Ameilia Gillispie has set her eyes on the 2016 Olympics in the most challenging of events and really believes she can qualify for the Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The 17-year-old Cayman Bracker made history for Cayman last year at the Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships in El Salvador, when she became the first female athlete to medal in the heptathlon for the Cayman Islands.
The heptathlon competition is a Herculean test, comprised of seven events over two days – 100 metres hurdles, 200m, 800m, shot put, javelin, high jump and long jump.
Gillispie is one of the athletes that Merta Day, Department of Sports women’s coordinator, wants to highlight for Honouring Women’s Month.
“Ameilia is an up-and-coming athlete with a bright future. She has had to overcome so many hurdles – no pun intended – in order to get to the point she has,” Day said.
“Perhaps her story will inspire others to not let little things get in their way, but rather to stick to their dreams, and eventually with God’s good grace, that dream will come true.”
Her journey began when she qualified for the CAC Junior Championships at the BAYTAF Classic Meet in Tampa, Florida last summer. And to think that Gillispie made this remarkable achievement without actually training with hurdles in Cayman Brac until January 2012. Before the hurdles arrived, she and her coach Harold “Mitchum” Sanford used milk crates to practice.
But things did not just fall into place when the hurdles did arrive. Gillispie struggled.
So difficult was the timing of the sprint between the hurdles, that she could not compete in the 100m hurdles to qualify for the 2012 CARIFTA Games, this just made her more determined to do so at the CAC Games, which she did, winning a bronze.
Gillispie has always been a natural athlete. She started in track events such as the 100m and 200m, but coach Sanford noticed her ability in throwing and jumping as well. So they came up with a plan for the heptathlon, where she has excelled.
Now she loves the challenge of digging deep to compete seven times in two days. “The charge I get from competing is indescribable. It is challenging, but I love it,” Gillispie said.
She knows a lot about determination and discipline.
“When I wake up, I have a plan for the day. I know what I have to train for and what I have to eat for the day. It is hard sometimes, because I don’t always want to do this but coach Harold and my parents really see me through at all times. “They are my biggest cheering section and I am so grateful. My parents, Donovan and Jennifer, are so proud of me and this fuels my hunger to win,” she added.
Cayman Brac Sports Coordinator Harold Sanford said: “I’m extremely proud of Ameilia’s achievements. She works hard and puts in the training time and effort.”
Gillispie is proud to be selected for Honouring Women’s Month. “I am so happy that Ms Merta has selected me for Honouring Women Month.
“So many good things have come through sports. I have learnt a lot about myself and sports made me stronger and a better person, because of meeting new people and experiencing new cultures which gives me confident to deal with just about any situation.
“I hope that other young women will see my story and say: ‘If Amelia can do it so can I’. If it weren’t for sports, I wouldn’t be in this newspaper article. That says a lot now, doesn’t it?” she mused.
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