Road Runners

MAN: Set... ANNOUNCER: Jamaican track and field athletes... (starter's pistol fires) ...are among the best in the world.

LEYONE SMITH: I'm born into it, so I just love the idea of running.

TYRESE REID: I'm feeling great.

Feel like a bird in the sky right now.

ANNOUNCER: But the path to success is not always easy.

TYRESE: You know, there's a lot of killing going on in Montego Bay.

I don't know when it's going to be my day.

You don't know when you're going to die.

ANNOUNCER: "Road Runners" on Doc World.

♪ RADIO ANNOUNCER: From Bottom Pen to Barrett Road, from Coral Cove to Canterbury into downtown Montego Bay, this is More 91.7FM.

KAREN TAYLOR: It's your girl KT here.

All right, so I just wanna say to all our listeners a pleasant welcome to each and every one of you.

And especially to all the students who are locked in on More 91.7FM at this time.

Big up yourselves, each and every one of you and welcome, welcome, welcome.

Remember that this is the beginning of another school year and we hope that all of you will be ready and prepared to work hard this season.

And we just wanna encourage you all to be focused and, more than ever, to believe in your dreams and dream big, because remember, we all believe in you.

(reggae song playing) POLICE OFFICER: Area 1 Control, area 027.

(song continues) (song continues) (song fading) WOMAN: This morning, Almighty God, as we are gathered, oh, God, in this fashion, mighty God, to acknowledge You, God, in this noble institution, mighty God, I pray Your children into Your hands and, mighty God, Your work says You have a purpose for them, God.

Your purpose is to give them a future and a hope.

Accomplish Your will this morning as we give You thanks in Jesus' name.

And if you all agree with me, say, "Amen."

STUDENTS: Amen.

ROAN GREEN: I was born and grown in St. James.

Grew up, like many of our students, from very poor background.

There were many days I was going to school bare-footed, no lunch money, but, as the true Jamaican spirit dictates, you have to make it no matter what: we likkle but we tallawah.

So, I had to work hard.

And that is what I want to teach our students, that hard work is what will allow you to achieve.

WOMAN: Learn to challenge yourself, learn to push yourself.

Don't give up.

Because there is greatness in you.

And once you challenge yourself and once you push yourself, that greatness will come out.

I am begging you this morning, don't waste this important part of your life.

♪ It's raining (students clapping along) ♪ All around me ♪ I can feel it ♪ It's a lot of rain ♪ Right on, Jesus ♪ Please send more rain ♪ Until we are wet, until we are soaked ♪ ♪ In a lot of rain ♪ It's raining (voice fades): ♪ All around me All right, stay there, stay there.

What we're gonna do now, we're gonna do high knees.

Let's do high knees...

Proper technique and everything, all right?

Track and field is one of the most important sport in, in Jamaica.

Right?

It is basically the driving sport for the country right now.

So, based on the outstanding performances that we have been having, it sort of motivates the athletes to say, "All right, "I want to do track and field and I want to be great, so I'll do what, whatever it takes."

RUDY ROBINSON: Okay, this is the Montego Bay Sports Complex.

The facility has been here since the 1990s, but originally it was just the running track-- nothing else.

All right?

So we had a running track and we had a fence, and that's where we had all of our meets, you know?

So, the Venezuelan government, we have some trade agreement with them, so they financed the whole of this facility.

If you look at the, the rankings, say, the top ten men in the 100 meters in the world, we have a disproportionately high amount of Jamaicans.

We will have five, six people on that list.

How does a country of three million people have six people in the top ten on a planet of seven billion people?

It doesn't make mathematical sense.

CURLIN ROBINSON: For what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful, amen.

OTHERS: Amen.

LEYONE: Well, I start running from basic school.

My mother used to run.

So, obviously, it's in my genes.

And my grandmother used to run, so I just pick it up, very hard, and train.

CURLIN: My husband, Rudy, is on the, the school board at Spot Valley High School, and we go to all the various meets and so on, and at the Western Championships two years ago, she had won the 100 meters, the 200 meters, and she stood out.

But I know you're hungry.

Eat up-- tomorrow is a long day.

LEYONE: Miss Robinson and Mr. Robinson, I met them at a track meet and they were just nice to me, and I took her as a mother, because my mother is not here at the moment.

CURLIN: But who's your competition this year?

LEYONE: There's still Kevona Davis.

CURLIN AND RUDY: Edwin Allen.

CURLIN: Yeah.

So, in this region, nobody?

No threats?

Really?

RUDY: A lot of children here don't have the privilege to be able to go home, have a good meal, sit down and do their homework.

You know, some of them don't really have a home to go to, or there's violence in the home, or there's some problem, there's some issue, you know?

She has huge potentials, but she has a lot of challenges.

(music playing faintly) LEYONE: Growing up, seen a lot of killing, and so it's very hard to also do track and field, because sometime, I can't go home late because they would see me, see, people on the street, and trouble, they might, so... (sighs) They fit okay?

Her mom was an athlete, and a very good one.

Never got the opportunity to shine, so we're hoping that Leyone can go all the way.

She would love to compete at the Olympics.

And so we would want to see her progress be such that it's protected and that, holistically, her development is, is guided.

Three topics on the board, that's scamming, teenage pregnancy, and bleaching.

All right, we chose one, bleaching.

CURLIN: We want to see her be awarded scholarships, whether to continue her track and field locally or, or overseas, and we want her to represent at the senior level nationally in the, in the very near future.

(Grant speaking indistinctly) That's my little brother right there.

(murmuring) (goat bleats in distance) I tell you I was the first one in my family to have an interest in, in track and field, and then I started coaching at the final year in, in high school, and then I just branch off into college, I continue studies in coaching, and then from there is history.

It's world-class athletes we're producing now.

Right, right, right.

Leyone came to me about three years ago.

She lacked confident then, but now she's a pretty confident girl.

She's not afraid of anyone, she's ready, ready to go.

