Shanoya roasts yam theory - Guardian opens up about Douglas’ speed

Forget the legendary 'yam power' theory as being a main ingredient that goes into developing Jamaican sprinting superstars.

For years, Jamaica's sprint dominance has been linked to the tuber, especially with Trelawny producing icons like Usain Bolt, Veronica Campbell Brown, Michael Frater and Antonio Watson.

The country's youngest star, Shanoya Douglas, has called Trelawny her home since age eight, but, according to her grandaunt and guardian Jacqueline Blake, she is not a yam person.

"Shanoya eat pure burger and them things deh," Blake said, bursting into laughter. "She has to long for food or you cuss her."

Instead of ground provisions and traditional fuel, it seems the 18-year-old's speed might just be powered by fast food cravings and a good dose of personality -- proving that not every sprint star fits the mould.

The Holland High School athlete on Saturday broke the national under-20 200m record with an impressive 22.36 seconds, to win the Class 1 girls' gold medal. Her gold medal performance in the 100m final also placed her among the world's elite sprinters, clocking a world-leading 10.98 seconds.

Both marks moved her to 10th on the world under-20 all-time lists in the respective events.

Blake said Douglas' talent was always evident, but the extent of it was noticed one day when she outran an adult.

"She and my daughter had an altercation. My daughter is a big woman and she said something facety, and she run after her say 'Come ya little pickney'," she said.

Blake recalled with laughter that her daughter couldn't catch little Douglas that day.

"When she run after her, the speed that she took off in and nah stop, mi mean she a breeze, and that's how we discovered she could run. She was that fast," Blake emphasised, still chuckling.

Blake has cared for Douglas, the middle child of three for her mother, since she was eight after she moved from Westmoreland to Trelawny.

"I am the mother of the family and I am a teacher so they wanted me to help her education wise, and I took her to school and got her involved in everything, extra lessons everything," Blake explained.

She describes their relationship as being "like two sisters", said they had discussed her goals moments before the races.

"She is a determined child. If she said she is going to do this, she is going to move to it," Blake said.

"I was saying to her, 'Shanoya, you deh win win all the while, we need to set some time. You need to move from the time'. She said 'Aunty mi ago do it'."

Blake had a front-row seat at the National Stadium on Saturday to see Douglas' achievements.

"For the 200m, I told her 'Mi nuh want any more 23 [seconds] Shanoya. Pass the 23' and she did it," she said, admitting that while she expected improvement, the record was a surprise.

"I am impressed, elated, excited - all the adjectives that you can find. I am a proud mother, even though she is not my birth child. Her mother is proud, the entire family is proud," she said.

Douglas' coach, Garth Smythe, said for him, the record-breaking performance was much anticipated.

"If you look at previous interviews, I did not say what time she was going to run, but I told them she is going to run sub-11 [in the 100 metres] and we already knew the 200m record was going to be broken. That was the icing on the cake but we know who Shanoya is," he explained.

Smythe said her achievements proved her resilience, as he noted that she excelled in the 100m despite feeling discomfort in her knees.

"After the semi-final while warming up for the final, she fell twice and her knees were a little swollen so she ran that time with a swollen knee," he said.

Douglas who is in lower sixth form, was welcomed back to school yesterday morning with a warm celebration that included family, friends, teachers, students, and community members. Festivities included a motorcade to the nearby parish capital, Falmouth.

Though described as shy, Blake said Douglas is now embracing the spotlight following her achievements.

"She didn't want the excitement. One of my friends even spoke to her and said, 'Shanoya, if you don't want the limelight, when you go on the track come last then'," she said. She added that Douglas' response was, "'Mi nuh deh pan that aunty'."