Ladyville girl brings home gold
It may be too early to know if Belize has produced another Marion Jones, but even if she never sets a world record, there’s a young lady from Ladyville who has made us proud. Arreini Palacio reports.
These may look like medals accumulate by a seasoned athlete but they belong to thirteen year old Tracy Garnett, one of Belize’s youngest and brightest track stars. This record holder, who has seen competition in Costa Rica and Guatemala, brought home her most recent medals from the Central American Junior Athletic Championship held over last weekend in Nicaragua.
Tracy Garnett, Athlete
“I went and did triple jump and high jump. High jump, I jump 1.54 and in triple jump I jump 10.45.
Well, ih never that hard, but I had a lot of competition, deh gial could jump.”
But she was more than prepared for the stiff competition.
Tracy Garnett
“Every evening after school I go to the track and the coach Mr. Evans train me and other athletes.”
Fred Evans, Coach
“Since January of this year she has been working out at the track almost everyday, which includes speed work, stamina work, skills in terms of high jump, long jump, triple jump techniques. But in addition to that for the past two months, I think two days a week, she used to go into the weights room right here in Ladyville.”
According to her coach, her daily routine only accentuated her natural talent.
Fred Evans
“There tend to be two types of athletes: the gifted athlete that is lazy and the not gifted athlete that work and work and work and get ahead. The athlete that rarely excels is that rare athlete that you find that is gifted and is prepared to work. Tracey falls into that third category. She is gifted and she works.”
Arreini Palacio for News Five.
Garnett was almost dropped from this year’s competition because of some financial constraints, but last minute contributions from her church and school, Our Lady of the Way in Ladyville, helped to provide her ticket. She also hopes to compete in the Cayman Islands in July of this year.
