Quarrie gives Cornwall College athletes pep talk
Observer West writer
RICHARDO Thompson, co-captain of the Cornwall College track and field team, is hoping that a visit and pep talk by Olympic Games sprint gold medallist Donald Quarrie will have a long-lasting effect on the team, especially the sprinters.
Quarrie visited the Montego Baybased school recently at the invitation of Dr Lincoln Cox, a parent, and spent the better part of two hours with about 20 boys who were in training.
“This session was very informative,” Thompson, who runs the 800m and 400m hurdles, told the Jamaica Observer West.
“Mr Quarrie taught us about proper techniques and I think the team will use those valuable [pieces of] information to help us improve.”
Thompson said despite most of the session being focused on the sprinters, “I learned that no matter how old you are, it’s not too late or early to set goals and to try to be the best – not just for your age group, but at the older age groups as well.”
Quarrie, who had lost his bid to be the new president of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) a week earlier, told the Observer West he has been talking to young athletes for a long time and had enjoyed the interaction.
“I enjoy talking to young athletes as it is the beginning of their careers, for most of them, in track and field,” he said.
“I am amazed at some of the things they know and what they don’t know, but I am more enthusiastic about passing on information to them that they can utilise to improve their performances, both physically and mentally,” he shared.
Quarrie, who won the 200m gold medal and 100m silver at the Montreal Olympics in 1976, said the Cornwall College group “was very attentive, and I just reminded them to remember what was said as the next time I come here, maybe in a month, they will be on the track and I will be able to see if they were thinking about what I said and putting it to work – and I will be hard on them that day when I show up,” he said with a laugh.
“This is what I enjoy doing, especially when I am in Jamaica, and this is part of my plan to help track and field from the ground up,” he stressed.