By Samuel Peters
British Virgin Islands track star, Kyron McMaster, visited the Good Morning JoJo Sports Show while on his visit to Antigua.
The athlete who is sponsored by PUMA, which he has been with since his first professional contract, said that he will be trying to build on the foundation from last season “to get faster and stronger and just capitalise on what he has established previously.”
When asked what is his music playlist like he stated, “I listen to upbeat music during training. But on competition day, I actually listen to more mellow and calm music, because the nerves are already fired up. You already have adrenaline through you, so [it’s not helpful] pushing more adrenaline. I feel like I overcharge my body, so it’s more to like get it to the calm level so I could focus and execute how I need to execute.”
McMaster says that “he couldn’t be happier,” after winning silver at the World Championship Finals in August in Budapest, Hungary. “I did something that was never done before. That was the first medal for the British Virgin Islands so I did something historic.”
He described the reaction from the citizens of the BVI as being “major” stating, “They loved it, they supported it, they showed me a lot of love – it was just something on a different level.“
“For me, instantly it was I got a silver, but I want a gold. I was happy, but I was like we got to try again, we got to go next year.”
McMaster went on to say that, “training is where all the work is done. Competition is like the easiest part, training is the hard part because you train for eight, nine months, but then you race for the biggest championship which would be Olympics next year, three rounds – that’s the easiest part physically. Mentally, it’s the hardest part.”
Due to his training, McMaster said that he knows that he is at his physical peak when he is ready to compete with his training colleagues. “I race them over hurdles and stuff like that, so that’s when I know I’m in shape, when I have that confidence; times are resulting in what you want, the body is feeling good, everything is just firing how it needs to be fired.”
The athlete who is born to Antiguan parentage, spoke about his viewpoint regarding pay gap between athletics and other sports such as the NBA and NASCAR. “I think it is because of how the sport is set up. I don’t necessarily think it’s because of the sport. We don’t have a lot of sponsors dishing into the sport, and it’s just the structure of it. You know, when you look at the NBA, the NFL, they have a lot of sponsors. With track and field, you could literally count how many sponsors, and I feel it is because of how the rules and regulations are set up within the sport. I feel if the sport is structured differently and actually takes a blueprint from other sports, then I think we could excel more.”
He also shared that there is a limit in the number of sponsors on a jersey for example. “It limits how much exposure you can get. So, it’s just a lot of rules and jump-ropes and regulations you have to jump through.
He used NASCAR drivers and vehicles as an example of how many brands sponsor one driver.
When asked about what his life has been like as a professional athlete, the Commonwealth Gold medalist said, “In the beginning because I was so young, I was just having fun with it, but I didn’t really feel like a professional athlete. The paycheck didn’t reflect that it felt like I was taking-up a space. So, I was just having fun with it, but then this year it actually sinks in that I’m a professional athlete and I am not taking it for granted.
He stated that after he switched training groups, it has showed him a different way of training and thinking. “This year I really got into the professional side of it.”
“I was just having fun. I was running and having fun – that’s all we used to do, but this is the bread and butter now like I understand that, and people take it to a next level.
Asked about what made the difference this year at the World Championship, the 27-year-old stated, “My mindset, my circle around me, my team. Everything just leading up to that event was just to approach a lot of stuff differently, more confidently, training differently – everything was just different from the previous years.”
McMaster will head back to the United States for the pre-season training on Saturday,