(reggae song playing) CHRISTOPHER SAMUDA: Sport is almost entrenched in the fabric of the Jamaican society, and we have a sense of history.

And we see sport not only as recreational, but it is also an avenue for social upliftment and also economic liberation.

(boys calling) (dog moaning) GRANT: Put it this way, track and field in itself is a business, and a lot of schools have invest in this business of track and field.

(Grant speaking indistinctly) RUDY: I'm on the school board at Spot Valley, and Spot Valley represents, I think, a classic challenge.

Here you have a school which, initially-- because it's only 11 years old-- was given all of the students who got the lower grades, and those kids would feel less than.

But what Spot Valley ended up getting was all of the talent, right?

Superior sporting talent to even better-known schools.

And at Spot Valley, I believe, right now, we have some of the best talent in the country.

(song resumes) (indistinct chatter) TRACEY FOX BROWN: And make sure now we have social issues.

And if we were going to select... Our students are coming from different areas in St. James and Falmouth-- Trelawny, as well.

We have students coming from Flankers, Norwood.

We have a lot of them who are coming from inner-city areas.

You find where, because of several factors, you find where families are disintegrating.

Some of... Those are some of the problems that they are faced with.

A lot of scamming.

TYRESE: Yes, miss, a lot of scamming is going on in my community, so I'm...

It's also, end up being that the young men are, the young mens, they are killing each other.

BROWN: So, right, so... (speaking indistinctly) ...to crime and violence, and can lead to other social issues-- poverty... (song resumes) RUDY: Montego Bay is notorious for the scamming activity.

I've had to deal with young people who are still in school who would be calling America, saying things like, "Oh, you've, you've won a lotto, "but you need to do this, this, and this, and it's going to cost you that, that, and that."

You know, we have young people who get these lists, like telephone directories, of people to call and try to scam, and, you know, there's a lot of quarreling amongst them about who took whose list and who took more of the list than they should have gotten, and who should have collected what money, you know?

And these things become violent and they become deadly.

Some of them are good kids-- I mean, I know a lot of them.

Some of them who have been killed, I know them, and it's sad, it's really sad-- they destroy themselves, you know?

Whereas, I think we can use sports and use it in a way, use competitions which lead somewhere to channel a lot of this energy.

♪ Every day will be the same TYRESE: You know, there's a lot of killing going on in Montego Bay.

I don't know when it's going to be my day.

You don't know when you're going to die.

So got to give God thanks and do what we have to do, because here is a wonderful country to live.

Track and field is my world.

Lotto scamming is their world, so we cannot really stop them.

(reggae song continues) GRANT: Tyrese came to us a year and a half ago.

He's willing, works hard, he's dedicated, and he follows instruction well.

Last year was his breakthrough year, where he was dominant for the most part of the season.

For the month of January, he was the number one 800-meter athlete in the world in his age group.

That alone sort of give him something to where he can say, "Oh, I can compete with the best athletes in the world, so, okay, let's do it."

TYRESE: I got my father's house and got my cousin's house right there and my uncle's right there.

That's my grandfather grave.

MILLICENT DIXON: It was a rainy day when he was born, about after 12:00.

He was a home delivery.

And when he started to creep, I noticed that he wasn't on his knee.

He was going around on his hands and he was moving very fast, and my mother-- she's now deceased-- said, "You don't see that the baby is not creeping on his knee, he's moving on his hands?"

I said to her, "Maybe he's born to be a runner."

TYRESE: It was really fun growing up in a small community, get to knowing each, each and everybody who live in it, get to know a lot of different friends and all that stuff.

I used to play cricket when I was going to primary school, so... yeah.

So there's a lot of experience growing up.

(indistinct chatter) JOHNNY REID: One day, we didn't have any money to send him to school, and he run the whole three miles away to his school up in the, and I know that he have a, full of consistency, that's why I know that he had consistency in whatever he is doing.

And so, I feel proud, you know.

I hope he just keep on-- keep it up, you know, and I think he will get there, you know?

Yes, I give him good encouragement at times, as well, say, "Keep it up, one day you'll make it through," yeah.

DIXON: And his friend said to me, "I know a school that will take you now because they're doing running up there-- Spot Valley."

And I couldn't find the fare to send him all the while to school, and I told him to ask Coach Grant if he have anywhere that you could stay with him, and he said yes and then he start to stay up by where Coach Grant is.

TYRESE: Because, you know, a lot of killing was going on in the community.

A lot of my friends die and other stuff, so...

I think about my mother and my family and my friends, but, you know, you just got to do what you have to do.

You can't let nothing stop you in these times.

You have to just set your goals and just go after them.

DIXON: It is a shame.

All of us would like to live a peaceful life, you understand?

You go to your bed, you wake up, and...

Calm, but it is not so.

It is not so.

RUDY: In St. James, because of the volatility of some communities, and in the case of, say, Tyrese, because of the distance he is from the school, a lot of schools will try and organize some kind of a, a hostel or accommodation for their sports people, you know?

Mr. Grant rented a house bigger than what he needed so that he would have space to accommodate some of these athletes.

And so by having them near to the school, it takes some of the burden off the parents and he gets to focus on his schoolwork and he gets to focus on his training.

GRANT: Well, frankly, as a coach, in order to be successful and get the athletes to understand exactly what you want from them, you really have to know them first, that's the first step.

So you have to build a bond, develop a bond with them.

Now, that I have done with all my athletes, but more so the ones who live with me and we go out together, we laugh together, we eat together, we cook together, we share jokes together, we share our problems together, so, you know, we are like family, like father and son.

(song continues) (song fades) Okay, good afternoon, guys.

This is where I keep my medals and my trophies and my numbers at the big events that I have performed in the Caribbean, and also on the international level and stuff.

Everybody inside here will be champions.

We are taught to be champions and then we make ourselves champions.

That's how we operate in everything that we do.

In our school work, in our daily routine, in the activity that we do, that's how we do it-- champions.

