Making mom and dad proud - New Forest sprinter Jace Witter spurred on by hearing impaired parents

New Forest High School athlete Jace Witter not only hopes to be the guiding light for athletics at his school, but for his parents as they are experiencing the 2022 ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Athletics Championships (Champs) in a different way than most.

Witter, 16, is one of the two athletes for the small Manchester-based school making its Champs debut. He made the semi-finals of the Class Two 100m and advanced to Friday's Class Two 200m semi-final.

Both of his parents are hearing impaired, so Witter learned sign language at age five to communicate. With the cancellation of Champs 2020, Witter said that he is cherishing the experience more, making them proud as they watch from home.

"I wanted to show my family that I am trying my best to make them feel better and to become like Usain Bolt," Witter told THE WEEKEND STAR.

The multiple-times Olympic and world champion has been his main source of inspiration, not just for his accomplishments on track, but how Bolt connected with Witter's parents as members of the hearing impaired community. Witter said that they showed him a video featuring Bolt as motivation to follow in his footsteps.

SIGN LANGUAGE

"They showed me a sign language video with Bolt putting his hands in the air and saying 'Thank you, Father God'," Witter said. "And that's how they want me to become like Bolt to help my community."

While he has had to wait two years for his opportunity to compete, Witter said that he is more motivated than ever to keep improving in the sprints, hoping that he can inspire his classmates to help build their young athletics programme.

"I want to express my gratitude to my school and I hope to improve in future Champs. I want to motivate the young students to become like Usain Bolt, to be better than Usain," Witter said. "I want my community and parish to become better, and proud of me, and it is good that I am here right now."