Samoan thrower talks balance
Fourth best in the world almost quit a number of times
Published:Wednesday | June 14, 2023 | 1:25 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
BALANCING WORK, fatherhood and athletics has been the challenge of late for Olympian Alex Rose, but the 31-year-old discus thrower has found the medium while having a strong 2023 campaign.
Rose took the discus title at the Racers Grand Prix on June 3 with a throw of 65.78 metres in a field that included Commonwealth Games medallist Traves Smikle, who was second, 2019 World Championship silver medallist Fedrick Dacres, as well as former under-20 World Champion, Kai Chang, who was third.
The Samoan was making his first appearance in Jamaica in seven years, which brought back memories of him seeing multiple Olympic and World Champion Usain Bolt compete.
“I remember standing right here as Usain Bolt crossed the finish line. It was my first professional meet and just seeing him and that experience, that was incredible for me. And since then, I almost quit the sport a couple of times. I work a full-time job, I have a seven-month-old son and being back here and being able to have this experience and get the win means everything,” Rose told The Gleaner.
Rose is the fourth-best thrower in the world this year, having achieved a personal best effort of 70.42 in April. Balancing fatherhood, a full-time job and training has not been easy, but Rose said he has found ways to make it work.
“I’m not a spring chicken anymore. I have been throwing for a little while so having that experience year after year, trying to stay healthy even though I’m working and being a dad, it has given me a bit more familiarity with my technique and I feel like I can be more consistent in my technique,” Rose said.
“Sometimes that means if you have to drive and do sales calls if you get home and do a light workout even if it’s at 10:00 p.m., it’s a good day. At the end of the day, if you don’t get all the training in, at least I can get to be a good dad.”
Olympian Chad Wright had also experienced difficulties in balancing training and working full-time, having received financial support from the Government in his preparations for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
“I’ve been able to take time off work to focus mainly on training and I’m truly grateful for that,” Wright said in 2021.
Rose said that given the context of the strong Jamaican lineup in the field as well as the wet conditions that preceded the meet, he was happy with his second experience on the island as he gears up for the World Championships.
“It’s crazy to come here and have the music and the crowd and have a decent enough showing to take the win. With the rain and everything we were having before, the ring was a little slick so I’m very happy with my performance,” Rose said