Kyron McMaster made history when he became the
territory's first IAAF World Jr. Championships medalist in Bydgoszcz, Poland,
on July 23
TORTOLA-After 30 years of participating, Kyron McMaster won the territory's first medal in its history at
the IAAF World Jr. Championships, when he claimed 400m Hurdles bronze on
Saturday in Bydgoszcz, Poland. The BVI has been participating in IAAF World Jr.
competition since 1986.
The long striding McMaster placed third behind Jamaica's
Jaheel Hyde who successfully defended his title in 49.03 seconds-becoming the
first two times winner-and the USA's Taylor McLaughlin, who passed him just
before the line for silver, in a personal best of 49.45 as he grabbed third
place with a personal best and National Record, 49.56.
"Coming through the last three hurdles, I took a look at the
field to see what position I was in and my intent was to stay in medal
contention by any means and I prevailed with that," McMaster said. "I was in
second until the last hurdle and couldn't feel my legs but at the same time, I
had to keep mentally focused and run through it."
McMaster said he has been working hard since 2014 when he
failed to get out of the preliminary rounds at the Youth Olympic Games.
"To come here in 2016 and make each of the rounds to the
final and win a medal, is a big deal for me," he said.
Through early May, McMaster wasn't even thinking about World
Juniors. As a student at Central Arizona and winning the Jr. Colleges Indoor
400m title in March, he turned his focus on competing in the Carifta Games but
missed the meet and the outdoor season after Doctors told him not to run
because of a lower back stress fracture.
"Not being able to compete outdoors, really affected me," he
said. "When I came home, my coach (Dag Samuels) began working with me. We had a
meeting and he said 'let's do this. Let's go World Juniors.' And I said 'coach,
you know the situation.' At that moment, I couldn't run. Within a week, Coach
worked on me, got me to the point where I could be able to train, then to the
point where I could compete and then qualify, so he played an important role
and I thank him for that."
Samuels
said it was unfortunate that McMaster was unable to train properly or compete,
even at a single outdoor meet, as he was plagued with excruciating pain between
January and May.
"When he
returned home, immediately we went to work. The first task was getting him
healthy and while doing so, have him compete to achieve the qualifying standard
for the World Jr. Championships," Samuels explained. "With that being
accomplished it became a matter of TLC to his injury but at the same time
enforcing the daily work and that was a crafty task. We knew that he was
capable of running 49 but we had to be patient and wait. After the first round,
we knew two things-he would medal and secondly he would run 49 and he
accomplished both. Kyron is a talented but hard worker, a coach's dream. His
goals are very high and he pursues his endeavor daily and with zeal."
McMaster
said being out of collegiate competition affected him badly. If he had the
chance, he would have come into the meet with a higher ranking. He said being
released from Central Arizona-before being able to even compete outdoors-put
him into a different zone where he had to strive and become more focused.
"People
would say getting released from Central Arizona would have a negative impact,
but getting released was probably the best thing because it showed me how to
work, achieve my goal and don't take anything for granted," he said, noting
that recruiters have been after him after easily winning his preliminary heat
in 51.77 seconds followed by a 50.49 semifinal. "Getting the bronze medal and
running 49.56 just seals the deal that a lot of people are after me. Off the top
of my head, Florida, Georgia, UTEP, Nebraska and South Carolina have all shown
interest so far."
The BVI has now won medals in three of four IAAF World Athletics
Series events. Tahesia Harrigan-Scott won 60m indoor bronze in 2008, the relay
quartet of Taylor Hill, Nelda Huggins, Jonel Lacey and Tarika Moses, World
Youth Championships bronze in 2013. Harrigan-Scott was also an IAAF World
Outdoor Championships 100m semifinalist in 2009.
McMasters' 49.56 seconds run breaks Antigua and Barbuda Rai
Benjamin's Leeward Islands Record of 49.82 and is .06 off Grenada's Shane
Charles' OECS record of 49.51 from 2006.
McMaster and Grenada's Anderson Peters are the only OECS
athletes winning World Jr. Championships medals-the first pair of males in the
region to ever do so at the championships-after Peters grabbed Javelin Throw
bronze with a personal best and national record throw of 79.65m.