TYRESE: This is my number from the CARIFTA Games and this one is my number from Champs.

I finished fourth at Champs, but it was a terrifying Champs for me this year.

I wasn't at my best shape this year.

Next year, I should come back much better.

(indistinct chatter) (cheer) GREEN: Champs, for Jamaica, is the driving tool that carries us on the international stage.

And last Champs, I was really looking forward to Tyrese Reid getting the gold.

Leading up to Champs, he was dominating.

I'm not sure what happened on the day, but, this year now, I absolutely expect him to get it.

(reggae song playing) GARTH GAYLE: Already, the alumni has already put that date on his or her calendars-- they've booked their tickets.

You know, the teams are now, they have begun training in earnest.

(song continues) The competition is of such high quality that each year, the organizing committee for the championships has to revise upwards the standards.

'Cause many of these students are from poor background, and by virtue of doing exceptionally well in these championships is one of the means by which they can gain scholarships to the United States of America and colleges and universities here in Jamaica.

It is really big business.

(indistinct chatter) TORIA FRANKLYN: God bring me to this place to make a different life, because my family has been facing a lot of pressure from my father dying.

My father died, and most of my family.

I don't really have a parent.

GRANT: Toria is from one of the, one of the areas, um...

He's exposed to a lot of things when he was, when he just came to this school and so I had to change his location, and so he is living in Spot Valley area now, where he can get up in the morning and do some workouts and come to school and get back and do some more workout.

So he is working towards winning medals at National Boys' and Girls' Athletics Championships.

FRANKLYN: It is a miracle, because one day, I couldn't run and student was making name of me and all that stuff.

I pray to God and I go to my bed, and then eventually, I wake up the next morning and there I was, start running.

And then it does bring me right there, And I really want it to bring me much further so I can help and take care of my family.

(all counting) GRANT: While you're in track and field now, basically, it give you a sense of purpose.

It assist you in being rounded and focused and disciplined, so you realize that the athletes who doesn't make it to the international stage, you will find that in all parts of their life, they will exercise some level of discipline that they have garnered from being a part of a structured training program.

FRANKLYN: It's a nice school, yeah.

It's a nice school because they try their best to make sure that you learn something.

By the end of the day, I can say, "Yeah, I got something from this school," so it's a nice school.

(reggae song playing) (students reciting greeting) This afternoon we are here, we are with some visitors and you are being showcased, because, even though we are a small country, many persons think of us as being very important, and once you are on film, you are cast into what they call posterity, and anytime 100 years from now, somebody can go and pull out that film and look at it and see that you at Spot Valley are sitting here this morning at this moment in history.

So you are to make the best of it and make the best of your lives.

You promise me that?

STUDENTS: Yes, miss.

POWELL: All right.

(song continues) POWELL: So we recognize that to tackle crime and violence, there has to be a partnership between the police and the citizens, and we are the link-- community safety and security branch.

So we try to involve the young people in sporting programs.

When the potential is recognized, then you have the different sporting events, such as the Boys' and Girls' Champs, that can kind of channel them into the professional arena.

But even outside of the professional arena, we still have sporting program.

RUDY: Living in Montego Bay, working with several schools, where I'm on several school boards, you see these problems developing.

What you have are lots of youngsters who are full of energy.

They go to school, but school is primarily academia.

That's not their thing.

Those youngsters will finish school, not pass many subjects, can't go on to further education and... You know, the devil simply finds work for idle hands.

(police radio chatter) (indistinct chatter) OFFICER: Currently, what I'm doing is I'm sending a weekly return to Freeport, that's the HQ.

It's very harsh and it's very troubling to know that we have so many murders in any particular point, or any particular geographical area.

(indistinct radio chatter) POWELL: Challenges are mainly caused by the young persons that would have left school and are not yet fully employed, and involve themselves in illegal activities.

So they get involved in gangs and we all know what gang violence entails.

OFFICER: Good day-- getting through?

FRANKLYN: I worry about that...

I don't know what's coming my way, still, yeah.

You have some do good, some do bad.

So different paths, yes.

GREEN: Well, in terms of choices, I can speak specifically to Spot Valley High School, which is a nucleus of what's happening out there.

We have had children coming here without even a meal, so we have to provide for them.

Basic things like school books, bags, uniform, they don't have it.

We have had children who are parents themselves, because when they go home, they are the adults at home.

We have children who are brilliant, but just don't have the financial means to move ahead.

We have children who are very motivated, but the communities they are coming from, they are so impoverished and...

The crime and violence there is, it's like a magnet pulling them in.

So, just having them here sometimes, for the few hours, is, like, an escape for them to do well.

(music playing faintly) FRANKLYN: When I'm back at Salem, the crime and violence, I don't get to train frequently.

So when I'm at coach, I get, like...

It's not, no-- violence is not there, so it's okay and I get to train frequently, like, morning and the evening, so it's all good there.

GRANT: Toria has been with me for two-and-a-half years now.

What happened is, that I identified him as a talented athlete in the school, but we had some challenges in terms of getting him to training, and sometimes getting him to school.

Based on his social group at home, he was losing focus rapidly.

So in order to get him back on track and just to save him from what is out there and to have him on track with his track and field career, we decided that, all right, guess what, we are going to switch your environment, so we are going to take you where I'm at.

So once you are where I'm at now, it's all track and field and academics.

So it's more focused on two areas, rather than the entire landscape of things that are happening in society.

FRANKLYN: It's been my whole life, yeah, because, most likely... Do you know that a lot of people does not have, like, things and a lot of stuff, so if I'm an international athlete, I would take up poor people and take people off the streets, clean them up, help them get a job, get them back on their feet.

And I would help out my school if I... (speaks indistinctly) GREEN: Track and field has been one of the only tools that can unify Jamaicans right now.

Research has shown that when Jamaicans are running on the global scene, crime and violence is down.

GRANT: If there is violent action going on here, they will not disturb, they will try as much as possible to protect that amount of respect they have gotten from the community.

