Last week, Cayman’s standout hurdler Ronald Forbes announced his retirement. He finishes his career as one of Cayman’s most decorated athletes, with three Olympics, four world championships appearances and two All-American honours. On 13 Jan., Forbes joined Compass editor-in-chief Kevin Morales to look back on his storied career and what’s next.
KM: What went into your decision to retire?
RF: As an athlete, you get to a certain stage in your career where there’s no doubt that you have surpassed your peak. I knew that any season that I was going to be blessed with past (the 2016 Olympics) was a blessing. And [from] that point, nothing was going to be the same. I was never going to be that good again. From there, I kept on trying for a period of one or two years and after [the 2018 Commonwealth Games], I started to say, ‘This is definitely the time to start making your way out of the sport.’
With every athlete, we hope to compete forever. But we know that’s not the reality in sport, regardless of what your sport is. And I simply sat down for a couple of days and tried to word [the social media post announcing his retirement] the best I could to explain where I was coming from. And most of all, give thanks to the the massive amount of people and the massive amount of support that has gotten me from the point where I was to the point I am now.”
KM: What’s next for you?
RF: Moving forward from here, I still want to keep [active] in sports. And if the right opportunity comes up where I can apply all those skills, knowledge and expertise of my track and field career to help develop the next upcoming generation, especially in Cayman, that is one of the things I want to steer more towards.
KM: Do you envision yourself staying in the US or returning to Cayman?
RF: [My preference] is to come back home, to be honest. I’ve taken the past two years to set myself up to welcome any opportunity that should come my way here in the United States. But, you know, one thing I know, especially in life regardless of sport, is you can’t lie to your heart. I left Cayman [in] 2004. I was just about to turn 19. And one of the many sacrifices I’ve had to to make throughout the course of my life and career was, I’ve had to watch the island develop. I’ve had to watch my family grow up on Facebook. I had a young sister at the time, she was wearing pigtails when I left island. Now she’s a grown woman. I watched my family members get old and pass away. I want to move back home. I say I can’t lie to my heart.
And I think it would do the sport a lot more benefit to develop the skills and talents we have in Cayman.
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Mr Forbes has every reason to be proud of his stellar career at the cost of having to train abroad for so many years. I do hope he follows his heart now, and returns to his to his homeland. Our local athletes would benefit tremendously from his expertise and I hope Govt will offer him a senior coaching position.