Caymanian runner Jamal Walton, whose track career had seemingly vanished over the past two years, is back in training, having rediscovered his competitive spirit just months before the Olympic Games.
Walton, 25, who holds multiple national records for his homeland, including the senior 400-metre mark of 44.99 seconds – a time that’s lower than this year’s Olympic A-cut – confirmed with the Compass that his hiatus has been a result of injuries.
“When I left Texas A&M and went to Florida State, I got hurt… and I’ve been injury-prone ever since,” he said. “Every time I ran, I would pull up. I felt like my muscles were just weak, so I just stayed away from the weight room and just stayed away from running because my coach just told me to rest and that is what I’ve been doing.”
Walton’s accomplishments at the national junior level exceeded past and present athletes from Cayman; he was the only Caymanian runner to have won gold medals at the CAC Junior Championships, Pan American Junior Championships and CARIFTA Games; he also won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Youth Games.
At just 18 years old, Walton advanced to the semi-finals of the 2017 World Championships, placing 13th overall, ahead of previous Olympic medallists LaShawn Merritt and Lalonde Gordon.
He has also shattered multiple NCAA records during his time at Texas A&M.
Prior to 2022, Walton was considered to have unlimited potential, but perhaps this year could mark his resurgence as one of the best ever to represent Cayman in athletics.
He said it would be ideal to return to the track in the ‘city of love’ alongside his countrymen to compete in the relay.
A team of Olympic finalist?
“I feel like I am a sprinter right now,” he said, noting that he isn’t ready to compete in the 400m – his most successful event.
“I am not open for the 400 right now, I’m not ready, but I feel like we can do a relay.”
He suggested a 4x100m relay team, consisting of himself, Davonte Howell, Jaiden Reid, and Olympian Kemar Hyman – four of the seven fastest Caymanian sprinters of all time.
While no one in that quartet has secured an Olympic qualifying time – Howell being the closest out of the four this season – they could still hit the track together by way of an invitation from the Olympic Games Tripartite Commission.
It’s a four-man team that Walton believes could best the majority of the competition in Paris this summer.
“I think we could make it through the prelims for sure,” he said with confidence. “We put that together, we can probably even make it to the finals; I think we can make top eight, top nine. Cayman should put it together.”
The chances of the proposed 4x100m team may be far-fetched when considering all the other athletes within their respective sports who are also deserving of an invitation should they not hit an eligible mark before the qualifying window closes.
Additionally, officials at the Cayman Islands Athletic Association confirmed with the Compass that they are in talks with the Cayman Islands Olympic Committee to assemble a team, but suggested that it may not feature Walton.
Should the CIOC and CIAA come to an agreement, it would mark the first time in the country’s history for a 4x100m team to compete at the Olympic Games, but not the first time the Olympic Committee has been approached by the CIAA regarding a relay team.
While Walton holds on to hope, he said his priority in on training and trying to graduate, noting that everything else will fall into place from there.
“Right now I am at the University of St. Thomas,” Walton said. “I’m just trying to get my school situated, so I can graduate… I’ve been training since I got back from Texas last year. I just feel like I wasn’t ready to compete as yet that’s the reason I haven’t been on any track meets.”
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