They are basically saying, "Go get what you want, keep going.

Keep going, don't be like us."

(reggae song playing) (song continues) (song fades) Residents in St. James woke up this morning to scores of police and soldiers as a state of public emergency came into effect.

REPORTER: Operation "Take Back St. James" is going after gangs responsible for murders, shootings, scamming, extortion, and other illegal activities.

OFFICER: The key operational objectives of the security forces are to disrupt the activities of these gangs, regularize the security environment, and ensure the restoration of peace and the rule of law.

ROBERT MONTAGUE: Now is the time to tell us who the gunmen are and the gangsters.

Because a gunman or a gangster in your community is a danger not only to your community, but is a danger to you.

OFFICER: We are presently engaged in an armed security measure to reassure the community.

We are asking citizens that any strange face you see, please call the police.

MONTAGUE: Well, the crime in Jamaica, it has a historic background, and we look at it from the Ministry of National Security as with a social dimension.

There's a lot of pressures on the young person, because many times they're from single-family homes, they're from broken homes, they are from... informal communities.

The educational opportunities might not be there for them, employment opportunities not there for them.

(applause) And therefore, the ministry believes that the fight against crime is not a police fight alone, it's all of us.

All of society has to come together.

When a young man take up a gun and point it at somebody, the murder never started when he pulled the trigger.

GREEN: Personally, I am glad we have a state of emergency.

St. James has been recording some very brutal murders, and the people of Montego Bay, St. James, just need the confidence that criminals are not taking over, but the lawmakers are in charge.

It is inconveniencing at times, but I can tell you, we are craving for it to continue.

The truth is, these are the individuals who are affecting our children negatively.

When we get them, for example, in the mornings, we are glad to see them because it means they have lived one more day.

We have parents who are trying, but we know that parents alone can't do it, the school alone cannot do it.

So the intervention by the police is necessary, because we are hoping, in the long run, there'll be no need for them.

But, until then, totally, they have to be there.

(reggae song playing) TAYLOR: All right, so it's been a difficult time, really, for all of us in St. James and more so in the friendly city of Montego Bay.

We want to encourage all our citizens to support the soldiers, support the police officers.

Remember that they're out there to make our communities a safer place.

And, on a good note, I just want to mention that Western Champs is happening.

Finally, it's here again.

I'm sure that it's going to be a fantastic event, so we want to say congratulations to all the schools who are participating and to wish them all the best.

(engine rumbling) (indistinct chatter) (indistinct chatter) GRANT: This is the first round, it's an elimination, so this round you use to get qualified for, through to the finals.

Toria is experiencing a little discomfort in his left hamstring, so we decided to have him rest for Western Champs.

FRANKLYN: Yeah, I'm gonna be training towards me to go to Champs, because Champs is one of the big competitions.

After I work on my injury, I can think about fitness.

(overlapping chatter) (indistinct chatter) (starter's pistol fires) (crowd cheering) (cheering) (cheering) (man speaking on intercom indistinctly) TYRESE: That was tough, man.

(panting): Tough.

It was hard.

They put three of the best guys in one heat.

It was really hard.

To go at the end was, do what I have to do.

Okay, I'm going to get changed.

MAN (on intercom): Class one, 800 meters, first two automatically qualify.

Next best two... GRANT: My athletes are nowhere close to peaking in this championship.

They are still loaded, which means they still have a lot of preparation to do in terms of getting them ready to run as fast as they can for the season.

They are being prepared to peak at the end of this month, leading into March, the end of March.

Right, so it's good stuff.

No worries, no worries.

(cheering) (horns blowing) I'm feeling great, I'm excited.

(laughs) (horn blares, man speaking on intercom) On the back stretch, ahead of the rest of the field in this event, that's Antonio Watson... Next heat on track will be Shion Thompson of Grange Hill in lane one, Collington of Steths in lane two, Elliott of Rhodes Hall in lane three... (horn blares) (cheering) Set... (horns blaring) (starter's pistol fires) (cheering, horns blaring) (announcer speaking on intercom) (crowd cheering, horns blaring) (overlapping chatter) It was okay, I'm just feeling a slight pain in my hamstring.

(overlapping chatter) RUDY: She is like a true warrior.

She is concerned, but she doesn't give up.

She's willing to go there and fight some more, you know?

So, that can act against her, too, because, you know, your muscle might be saying "All right, time to stop," and you're still pushing it.

So that's probably the worry that the coach is gonna have, more than Leyone's mentality, you know?

But, yeah, she's gonna tough it out.

(music playing) (indistinct chatter) I'm Byron, nice to meet you.

Welcome to Jamaica.

(boat engine running) Leyone Smith, when she growing up, she always moving, active, so I know that she gonna be a great one.

And she, she always running.

I know she gonna be a champion for Jamaica, and you gonna help a lot of people, because that's the way she stay-- she always talk about helping people.

Helping you, no matter if you are poor or you are rich, she's just gonna help a lot of people.

Yeah?

All you do, you try to do the best you can, because we're only here for a time.

(indistinct chatter) (cheering) She just loves sports.

Fishing and track and field.

She love it like water.

Well, she love fishing more than track and field, but, guess what, I said, "Get famous, go in track and field."

(indistinct) You never know.

Big up.

Big up, my daughter, four fish... - Four fish.

- Yeah.

♪ Sometimes, it depends on the amount of fish we catch, we sell some, and sometimes, depends on the amount we catch, we gave it to the family and we roast it and we share and drink together.

We're doing it for her.

The best we can do right now, yeah.

(reggae song playing) BYRON: Why she leave and go overseas?

Because she need to elevate herself, yeah?

She want to help the family out because, you know that we have it real, real hard.

Positively, she'll, like, she'll even do better.

Yeah, and me would like my daughter to do better.

Positive.

(horns blaring) (crowd cheering) (starter's pistol fires) (horns blaring) (crowd cheering) LEYONE: Well, from the start, everyone have blocks, but I don't.

