Imagine as a 14-year-old running, enjoying it, and so incredible are your performances that they land you a place on your country’s Olympic team.
Well, that was once a chapter in the life of Barbados’ youngest ever Olympian and 800m runner, Heather Gooding.
Originally from Belair St. Phillip before moving to neighbouring Ruby Park, Gooding made history when she and a group of young Barbadian women were the first to attend the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany.
The names Heather Gooding, Barbara Bishop, Lorna Forde, Freida Nicholls and the late Marcia Trotman will forever be part of Barbados’ sporting firmament as they all proudly represented the ultra-marine, gold and black. Those five young ladies became an inspiration for other Barbadian females to believe that they too could reach the Olympics.
For Gooding, representing Barbados at the Olympics in the 800m and 4x400m relay that year in 1972 did not have that much of an impact then. And perhaps one can understand why because for Gooding, considered the baby of the team, her sole focus was just getting on the track and running away from the field as fast as possible. Not to mention the Olympics back then compared to recent years did not have all the hype behind it.
“It was fantastic. It was also interesting because of the age I was at which was 14 years old and it was exciting meeting other athletes from all over the world.
Heather Gooding remains Barbados’ youngest ever Olympian.
“Back then attending the Olympics was just normal for me because I loved running so much. Today the Olympics are more exciting but back then it was just another championship I was going to, it wasn’t like, YES, I made it to the Olympics because at that time I didn’t know anything about it. My thing was just running,” Gooding explained.
It was indeed a moment in time that Gooding, now on reflection, appreciates what a significant milestone it was and one that she will forever cherish.
Unstoppable and fearless on the track, Gooding’s fastest time ever was 2:11 in the 800m. It was no surprise that years later the legacy of track and field continued in the Gooding family as her younger cousin Sheena Gooding was also one of this country’s most talented long-distance runners with several national records.
The tradition is set to continue as Ethan Hart who burst onto the scene this year with stellar performances in the 100m, 200m and 400m at the National Primary Schools Athletics Championship is also related to Heather Gooding and Sheena Gooding.
Coached during those days by a family friend named Joseph Gittens who was a teacher at Mapps College in St. Phillip, Gooding, now 62-years-old, had the honour of meeting some amazing individuals at the Olympics.
She rubbed shoulders with Ugandan John Akii-Bua, an Olympic gold medallist in the 400m hurdles, also Trinidadian sprinter Hasely Crawford who won 100m gold at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Canada. And for Gooding, a past member of Super Stars Club, that was the most defining moment of her Olympics career.
A Princess Margaret Secondary School alumna, Gooding began her track and field career while there as an 11-year-old first former. She also left her mark in track and field at that institution with four consecutive victrix ludorum titles from 1971 to 1974 before migrating to England with her mother where she lived for 20 years.
While there Gooding attended two colleges, first it was the People’s College in Nottingham where she pursued secretarial courses. Then Clarendon College also in Nottingham to do telecommunications and electronics where she earned a distinction. She also studied Business Administration through the National Vocational Qualifications in which she also secured a distinction.
In 1994 Gooding returned home to Barbados for good. Today the proud mother of one daughter (Chantelle Coltman) works as a clerical officer at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital where she has been for the last 14 years.
However, she regrets not pursuing a career in electronics or as a full-time track and field coach.
“My passion was electronics. Also, I wanted to be a coach but I never pursued it while I was overseas and that was probably my biggest mistake. But I am quite happy at what I do,” she added.
Despite they not inheriting her running genes, one thing Gooding says she is happy about was that her daughter Chantelle and grandson Nathaniel Coltman attended school in Barbados before migrating to England.
Chantelle who migrated to England 14-years-ago was a former Deighton Griffith Secondary School student, while her son Nathaniel went to Christ Church Foundation School.
“I always said that even before I had children I would never force them to do athletics. Whatever they wanted to do I would be supportive of but I would never force them to do it,” the proud mother said.
As someone who knows what it takes to compete at the international level, Gooding had some advice for this current generation of Barbadian athletes.
“Stay focused on what you are doing. Make sure you are doing your academics along with sports. When I was doing it, I had no one to tell me to do that. I did all my studying when I went to England. But there was no one to tell me to do academics because I lived with my grandparents and you need academics to pursue studies overseas. So, stay focused on your running, enjoy it and keep your head on. But do both and not just one,” she said.
A regular for Barbados at the CARIFTA Games, Gooding also travelled a lot to compete at several regional championships in Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, to name a few.
During her time there were limited resources and Gooding explained that even today there are hardly any facilities for our athletes to train. She suggested that more facilities be made available.
As someone who is passionate about the sport and wants to see our athletes perform well, she said: “They need facilities to start with for most sports in Barbados. We have no Stadium, so we have to lodge at somebody. But I think they need to start there. I don’t know if it will start in the communities where they have grounds that you can go and practise on. I don’t know if it is the Government that would do this but we need more facilities for the athletes, not just track and field but for all disciplines.”
morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb
