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Youth in Focus: Sampson symbolises strength
By Edison Jefford
When you are a domestic champion, who completely obliterates opposition, competing becomes so monotonous that it forces a yearning for greater challenges. Jevina Sampson is at that place in her career where her aspirations are beyond these borders.
And why not! The pint-sized, track phenom has beaten everyone who dared to challenge her for that coveted place on the apex of her generation of athletes. Sampson is name and nature; as the Holy Bible suggests,
Jevina Sampson
Sampson epitomises immense strength.
Representing North Georgetown at the recently-concluded National Schools’ Championships as a fourth form student of Christ Church Secondary School, the 15-year-old Sampson was sublime with three gold medals in the sprint events at the National Stadium.
“That was my intention, to get the three gold medals and to break records, but I did not break any records. I believe with how I had to run in that order, I was a bit tired; but I am satisfied with my performance,” the usually quiet Sampson told Kaieteur Sport.
She began with the 100m Under-16 race where she faced-off with Running Braves Athletic Club teammate, Natricia Hooper, for her first gold medal of the 2013 competition. Sampson blasted to 12.4 seconds for a comfortable win. The 100m showdown between Sampson and Hooper was an introduction to 48 hours of rivalry among the two top athletes.
Sampson went on to win the 200m in 26.0 seconds and 400m in 59.7 seconds, relegating Hooper to second on both occasions. Her triple-gold medal performance at mid-teen has no doubt made a mark on the landscape of athletics in Guyana for the athlete.
But Sampson is used to such success. In fact, her 59.7 seconds time was much slower this year at 15 years old than when she was 14 years old last year. She has the National Schools’ 400m U-16 record with 58.8 seconds, which was done in 2012 at the Stadium.
She first caught the attention of aficionados at age nine at the Mackenzie Sports Club Ground in Linden when she won two silver medals. Since then, her ascendancy has been consistent until an unfortunate injury had sidelined her for quite sometime.
Sampson was plagued with quadriceps injuries late last year and early this year, which forced her out of contention for the 2013 CARIFTA Games. She returned to competition in late April with a 58.7-second 400m race at the National Youth and Junior Championships.
That performance against teammates, Avon Samuels and Hooper, sounded the clear warning that one of the most naturally gifted and talented local female athletes was back in top shape. She did not believe that then however, stating that she could have ran faster.
Sampson originally hails from Kwakwani, a sports-oriented community that set high standards in sports. She is one of two children to her parents. Her uncle, Omally Sampson plays basketball for Kings in Linden and her grandfather, Arthur Sampson was a close family-friend of the late, Elton Jefford, who started his sprinting career in Kwakwani.
Sampson, therefore, was exposed to a community of sportsmen and women at a very early age. It is no wonder that her competitive nature is extremely high. Two years ago, the junior athlete had turned down a scholarship offer to Singapore for personal reasons.
Many pundits felt that Sampson was making a decision to put her career on the backburner at the time, but the family of the athlete believed that she was too young to be whisked away to foreign territory without proper structures in place for them to offer supervision.
To this day, Sampson shows no sign of regret, but keeps her mind focus on the big prize. “I want to make the CARIFTA team next year and with the help of God, I know that I will,” she told this newspaper when asked what is next on her agenda. But for now, Sampson remains quintessential in athletics and academics, which made her our ‘Youth in Focus’ this week.
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