I'm feeling, I'm still feeling a slight pain.

A slight pain in my hamstring, but hopefully, I'm grateful for the second.

I'm qualified for the final, so we will see what happen there.

(reggae song playing) (song continues) RUDY: As the day goes on, you'll see the stands fill up more and more.

They'll start at the top and they'll come down.

You're already getting some of the noise.

The noise will get louder, they'll drown you out soon, but it's gonna get more and more exciting.

It means the world to them, because this is what they build their future on.

(more loudly): So a lot of them take it very seriously.

It's everything to them.

(horns blaring in background) Set, go!

LEYONE: Well, I'm running the 100 finals.

Hopefully...

The pain will go away, what I am feeling right now.

(man speaking on intercom) RUDY: You have to feel good because Spot Valley is up and coming.

Very small track team, but what they have is quality, you know?

And they'll be picking up their points.

They're not going to win the championships, probably won't even come in the first ten, but they'll be picking up their points and they'll be doing their thing and they'll be going home with their plates.

(horns blaring) (man speaking on intercom) (starter's pistol fires) (cheering and horns blaring) ♪ (cheering, horns blaring) (man speaking on intercom) The race was so cool, sir.

I was the favorite coming out there, so I just execute what my coach told me to execute.

I'm feeling great, feel like a bird in the sky right now.

GRANT: I always say, he's very close with me.

Once I'm out there, it's like I'm running, so I was with him all the step of the way, all the steps he made, trying to show him and tell him exactly what to do, so it was a great feeling at the end of the day, knowing that he trained hard, he came for this championship that is special to him, and he won.

RUDY: I got the unofficial time, 1:52-something.

Fastest time in Jamaica for the year.

He can go faster, others will go faster.

We can expect that time to go below 1:50 before the end of the season, by Champs.

GRANT: I have no doubt his rivals here will be his main rivals in Kingston, as well.

So we just have to keep doing what we've been doing, keep focused, keep him mentally strong, and then, once he's healthy, he should be good.

(music playing) MAN: Set... (starter's pistol fires) (horns blaring) (crowd cheering) (overlapping chatter) (man speaking on intercom) Right, right, right.

GRANT: I can't give a comment on it at this point, I need to look at the video, but based on what I've heard, it wasn't pleasing.

Well, I really don't know what happened.

I'm disappointed.

Yeah, I'm feeling very bad.

She will be fine.

All athletes feel a little bit disappointed when they have lost, so that is just part of the game, but at the end of the day, she'll be fine.

She's already aware that she's not 100% fit, and previously, the day before the championship, she had some discomfort in her hamstring, so she have been taking that into consideration, as well.

So once I remind her of those things, she should be fine.

(man speaking on intercom) (congregation singing) (congregation and band continue) (hymn continues) (hymn fades) To the families, as young athletes, you have made a good decision.

As athlete, there are many challenges you'll encounter before you can be successful.

MAN: Oh, yeah.

- But it begins with you.

LEYONE: West Champs, I came second, and they gave me third.

I did not complain with that.

I did not see the camera finish, so I can't compete with what they say, so, I move on from that.

So that is in the past-- I just move forward.

Such is the nature of life.

It has its ups and down, but it's what you do when you're being challenged.

Don't allow your environment to determine how far you go.

CURLIN: We have always said, it takes a community to raise a child, and we have that kind of community spirit where we have-- our grandparents are around, aunts, uncles, our neighbors.

That community that raises that child, when that child begins to blossom, everyone is celebrating-- they don't want to see anything happen to that child.

No one wants to see that child harmed, and they'll go out of their way to ensure that he or she has safe passage in and out of a community.

(congregation singing, band playing) (singing) LEYONE: It's hard, it's very hard.

I have to come to school very early in the morning.

Like, when I come out and saw gunmen walking on the street, not nice, it's not nice.

(singing) LEYONE: I would help so many people hoping that I make it.

Praying to God that everything goes well with me.

I would move away from Flanker, move away from my aunt, my father, and my brothers, yeah.

(hymn continues) MINISTER: As we prepare for the Girls' and Boys' Champs, train hard, give it your best, allow nothing to prevent you from being an overcomer.

Conquer.

(congregation clapping) Remember your sponsors, your school, your police, your family.

The people around you, your community.

We are depending on you.

You can't lose!

You must win!

Let winning be your philosophy.

Run with determination.

Run with commitment.

Run with vigor.

Let your name be great.

We are a small nation, but we have had so many heroes.

We have our challenges, but this Spot Valley High School has produced many greats.

I say what I mean today.

Go for it!

God be with you!

(clapping, band playing) GRANT: Okay, well, we have been doing some preparation leading up to the final competition, which is National Champs.

In two days...

They should be competing in two days at the National Stadium.

I'm very happy and excited, knowing that I've been training so hard and putting in the effort, doing what my coach tells me to do and, yeah, it's just, it's a nice feeling.

But you just have to go out there and run, just do your best, like always.

That's what I do, do my best, as always.

GRANT: So, we're looking here at some of Leyone's medals.

So basically these medals are very important to her.

All right?

Just from time to time, she just look at them and try, the amount that she has collected now.

It's very cool to have them there.

What I try to do is to keep a collection of all the medals of each athlete.

It's important to them, so I try to ensure that I secure them-- it's part of their legacy.

Ready?

(indistinct chatter) LEYONE: I was born into it so I just love the idea of running.

GRANT: Pop up, man.

Pop up, pop up.

FRANKLYN: Over the last few weeks, I been mostly focusing on my injury.

Now I will train and work on my injury to get it out of the way.

Before Western Champs, he have been suffering some discomfort in his right hamstring.

It has been improving, but I don't think it is fully healed, and so we are going to do a final assessment today, so we can basically figure out if he can take part at National Champs or not.

FRANKLYN: I really want to compete at Champs, but competing at Champs as a junior athlete with an injury, it can make my injury worse.

So, if my injury is so serious that I can't compete at the National Champs, I won't really have a problem, because I would rather run as a senior athlete, fit, without an injury, yeah, than make my injury get worse.

(indistinct chatter) FRANKLYN: And, at some point, the bad is gonna always come to you, so you have to stay focused and do what... (indistinct) (indistinct chatter) He have a slight discomfort to the area, so what I actually want to do, I want to ensure that you find exactly where the pain is, so you can identify which of the muscle the pain is coming from.

So now, this assessment will basically tell if there is any scar tissues left, and once there is even one percent of scar tissue left, it is not recommended that competition goes on on it.

So, that's what we are about to find out now.

(sighs): One more time.

(rubbing) Yeah, so it was that easy.

The problem was detected, solved, and now it's time for his stretching session.

So get up and do some stretching... Basically, he can't run now until probably another three weeks, and that's, in three weeks' time, he should be able to run.

Because it's just a minute, just a small, small tissue there, right?

In the initial stages, you have a lot of tissues building up, so right now, he just, he can run, but based on the competition, it's possible that he might aggravate it.

So, in order to avoid that, it's best if it's totally healed.

(chuckles) Um, it's okay, I'd rather focus on my injury and recover for World Juniors and then Senior.

(reggae song playing) (power tool running in distance) Yeah, yeah.

(indistinct chatter) TYRESE: It was really a big success at the West Champs.

I was really proud of myself and all those other stuff.

But that don't make a difference still.

Still doing what I'm doing and going for...

Champs is coming up, so my focus is on Champs, so looking forward for Champs.

But the competition is really stiff out there, so lot of emotions running through my mind.

I don't know what to do, just...

I just run my own race, 'cause everybody is there to win, so just go out there and just give it my best.

GREEN: Boys and girls, you are going to represent us at Champs, starting tomorrow.

Just by making the Champs team, we are proud of you, okay?

So just go there, no pressure, relax, and do your thing.

And believe me, every single step of the way, we'll be cheering for you.

So, safe journey up, do well, and we'll see you when you come back next week.

All right?

All the best.

TAYLOR: Good morning, Montego Bay, Montego Bay, and it's good morning to all our track and field fans.

This is the biggest week of the year.

The National Stadium in Kingston is going to be hosting, guess what, the Boys' and Girls' Championships and, of course, you know that Boys' and Girls' Champs is the island's number-one sporting spectacle.

We wanna wish everyone the best, and especially to all the athletes and their supporters who are making their way to Kingston, and I wanna give a special shout-out to Tyrese Reid and Leyone Smith from Spot Valley High School here in the friendly city, two of the area's most talented athletes.

We're hoping for big things from you guys.

All the best from all of us here at More 91.7 FM and for everybody all around the island.

(reggae song playing) (praying and singing quietly) LEYONE: Well, I'm feeling excited.

Yeah.

(laughs) Very nervous, as well.

TYRESE: This is the first thing supposed to be in my bag, 'cause if I don't have my spikes, I will be not able to run the 800 meters.

So I have to have my spikes first.

Been training really hard at going, so I'm just going to go out there and do something good to make my family proud.

This is my school, Spot Valley High.

SAMUDA: Given our place in history, Jamaica has been very fortunate in producing, in track and field, talents that not only understand the importance of performance, but the importance of giving back to their country.

That greatness can come from an island of only about three million people, that is an emotional pull for us.

STADIUM ANNOUNCER: Pointed umbrellas are not allowed inside the stadium.

No weapons are allowed.

There should be no standing in the aisles and exits.

Get ready for an action-packed day!

♪ So today, Tuesday, is day one of five of the National Boys' and Girls' Athletic Championships.

The objective today is just to go through the round, go through the preliminary, and reach the second round.

Spirit is high, everybody is confident and ready to go for their first event.

Very excited.

(announcer speaking) (announcer continues) COMMENTATOR 1: These final two heats have at least three of the contenders for this boys' class one 800 meters.

We'll see a couple here in Tyrese Reid and Dejaun Blackman from Jamaica College.

Reid is from Spot Valley.

COMMENTATOR 2: Reid of Spot Valley I think a very special talent.

You see him there in the red, running in lane four at this point.

Maybe the very best athlete that Spot Valley has right now.

(starter's pistol fires) ♪ (horns blaring) ♪ (bell ringing) COMMENTATOR: Tyrese Reid, soaring, now finds himself in second and now it's gonna be a mad scramble to the finish.

So, Tyrese Reid of Spot Valley now comes back to the fore, and Dejaun Blackman just gonna follow him home now, so, the top two, Tyrese Reid of Spot Valley, Dejaun Blackman of Jamaica College, first and second, and the Muschett athlete, Leonardo Clarke, finds himself in third.

1:58.40 the flash time for Tyrese Reid.

TYRESE: The race was really tough.

All my coach told me to do, is come out here today in the prelims and to make it to the next round, that is the semifinal.

And that's what I did.

Tomorrow is rest day for me, so I'm just going to have an ice bath right now.

(announcer speaking, horns blaring) GRANT: In that race, he was actually a seeded athlete, so actually, the race was set for him to win, so he just needed to go and do what he have to do and he did just that.

Executed the race well and he became victorious, so he did what he had to do.

COMMENTATOR: So, the Western stars are well represented in this one.

Leyone Smith of Spot Valley goes in lane five.

(distant cheers) She's now there, set position... (starting pistol fires) Sent off, clean break for the entire field.

Holmwood's Kimberly Baker is stepping onto... (cheering) Smith of Spot Valley came off the turn, loads of speed, but for Baker of Holmwood Technical... Just going away from this field is Kimberly Baker of Holmwood Technical and will take a facile win here-- close going for second.

I think maybe, maybe Smith of Spot Valley might have taken second spot.

But there is your winner on screen.

No doubting Kimberly Baker of Holmwood Technical.

LEYONE: Well...

It's nervous, like always.

(panting) Just, just have to come and run and do what we have to do.

