‘This one’s for you’ ‘This one’s for you’ - Gayle vows to help underprivileged youth after PM Youth Award nomination
Published:Tuesday | December 8, 2020 | 12:12 AM
World Champion long jumper Tajay Gayle says that being shortlisted for a Prime Minister National Youth Award for Excellence in Sports is another step in helping to unlock the ambition of youngsters from underprivileged communities.
The 24-year-old is among seven athletes shortlisted in the category from various disciplines including non-traditional sports such as karate, kickboxing, and water polo. The awards recognise excellence in the respective fields of young people and their contributions to national development. The winner will be announced during a virtual ceremony on Sunday.
“All of this is very important for me for people to see and realise that they don’t have to come from a certain place to be where you want to be,” Gayle told The Gleaner.
The Papine High School alumnus enjoyed a 2019 season that included a silver medal at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, then subsequently capturing the world title at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar, in a national record of 8.69m. Additionally, the distance is the 10th longest jump in history.
Apart from his on-the-field goals, Gayle says that he is exploring ways of giving back to the sport and ensuring its long-term future for the next generation, which he hopes to begin after the Olympics next year.
“Not now, but maybe in the future [I would like to] maybe go to schools, build sandpits and things like that and try and develop the programme in sports,” he said. “In order to keep Jamaica on the map, we have to keep doing things like that.”
Surfer Elishama Beckford, who is also among the seven shortlisted, says that being nominated will help to increase the sport’s profile nationally.
“Surfing is a sport that is on the rise in Jamaica,” he said. “I definitely feel like I’m in the driver’s seat where I’m taking surfing to the next level in Jamaica and putting Jamaica on the map for surfing. So it’s definitely an honour to be recognised by the Government as a national athlete.”
Taekwondo athlete Shauna Kay Hines was last year’s recipient of the award.
List of Nominees:
Tajay Gayle: Athletics
Dwayne Walker: Bodybuilding
Richard Stone: Kickboxing
Rachel Minto Walker: Water Polo
Rachel Miller: Chess
Jasmine Barrows: Karate
Elishama Beckford: Surfing