Former national sprinter gets track jitters

Francis “ Big Buddy “ Williams, a former St Vincent and Grenadines sprinter, is happy to witness in person, that local athletes can have a synthetic track on which to train and compete.

Williams, who resides in the USA but is on a short visit back to the land of his birth, was on hand last Saturday as Team Athletics hosted its second Development Meet for 2022.

Buoyed by the occasion, Williams told SEARCHLIGHT : “ I was looking forward to this moment that I can come and witness athletes in some sort of competition… What I have seen from the young athletes has been impressive and what it says is that the coaches are working, they are making their contributions” .

Williams who was among the lot that represented St Vincent and the Grenadines at the first Junior Carifta Games in 1972 and subsequently competed at the regional Games in 1973 and 1974, noted that only good can come from having such a facility.

“ It is very, very exciting and I hope that this facility can lift the standard of Track and Field in St Vincent and the Grenadines and help us to compete better regionally and internationally”, he noted.

Despite not fully developed, Williams said the facility is very much welcomed.

“ At least it is a start … I sincerely hope that the government will devote resource towards bringing the facility up to standard, put in lights and so forth”, he reasoned.

Such has been the impact the facility on him that Williams admitted getting jittery.

“Just looking at the athletes on the track make me want to put on my running spikes again”, he quipped.

He is not however ruling out actually competing at the facility at some point in the future.

“ I will be happy to come back and compete in some kind of Masters Championships doing at least a 50 metres or 100metres sprint”, an excited Williams commented.

Locally, Williams competed for Montrose in local track and field meets.

Nationally, apart from representing St Vincent and the Grenadines at the Junior Carifta level, Williams participated in the Whitsuntide Games in Grenada, as well as the Commonwealth Games in 1978, staged in Montreal, Canada.