I've been training for it, so I expect good results.

(cheers) I will be qualifying Friday.

Semis, hopefully, I will go through because it's top two and the ten best times.

(cheers, horns blaring) (horn blaring) Semifinals for the 800 will be on... Thursday, Thursday morning.

(woman speaking) - Right.

Leyone will compete in the 100 on Thursday, as well.

(plastic rustling) (water running) (exhales) Not too bad.

(Grant murmuring) GRANT: Basically, he's doing a five-minute ice bath now.

What it basically will do is to, based on the fact that he ran yesterday, there will be a lot of dead cells in his muscles he need to get rid of as fast as possible so he can compete at his optimum pace tomorrow.

So that will basically remove the scarred and injured cells so he can, his muscles can be free, they have adequate oxygen and motion going through the muscles, all right?

So that will basically help with the... - (laughs) - And so on.

He's used to it, so... it's cool, all right?

Compared to when he just started, he couldn't do a minute, now he's up to 20 minutes.

(engine idling) (chatting indistinctly) TYRESE: Feel really good, another year at Champs, want to win the finals.

So what about you?

- (laughs): Well, me, I hope for good result.

I have been training for so long.

So, remember, I make the 100 finals last year, and I came eighth.

I was the eighth-fastest girl in the island.

I just have to go out there and run.

TYRESE: You know, all we have to do is just believe in ourselves and just go out there and do our best.

- We do it already, so we can do it again.

- So we can do it again.

- Come on!

- It's true.

- What do you think, what's gonna happen, what you think, in our future, when...

When we're done school, where you think you'll go?

- Going to a college, I'm studying something about...

I'm working on electrical installations.

Work with the electrical installations.

- I wanna continue track... - Yeah, I love my track and field.

So I will continue track and field in college, same way.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

We have to just hold up our heads and just look forward on what we are going for in life, and you'll start to see.

And always be focused, never let our guard... - Like Miss R. always saying, should stay focused.

- Yeah, if you don't focus you won't make it.

And always listen to our coach.

- Yeah, yeah... (indistinct) - Yeah, we will make it one day, so I believe.

(announcer speaking) COMMENTATOR: World Under-18 100-meter bronze medalist, suffered misfortune in this very event last year in the final with a false start.

Returned with a vengeance in the 200, and she's back in class, chasing a record of 11.40 set by... MAN: Set!

(audio fades) (starter's pistol fires) COMMENTATOR: She'll be looking to exorcise those demons.

Kevona Davis of Edwin Allen is a super athlete, and you're seeing it there.

Kevona Davis of Edwin Allen is the class of the field.

Nothing more to be said.

11.76.

Blows a kiss to the viewers at home and abroad.

GRANT: She knew that she had Kevona Davis with her in that heat, so she had to, you know, try and finish in the top two for the automatic qualifying spot and then she'll be fine.

She did just that, so I'm all right with that.

(announcer speaking, horns blaring) (announcer speaking) ANNOUNCER: No problems, easy does it for the top three.

(announcer continues) COMMENTATOR: It's important to watch 1:53.51 done by Ken Reyes of Jamaica College in the previous heat, because it is the top two who go through automatically.

And that heat was actually slower than the 1:51:77 done by Tyrese Ronan of Kingston College in the first one-- here they are.

This now is a battle between the Western champion, Tyrese Reid, and the Corporate Area champion, Kimar Farquharson of Calabar.

(horns blaring) ♪ Missed out on last year, has to get into the final.

Kimar Farquharson just behind him.

Tyrese Reid now moves forward, those are the top three.

Who will hold on?

Top two sure to advance.

Dejaun Blackman starting to tire a bit.

Tyrese Reid pumping his arms, but not making up ground on the top two.

Kimar Farquharson looks around, looks easy, points to the sky time.

Kimar Farquharson comes across the line, 1:53.07, the flash time.

But your winner, he doesn't matter the time, he got the place.

He's the winner, top two goes through.

Looks like Kimar Farquharson of Calabar and also Dejaun Blackman of Jamaica College.

Tyrese Reid, the Western champion, 1:52.63 did there, has to wait and see whether or not he get through as one of the non-automatic qualifiers.

It was rough stuff.

I just go out there and do my best.

And that was... (panting) (inaudible), though, on making it to the final, but I guess I have to look out for the, the fastest loser, so, that was... (panting) (bell ringing) Feeling tired.

Race was really tough.

GRANT: He ran a technically bad race, right?

He's a front-runner, basically, so he's supposed to be at the front of the race from as early as the first 150 meters.

He haven't done that in any race until the last 150, so automatically he run their race, which is a slower pace than what he's accustomed to.

By that time, a lot of lactic would have been accumulated, so he wouldn't have the firepower to go as he want to.

TYRESE: Today, the objective was to come out here today and make it to the finals, but it was the top two, and the next best two time they said make it to the finals.

But my coach maybe will go try and see if I make it to the final.

But if I don't make it to the finals, just one of those days.

I have to do the-- go back to the training ground, and come train harder and come back next year again, but...

But I'm not gonna give up on what I'm doing.

I'm gonna go forward, same way.

They're supposed to, gonna announce the finalists, so, if they, if I hear my name, I'm gonna be in the finals, but if I don't hear my name, I'm not in the finals.

(stadium announcer reading names) GRANT: Right, so this is exactly what I predicted.

He is ninth, he has the ninth-fastest time, which means he's out.

But, um, if that is the case, we'll just have to lift his spirit again and get him ready for the rest of the season.

We have a lot of big events coming up, so, you know?

It's part of Championship, it's part of the sport, so, um, that's how it goes.

(indistinct chatter) (crowd chatter) ♪ (starter's pistol fires) ♪ (cheers and applause) (stadium announcer speaking) But as we see into the straightaway, all by herself, it's Kevona Davis coming fast to the line, on the outside... (indistinct) Kevona Davis goes across the line!

(indistinct) Look at the time!

