Cayman could have another Olympic athlete booking his place to Beijing this weekend.
Forbes is determined to get the Olympic mark this weekend. Photo: Submitted |
Sprint hurdler Ronald Forbes is in action again at a meet at the University of Miami and if he can produce the same form as last weekend, that Olympic berth will be confirmed.
Forbes turned 23 last weekend and his birthday treat to himself was to run the 110 metres inside the Olympic qualifying mark of 13.72 seconds. Only problem was that his time of 13.67secs was done with the aid of a strong wind which was over the legal limit for it to count as legit. He was running in the Florida Relays at the University of Miami meet. Last week he was Sun Belt Conference Track Performer of the Week.
Forbes is optimistic as he is a novice in the event because injury and studies sidelined him for so long.
‘I was introduced to this event in ’05 and only had a few months to learn it,’ Forbes says over the phone from Florida International University where he is studying liberal studies.
‘In ’06 I got injured and couldn’t actually put out the amount of effort I wanted. And in ’07 I got a glimpse of what I could do in the event but got hurt within the first two months of competition and was out for the rest of the year. So I’ve learnt from those previous mistakes and instances about what to do and what not to do.’
Sprint hurdles is one of the hardest track events to master because it only lasts seconds but it is very technical. There is little margin for error.
‘You practise drills day in and day out just to be on edge all the time. When I actually ran that time last weekend, they put me in the slowest heat of the day for some reason.
‘There wasn’t anyone to chase or push me. I time I did was really just a glimpse of what I believe I can do. It was only my second race of the season and second 110m since ’06. The time was good and wind related but I have the greatest confidence that I can put that time way lower than that. Beijing is my life dream.’
Forbes will graduate on April 29 and then be able to fully concentrate on athletics.
‘Once that is over and I’ve graduated we have lots of meets to go for. Either Penn Relays, Drake Relays, the Sun Belt Conference or the East Regionals. And then there’s the NCAA nationals. Once the school record is out of the way I’ll just be strictly training and competing.’
He won’t return to Cayman but for personal reasons until the summer is done. ‘Home doesn’t really have a proper track right now and some of the resources I have here I don’t really have at home.’
He competes this weekend at the University of Miami Elite meet in the 110m hurdles again and possibly the 200m.
He was a discus thrower before and briefly a 100m hurdler before moving to the 400m hurdles. ‘I did the 400m hurdles for years. That’s what actually got me into college.
‘My coach, Eric Campbell, says: ‘Man, you’re a baby to this event.’ He says I’ve just learnt how to do this and I’ve been hurt in the two years I should have been learning to do it. He’s pleased with what we’ve accomplished in the last three months.’
People that know him, say Forbes is an old head on young shoulders. A committed Christian, he finds it natural to mentor people not much younger than himself. No wonder he already has a huge fan base.
‘My friends have been watching me for the last eight years. They’ve seen where I’ve came from. There’s a lot of senior citizens too. Some people who haven’t even turned teenagers yet say they want to be like me. It’s a lot of people who look up to me and I just try to keep on doing the right thing.’
Forbes is so heavily monitored that as he finishes a race friends phone immediately to give their appraisal. The attention has neither spoilt nor pressurised him.
‘I try to do everything I can and tell youngsters there is an alternative to violence or driving at 120mph at 3am.
‘The world is yours if you decide to take it. No one says that because you come from an island of 50,000 that you can’t go in the world of 50 million and make yourself known.
‘I always try to instil that in them. You can be someone. It doesn’t matter where you’re from, who you’re for or what people see you as, you can be whatever you want to be as long as you put your mind to it.’
So will an Olympic place be his after this weekend?
‘If they don’t mess up and put me in another slow heat again so that I can actually run against someone who is either above my ability or can give me a challenge, I’ll really try to make that mark.’
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