Jevina Straker blazing trail to Olympic glory

At 15 years old junior middle distance runner Jevina Straker is blazing a trail of glory which she hopes will one day lead to her ultimate goal of competing at the Olympic Games.

Jevina Straker
Jevina Straker

Straker who won the girls under-17 1500 metres gold medal at the 2009 Junior Carifta Games in St. Lucia is destined to climb the world athletic stage with the right assistance.
She returned to Guyana Monday after placing second in the women’s division of the Prime Minister’s 10km road race in Antigua/Barbuda last weekend.

Straker finished behind her more seasoned Guyanese teammate Alika Morgan, the two athletes are members of the Rising Stars Track Club run by veteran distance running athletics coach Leslie Blacks.

The fifth form student of Tutorial High School told Stabroek Sport in an exclusive interview that she was  looking forward to performing well in her CSEC examinations next year in an effort to secure an athletic scholarship.

“I am interested in becoming a pharmacist or an architect and have been studying hard to achieve my goal despite my serious athletic training,” Straker said.

According to Straker, she trains six days a week in the mornings at the National Park with Saturdays being set aside as a rest day.

Even as Tutorial High celebrates its 70th Anniversary this year, Straker is prepared to make her school proud at this year’s National Schools athletics championships.

She captured three first places in the 800, 1500 and 3000 metres at her school’s recent Inter-House sports and has been identified to compete in the schools championships.

Many believed that Straker was given a raw deal when she was sidelined from participating in the 6TH IAAF World Youth Games in Italy earlier this year following her gold medal wining feat and qualifying time at the Junior Carifta Games.

She made the qualifying mark in the girls Under-17 800 metres with a time of 2:14:74 but was later told by local athletic officials that she was too young to compete at the Games since she was born in 1994 and to be eligible she would have had to be born between 1992 and 1993.

Straker,  who started running four years ago, came to prominence last year when she won the girls under-15 800 metres race at Hampton Games in Trinidad and Tobago and continued her impressive form in winning the 800 and 1500 metres at the Inter-Guiana Games staged in Guyana earlier this year.

She returned to the Twin Island Republic this year and finished first in the girls under-17 800 metres event and was second in the 1500 metres.

Her father James Straker is confident that Jevina will reach very far in her athletic career but he also highlighted the challenges facing the young athlete. He said that he was  finding it very difficult to secure sponsorship for Jevina for her to compete in events overseas and has made an appeal to corporate Guyana to offer assistance to the young athlete.

While one of her main goals would be to secure a scholarship to the United States,  Straker has her mind focus on competing in the 2012 Olympic Games in London and bringing glory to the land of her birth.