Knight-Wisdom honoured to lead Jamaica in final Olympics

PARIS, France:

BEING CAPTAIN of a Jamaican Olympic team was never a goal for Olympic diver Yona Knight-Wisdom when he switched allegiances years ago. However, in his final Olympic Games, Knight-Wisdom will have the privilege of being one of the standard-bearers of the team, something that he is heartened by.

Knight-Wisdom was named men’s team captain alongside multiple Olympic and World champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce on Friday as the countdown to the Paris Olympic Games enters its final days.

The honour bestowed upon him is not only prestigious being from a non- traditional sport such as aquatics. But the surprise came in how he found out. Based in Scotland, he was on his way to a weekend retreat to get his mind ready for the final competition of his career when he got an unexpected phone call.

“I actually found out while I was driving from Edinburgh to Yorkshire. As I was driving, I got a message from a journalist I know who offered his congratulations for being named team captain. I had to call him back to ask what he meant because I hadn’t heard anything about this,” Knight-Wisdom told The Gleaner.

“After that I called the president of the Jamaica Olympic Association (Christopher Samuda) to see if it was true and yes, he offered his congratulations.”

Knight-Wisdom has always set goals for himself, which included his historic first Olympic appearance in 2016, the first time since 1972 that a diver competed for Jamaica at the Games.

This latest honour was far from his mind but it is one he is grateful for, not only as an aquatics athlete but as a Jamaican aquatics athlete.

“It was definitely a surprise. I was not anticipating being named as a team captain. I didn’t think an aquatics athlete would be considered. I just kind of assumed it would be a track athlete,” Knight-Wisdom said.

“It is a huge honour. As someone from the diaspora, as someone that was not born in Jamaica, I think that is also huge because it does show the strength of the diaspora of Jamaicans around the world.”

Knight-Wisdom’s appointment comes after swimmer Josh Kirlew was named the country’s men’s flag-bearer for the opening ceremony, which take place on Friday.

While it will be hard to top the euphoria of him making it to the 2016 Games in Rio, Knight-Wisdom said that he is ready to assist the team, especially the Olympic debutants in making the experience memorable.

“Hopefully I can be there to support the team and do what I can with my own performance,” Knight-Wisdom said.

“I wouldn’t see this as a milestone because this was not something I was actually aiming to achieve. It is more of an honour and a huge responsibility on my shoulders. And I want to try and be the best team captain that I can be.”

Knight-Wisdom will compete in the three-metre springboard on August 6.