Sinclair backs Goule for Olympic medal

Kenia Sinclair, the 2008 Olympic finalist, believes that fellow Jamaican middle-distance athlete Natoya Goule could be the first Jamaican woman to win an Olympic medal in the 800 metres.

Retired after the 2016 Olympics, Sinclair points to a fast indoor time – 2 minutes 01.08 seconds – as evidence of Goule’s good form coming into the rescheduled Olympics year.

“Based on her indoor performance that she had recently, I feel like Natoya can be the first Jamaican female athlete to medal at the Olympics at 800 metres. She just has to stay motivated, positive, and I can see that the pandemic did not affect her that much, because she came out indoors and she’s still on top, performing awesomely,” said Sinclair.

Goule produced that time on January 30 at Clemson University in South Carolina, where she trains under the guidance of Jamaican Mark Elliot, the university’s director of track and field.

CONTINUE TO EXCEL

In 2018, Goule lowered Sinclair’s 12-year-old Jamaica record of 1 minute 57.88 seconds to 1.56.15 in Monaco, and the 2006 World Indoor Championships runner-up expects Goule to continue to excel.

“She has surpassed [me]. Natoya broke the Jamaica record. I went out and I congratulated her. I was so proud of her. I was so happy watching that race. I got so many chills, because I left and she’s just picking up the slack, and she’s even surpassing my performances,” Sinclair shared.

With gold in 1994, silver in 2006, and bronze in 2018, respectively, Inez Turner, Sinclair and Goule are the only Jamaican women to win medals in the Commonwealth Games’ 800m. In 2019, the pencil-slim Goule became the second Jamaican to compete in a World Championship final, following a similar accomplishment by Sinclair in 2011.

Noting that Goule has good 400-metre speed, Sinclair added a word of tactical advice.

“Natoya is an awesome athlete and I always tell her. I always tell her, ‘Natoya, you have to run your race.’ In a 800-metre race, they’re always going to have a rabbit, so you never want to be someone’s rabbit. You have the capability of running way better than I do.”

Sinclair appeared in the respected Track and Field News’ annual 800 metres world rankings five times, peaking at number four in 2010, a position matched by Goule in 2018.

During her career, Sinclair put Jamaica on the middle-distance radar and she is confident her 2016 Olympic teammate will do the same.

“So I just want her (Goule) to stay focused, just stay away from negativity and just go out there, run her own race, and just continue to make Jamaica proud for distance running,” said Sinclair.

sports@gleanerjm.com