(cheers and applause) (yelling) (indistinct chatter) Well, that race was a fast race.

(panting) I'm feeling a slight discomfort in my ankle and my side.

(panting) (laughs): But I'm comfortable, whatever, with what I did.

I run-- passed over the line.

(cheers and applause) Well, I haven't getting enough to build from season.

I was just working on my 100, so I'm pleased with what I did today.

The 100 meters will be tomorrow about 3:00, semifinals, so I will be in it.

GRANT: She ran with some girls who have been in this class a year or more, so most of these girls are more (inaudible).

The fact that she came out and she came fourth, well, she ran a season best in that race.

She haven't run so fast this year, so... That's a positive from that race.

It's okay for me, knowing the competition that exists.

I think she did her best, so I am satisfied.

When she do her best, it's okay with me.

(stadium announcer speaking indistinctly) (hose spraying) BYRON: Most likely, the youth in Jamaica, the way they feel themself and their parents feel them or whatever, they got this energy and strength that elevate the people.

When they run it's, like, "Wow," it's like a miracle.

We didn't born rich, but long as we have life, we have everything, and I know that my daughter gonna let me proud one day, because she's very brilliant.

Very, very brilliant.

- (laughs) CURLIN: Like, now when we have a lot of the violence which is taking place, which is upon us right now, the whole idea of having that community raise that child is where all of this comes from.

You really are going to celebrate the accomplishments of that one individual or that potential child who is gonna come out and be the next Usain Bolt, you know?

It lifts our spirits.

We just want to see them do well, and we want to be a part of that and we want to provide them with whatever support is there that we can give-- it's not always about the money, it is that person who is going to be talking to them if they're having issues at school, if they're having issues at home.

They probably just need to sit with someone.

They probably just want a hug, you know?

A kind word, and so we try our best to, you know, do the volunteer work and care and love and support as much as we can.

(horns blaring, crowd stomping and clamoring) (drummers playing) COMMENTATOR: All eight ladies, the final of three semifinals, class two girls.

100 meters, Harris, Burgher, Smith, Baker, Lee, McBean, Fyffe, Rowe.

MAN: Set!

(audio fades) (starter's pistol fires) ♪ COMMENTATOR: Clean start.

Ray-Donna Lee already gets to work.

Goes by the field, coming up next to her is Baker.

Ray-Donna Lee of Hydel will get the win-- on the outside from Immaculate is Hughasia Fyffe.

Seems as if she got third place.

Ray-Donna Lee, 11.26.

Uh, 11.76.

It was great.

Um, it's not the end of life, it's not the end of my career.

I'm proud of what I did today, because this season's been a rough season.

I was...

Always fighting the injuries.

So this season was a rough season for me, so I'm proud of what I did today, no problem with it.

(reggae song playing) (song continues) CURLIN: There is a saying that anywhere in the world you go, you will find the Jamaican, and we want to know that you will find us and we are there making a positive contribution, and so, when we think of sports and we think of track and field in particular, we have such a rich history, such a long tradition.

We embrace that, we love that.

It makes us come alive, it keeps us fresh, and it has us always wanting and yearning for more.

(song continues) BROWN: In spite of the fact they did not come home with a medal, they went out, they did their best, and that is what really counts.

The fact that they went out and they represented, and they made it as far as to the semifinals, which is great.

And that is one way through which they have showed, "Guess what?

We are here, this is not the end of the road for us."

Everybody wants to reach that stage so they can become a legend and somebody to be reckoned with, a force to be reckoned with.

So, we'll have to go back to the drawing board, see what we need to make adjustments to and be ready for our next championship, but, like I said, everybody is proud of them-- we all are proud.

(distant clapping and stomping) LEYONE: Oh, well, it was great.

(laughs): Going to Champs in front of millions of people cheering and carrying on.

It was a great experience, though, that we have been training for so long and go out there and did our best.

TYRESE: Same for me, it was really a good experience again.

Another year at Champs for me was really great.

And I didn't make the final again.

Well, I'm still proud of myself as long as I go out there and do my best.

GRANT: Of course, losing a race and not advancing to a final, they could have been a little bit disappointed, but, for the school family, it is...

It is really important, because there are other athletes who are aspiring to be like Tyrese and Leyone, so they are still warmly welcome and appreciated.

That will not break their confidence or anything, it will just keep them pushing to work harder so they can achieve next time around.

POWELL: Jamaicans are very resilient people.

That is inbred in us, and it came down from generation to generation.

So, no matter how poor you are, that resilience will still be there, buried deep in our makeup.

(singing softly) ♪ Keep us free from evil powers ♪ ♪ Be our light through countless hours ♪ MONTAGUE: Jamaicans are always hopeful.

Forever hopeful-- we believe that Jamaica's better days are ahead of us.

We believe that tomorrow, the sun will rise and will shine again.

The last four letters of "Jamaican" is "I-C-A-N." When you separate them, you get "I can," and that's our spirit.

We can do anything, we can do everything, because we are a God-blessed people.

SINGERS: ♪ Jamaica, Jamaica ♪ Land we love TYRESE: I don't know, really know what to say.

It's just one of those days.

You have to lose to win, so, just wanna just go back to the field to just work on my mistakes that I make.

I know a lot of them was looking out for me to, in the final, but it didn't happen, but track and field is where my life is, and I want to really make it in track and field.

And I love him so much.

I want him to succeed, you know?

If he succeed, I will succeed, and I will be happy.

SINGERS: ♪ Grant true wisdom from above COMMENTATOR: Tyrese Reid, surprisingly enough, has never been to a final.

What story it would be, should he get to this final and also get the gold medal.

Does he have the speed?

SINGERS: ♪ Jamaica, land we love ♪ (vocalizing, man speaking) ♪ When you feel all hope is lost ♪ ♪ And your back is against the wall ♪ ♪ You just don't give up ♪ Just don't give up ♪ We were born to be ♪ Free ♪ Free ♪ Free ♪