Belmont Park's Chambers creates buzz at Primary Champs

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

The hundreds of track and field fans who turned out at the National Stadium on Saturday to watch the final day of the Institute of Sports (INSPORTS)/Swizzzle Primary Schools Championships were left stunned by the performance of Belmont Park's double sprint champion Raheem Chambers.

Chambers, age 12, brought the packed grandstand to life when he outclassed the field and clocked a new meet record of 24.13 seconds to win the boys' Class One 200m, erasing the previous mark of 24.58.

Raje Fearon of St Francis, the favourite to win the event, could only manage second in 24.25.

Dessin Taylor of Ocho Rios won the bronze in 26.41.

The fleet-footed Chambers then returned to capture the 100m in a personal best time of 11.98 seconds, finishing ahead of Fearon (12.21) and Jason Nash (13.01) of Harbour View.

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Janet Clarke, who journeyed from Spanish Town, said she was amazed by Chambers' efforts.

"I have been watching primary champs for a very long time and this is one of the best performances I have ever witnessed by an athlete. I just hope this boy will go on to do great things for Jamaica in the future," she said.

David Jones, who described himself as a die-hard track and field fan, was very surprised with Chambers' performances, especially in the 100m.

"It is very rare that you find a 12-year-old running below 12 seconds, and so I was very surprised," he said. "I also thought that he did fairly well in the 200m because he had to come from behind and he showed a lot of determination.

Belmont Park's coach, Damion Rowe, who has been conditioning Chambers for the past four years, said he is a very disciplined athlete.

"Raheem is a very hard worker in training and he knows what he is about, and this makes my job a lot easier. I I think that he is now poised for great things in the future," Rowe said.

He added: "We had a very simple training programme for him because you can't stress the youngsters. But what we did was to work on his technique, and everything just fell in place."

Chambers, an admirer of Olympic 100m and 200m champion Usain Bolt, was delighted with his effort.

"I am feeling very happy and excited to have won the sprint double here today," said Chambers. "Both races were pretty challenging, but I prayed before each race and the Lord answered my prayers.

"I was the champion last year (200m) and I am just very happy that I was able to defend my title," said Chambers, who added that he would like to attend Calabar High.