. She was a big help and I really wanted to win this gold medal for her. I am happy that I did it.”