‘This is for you, pops’
Late father’s memory fuels Sanjay Seymore to Class One 200m title
Published:Sunday | March 30, 2025 | 12:07 AM
“THIS IS for you, pops”
The message scribbled on the shirt of boys’ Class One 200-metre champion Sanjay Seymore tells the story of an athlete’s desire to honour the memory of his father, Randolph Scott Seymore, who passed away last year.
Seymore of William Knibb High won the coveted half-lap title yesterday at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships in 21.27 seconds.
Calabar’s Junior Galimore finished second in 21.42, while Markel Smith of Kingston College (KC) rounded off the podium in 21.54.
After the win, Seymore dedicated the win to his father, who he described as one of his biggest supporters throughout his early career.
“This means a lot for me. Last year my father died. He has been supporting me throughout the years, so I had to come out here and do it for him,” Seymore said in a post-race interview with The Gleaner.
Coming off the bend, Seymore had a lot of work to do as he was behind the pace with Calabar’s Galimore looking prime to take the gold medal.
He explained he did not panic because he knew he had the strength to get by his competitors down the homestretch.
“I’m feeling very great with my win. I’ve been working on my relaxation. You saw in the race that I wasn’t in first for a big part of the race but coming home, I remained focused and relaxed and once I did that, I was able to win that race,” said Seymore.
“It is what my coach taught me in training that coming off the bend, I need to stay relaxed. He always says to me to just know that I need to come through. He says I have a tall figure, so I have more stride length and everything over the others, so I just listened to him and did that.”
Seymore’s win was also inspired by the legacy of his school’s most famous alumnus, Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt.
Seymore became the first athlete from William Knibb to claim the boys’ Class One 200-metre since Bolt achieved the feat in 2003, setting the Champs record of 20.25.
Running from lane seven was even further inspiration for Seymore as it was the same lane Bolt had famously run from in the 200-metre final at the 2012 Olympics.
“Being from William Knibb, that pushed me very much, knowing that Usain Bolt came from my school and that he ran his big race from lane seven. So when I saw I was running from lane seven today, it just motivated me to come out here and do my best and that got me the victory.”
Before the start of the championships, Bolt had donated $2 million which Seymore said really helped with the team’s efforts at Champs.