Lyston points to self-belief

After smashing the Class One Girls’ 200 metres record at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Championships on Saturday at the National Stadium, Hydel High School’s star sprinter, Brianna Lyston, says she has now regained her confidence and self-belief in the sport.

Lyston, who entered the championships as the fastest Jamaican junior over the distance with a time of 22.66 seconds, clocked 22.53 to erase the previous mark of 22.71, which was set by Vere Technical’s Simone Facey in 2004.

The 17 year-old Lyston, a former St Jago athlete, told The Gleaner that she is not surprised by her performance because she has become a great deal more mature and she is now taking the sport very seriously.

“I believe if you don’t have faith or if you don’t believe in yourself then you are not going to achieve what you want to, and now, I have a lot of self-belief,” said Lyston.

“Seeing the work that I put in, and all that I have been through during last season and this one, getting the record was part of my plan because I kind of owed myself that much,” she said. As a 12 year-old five years ago, Lyston set World age group records in both the 100m and 200m but was hit by injuries in Class Three and Class Two.

“I have grown a lot, matured a lot, basically, and I started taking the sport more seriously because I want to pursue it to the next level,” Lyston said.

After winning a silver in 100m and bronze in 4x100m, Lyston returned to close out a fine championship for Hydel by anchoring the school to the gold medal in 4x400m relay event.

IMPROVING TECHNIQUE

The soft-spoken Lyston stated that she is also in much better shape compared to previous seasons because her coach, Corey Bennett, has worked a lot on improving her technique this season.

“I have been putting in the work and seeing where I was at Carifta Trials, I have been putting in the work after that. I am not surprised by it (record), and I think I am in better shape than I was last year,” she said.

“It (preparation) was rough, but it was worth it in the end. There was a lot of sweating, tears, and vomiting,” Lyston said.

She noted that she is expecting a lot more faster times from herself in both the 100m and 200m races for the remainder of the season.

“I am expecting better performances, more personal best times and to finish the season healthy,” Lyston said.

Hydel finished second at the championships with 295 points behind champions Edwin Allen, who won with 352 points.