SUNDAY 10 SEPTEMBER, 2017 – UWI TODAY
7
CAMPUS HERO
Nyoshia doesn’t know why her Cougars’ coach singled
her out for the opportunity to participate in the Paralympics
– she’d never run competitively before – but, whatever the
reason, he was right.
Had she not been propelled to participate in the
Paralympics, Nyoshia says, she would have continued with
volleyball and “seen how far I would have reached.” If she
didn’t get very far, she would have been happy to “be an
average person and just do normal things.”
As fate would have it, Nyoshia was not meant to be
average. And she’s happy she took the leap. “At least I
wouldn’t have any regrets in life, in terms of ‘I should have,
and if I could have’ ... I know that I would have gone into
this and not regret that I didn’t.”
Since she began track and field competitively in
2014, Nyoshia has run seven races, six of them classifying
as international competitions – her first, the Mexico
Championships in Mexico City, was just a “meet”, she says
(although she won her first two gold medals there) – and
she has come away with eight gold medals (the Mexico
Championships in 2014, the Arizona Desert Challenge in
2016 and 2017, and the USA National Championships in
Los Angeles in 2017), one silver medal (the Arizona Desert
Challenge in 2017), and four bronze medals (theWorld Para
Athletics Championships in 2015 and 2017, the Paralympics
in Rio in 2016, and the USA National Championships in
2017). Nyoshia competes in 100m and 200m races and
runs in the T44 category, which means, she explains, “that
one of your legs, either right or left, has a deficiency below
the knee.” Some people may wear prostheses, others, like
her, may not.
Of her professional track and field career so far, Nyoshia
says, “it worked out ... I have no regrets,” although she will
admit to a couple … disappointments. She acknowledges
that she’s had an “opportunity”, and talent, we might add,
that “not many people would have gotten,” and she’s happy
that she placed in the top three at the 2016 Paralympics.
Yet, “getting bronze last year was, to me, disappointing,” she
explains. “I know that I could have done better.”
An athlete truly passionate about her sport, Nyoshia
has watched the video of her performance in the 100m
race “over and over and over and over,” and knows exactly
what happened and when. She was in the lead, pulled her
hamstring and fell back. “I felt as if something pulled and I
thought, ‘gosh! I just need to finish this race!’” she recalls.
And that she did, placing third, despite her injury.
She remembers another, more recent disappointment,
at this year’s World Para Athletics Championships in
London. “I got another bronze in the same 100m, which was
yet another disappointment,” she says, laughing. “One would
know their potential … and there’s always a disappointing
moment when you don’t get that goal.”
There was a “false start in the finals, and they only called
back the race when we reached almost 50 metres down
the straight.” She thought, “I just used up so much energy,
to have to come back to try to get more energy to finish
this race.” But she was game. She went back to the starting
line and began again. Nyoshia was in second place as she
approached the finish line, “and after a while, my legs just
started to give up and my competitor came and crossed me
on the line.” She came in third once more – not what she
imagined for herself, but she took it in stride. “All is not lost,
because I know that if I can consistently come third, three
years consecutively, there is a lot of room for improvement,
but I’m not far from that improvement. It’s just being able
to execute a better race next time.”
As Nyoshia knows right now, she doesn’t “have any
big international meets next year,” but she’s working
hard to “push myself, because in 2019 there will be two
major championships, which are ParaPan (the ParaPan
American Games) and Worlds (the World Para Athletics
Championships).”
Where Nyoshia sees disappointment for herself, the
average Trinbagonian recognises her huge accomplishments
and is proud to call her our own. She has come home to a
lot of attention and, although she’s happy for the praise, she
admits that it can be overwhelming. “It puts a lot of pressure
on you. You canmakemistakes, but nothing drastic, because
somebody is always watching you. Somebody’s always
looking up to you, so you have to be very careful because
what you do in life may affect other people’s lives.”
She reveals that, with all the media attention, “people
expect so much from you and there’ll be a moment where
you think, ‘could I fulfil what everybody wants me to
fulfil?’” Track and field, she explains, is not a team sport. She
competes as an individual so there’s extra pressure. “There
will be a lot of negative remarks if you don’t bring home a
medal,” for example. Ever-confident, however, she shares
that “at the end of the day, I am satisfied with any result that
I get, and I believe that, once you put your best foot forward,
you don’t have to listen to the negative remarks ... it’s for you
to find something within you to propel you even further.”
Her family’s support helps her to cope with the pressure
that has come with being such a talented athlete. Her
parents, sister and brothers are, undoubtedly, her biggest
fans. “They support me in any and everything that I do,”
she says.
And Nyoshia has quite a bit on her plate. In addition
to completing her Bachelor’s degree in Sports Management
at UWI’s Faculty of Social Sciences (she’s in her second
year), she is busy preparing for the 2019 Paralympics. With
gym training three times a week, track training four times,
physical therapy sessions and, of course, school, she must
ensure she sets aside time for rest. “Hard work takes a toll
on your body.”
How does she manage it all? Excellence requires
determination, Nyoshia advises. “If you’re not determined,
or focus-driven… then youmay not [performat] the best of
your ability.” But, once you focus, she says, you will succeed.
“What I am learning, is that sometimes we say we
‘can’t’. Actually, you can. But, when you say you can’t do
something, you’re programming your mind and your body
to function as if you can’t do it.” Anytime you’re faced with
an obstacle or difficult situation, she says, “taking negative
words out of your vocabulary and out of your system, will
help you to achieve anything that you want.” It doesn’t just
apply to athletics, she adds. “It goes for your job, your goals
and aspirations.”
Her dreams of representing T&T internationally
achieved, Nyosia now has other aspirations, many of
which will be affected by her degree. Long term, “I want
to help develop Paralympics in T&T and, by extension, the
Caribbean.” She’d like to become a coach and encourage
more people to become involved in track and field. Her
more immediate focus, however, is finishing her degree and
winning gold in the 2019 Paralympics.
“taking negative words
out of your vocabulary
and out of your system,
will help you to achieve
anything that you want.”
It doesn’t just apply to
athletics, she adds. “It
goes for your job, your
goals and aspirations.”
Serah Acham is a freelance writer.
