JayBlem celebrates KC’s latest Champs victory

Former Kingston College (KC) track and field athlete-turned-dancehall artiste JayBlem is ecstatic as his alma mater took its 34th Boys' Champs title last Saturday.

The Street Knowledge deejay, who traded his spikes for the microphone, said that he watched the ISSA GraceKennedy Boys' and Girls' Athletics Championships closely from overseas and remained up to date with everything. He said his proudest moment was seeing his former teammate and current captain Bouwahjgie Nkrumie set a new record of 9.99 seconds to win the Class 1 100 metres, becoming the first Jamaican junior to run sub-10 in the event.

"Bouwahjgie a like mi likkle bredda, so mi proud a him. Nuff times mi deh deh fi motivate him, so mi proud a him and proud a the rest a the team," he said.

JayBlem, give name Jaheim Cox, said that his most memorable moment at Champs was in 2019 when KC ended Calabar's run of seven straight titles.

"I was actually a part of the team that broke the winning streak, so that made it most memorable for me," he said. "Mi do long jump and triple jump. That year deh mi come third inna triple jump and third inna long jump." He was also a member of KC's 4 x 100m relay team.

The following year, Champs was suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ironically, JayBlem had his greatest performance in track and field that year.

"My best performance was at the Corporate Area Champs. Mi distribute the most points for my team at that [year] because me did win long jump and triple," he shared. But his most disappointing performance was at the 2019 Carifta Games.

"I was the favourite to win both events, but I had a knee injury so mi never really get fi perform at mi best. Mi think mi come third inna long jump and second inna triple jump, but mi did fi win both events, so it was an underperformance from me," he said. "At Champs, my worst performance was my last Champs, because I pulled my hamstring inna triple jump finals, so mi never get fi medal that year."

JayBlem advised current athletes to stay disciplined as they navigate their track season.

"The biggest challenge is training, the training pattern. Sometimes you have bad days in training and it may make you doubt yourself and get depressed. You also have distractions from girls that may cause athletes to miss training, and the whole heap a party, party. Basically, discipline is the biggest challenge," he said.