St Jago High School has produced a number of outstanding athletes, many of whom have gone on to represent Jamaica at the highest level, winning medals and making history. Here are five facts about the St Catherine powerhouse.
- St Jago has won six Champs titles – two on the boys’ side and four on the girls’ side. Only one other school, Excelsior High, has won both trophies in the history of Champs.
- Old boy Bertland Cameron won Jamaica’s first World Championships gold medal when he took the 400m event at the inaugural event in 1983 in Helsinki, Finland. He is now a coach, specialising in his pet event, the 400m.
- Another old boy, Yohan Blake, became the youngest person to run the 100m in less than 10 seconds when he stopped the clock at 9.93 seconds in May 2009 in Paris. He was 19 years and 196 days old. Two years later, he became the youngest man to win the World Champs 100m event.
- The school’s Champs legacy is so strong that every Olympic team for the last 34 years has had St Jago past students on them.
- Athletes are used to competing even with injuries, but how about a broken shoulder? Melaine Walker, her arm in a sling, captured the 100m hurdles, 100m and 200m events. It was her first year in class two. And guess who she beat in the 100m and 200m? Veronica Campbell (now Brown).
