Sealy sees the silver lining

Senior national 800m record holder Sade Sealy has said that with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics now cancelled until next year, it gives her more time to train even harder, improve on her time and qualify for the two-lap race.

A former outstanding student-athlete of The Lodge School who also had the distinction of attending Illinois State University, Sealy has boarded many flights to represent Barbados over the years. She has graced the tracks at CARIFTA Games, Central American and Caribbean Championship, Pan American Games and the World Championship. But there is just one that has eluded her and that’s the Olympics.

“The Olympics would definitely be the ultimate career achievement and I am glad I have another year to work at it and be the best I can be. There is always disappointment there but you have to take the positives out of every situation and I think that another year to work on my weaknesses and improve my craft will help me to be even better,” Sealy said.

Before the Coronavirus inserted itself into the picture, Sealy had her focus on attending the Grenada Invitational which she normally attends every year and said now with her time of 2:02.23 ran in the 800m at the Pan American Games last year in Lima, Peru, she was certain of possibly getting into a couple of meets in Jamaica, the United States of America and even Europe.

That outstanding fourth-place performance (2:02.23) at the Pan American Games in 2019 was, in fact, Sealy’s personal best, running a second faster than she did before the championship.

The talented quarter-miler told Barbados TODAY she was confident of running even faster this year based on her time during previous meets run locally following the Pan American Games and also what was clocked during practice sessions.

Before switching her focus a lot more on the 800m, Sealy was also known for her dominant performances in the 400m back in the day as a young upcoming track athlete. Sealy has been in such tremendous form this year that in the 1500 metres she ran 19 seconds faster for a new personal best of 4:25 minutes.

Like many other athletes, Sealy is also on lockdown and as a distance runner, she is unable to go on the road for long runs. Therefore, her time is spent doing circuit workouts sent by coach Leo Garnes. She has also implemented yoga into her routine.

Sealy took time to praise the young upcoming athletes, particularly those quarter-milers that have great potential. She noted that compared to previous years the times were not as fast but with hard work, she was confident that many of them would have a bright future.

“Compared to previous years they are not running as fast as in previous years. But I think we are on the right track. There are a couple of young people I see coming up that can only get better. Watching them at training because I do the workout with some of them, they are looking really good,” she explained.

morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb