For near a decade, Jacqueline “Jackie” Pusey was a well-recognized determine on the observe, representing St. Mary Excessive Faculty, California State College Los Angeles, and Jamaica with distinction. Twice an Olympian, a medallist at main worldwide competitions and a record-setter at house, she stays a part of the nation’s sprinting heritage.
Born on August 14th, 1959 within the parish of Saint Mary, Pusey’s entry into athletics got here on the age of 11 when her brother’s coach, Douglas Clark, persuaded her mother and father to permit the youngsters to attempt observe. Initially reluctant, they finally agreed, and Pusey’s capability was rapidly obvious. She started secondary college at Marymount Excessive, which had no sports activities programme, earlier than transferring to St. Mary Excessive, the place her expertise might be developed inside a rising observe and area set-up.
At Ladies’ Championships she grew to become the central determine in St. Mary Excessive’s problem to Vere Technical’s dominance. In 1976 and 1977, she helped safe back-to-back staff titles, amassing 4 gold medals in her last 12 months within the 200 metres, 400 metres, 4×100 metres and 4×400 metres, and setting new data alongside the best way. Regional meets introduced additional success, together with a number of CARIFTA and CAC medals, amongst them a quadruple gold on the 1978 CARIFTA Video games. She additionally captained St. Mary Excessive to victory on the 1977 Japanese Secondary Champs, lifting the general trophy in entrance of a Nationwide Stadium crowd.
Her rise continued on the worldwide stage. At simply 16, Pusey was the youngest Jamaican chosen for the 1976 Montreal Olympics, the place she reached the semi-finals of the 200 metres and anchored the 4×100 metres relay staff to sixth place, the primary time Jamaica had reached that Olympic last. 4 years later, on the Moscow Video games, she ran a private finest of twenty-two.90 seconds within the 200 metres semi-final and was a part of a 4×100 metres squad that set a nationwide file of 43.19 seconds, although baton issues value them a podium end.
Past the Olympics, Pusey recorded notable victories. In 1975 she received the 200 metres on the Rosicky Memorial meet in Prague in 23.77 seconds. On the 1978 Norman Manley Video games she defeated 1976 Olympic 100 metres finalist Evelyn Ashford over 200 metres. Her finest season got here in 1981, when she achieved lifetime marks of 11.29 seconds for 100 metres and 51.38 seconds for 400 metres, the latter bringing her bronze on the IAAF World Cup in Rome. That 12 months’s Central American and Caribbean Championships noticed her take gold within the 200 metres, 400 metres and 4×100 metres, all in championship file instances, together with silver within the 4×400 metres.
Pusey’s worldwide profession concluded with the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki, the place she ran the second leg within the 4×100 metres as Jamaica received bronze alongside Merlene Ottey, Leleith Hodges and Juliet Cuthbert. It was the nation’s first ladies’s relay medal on the competitors and a becoming finish to her senior profession.
Her performances didn’t go unrecognised. She was named Jamaica’s Sportswoman of the 12 months in 1981, sharing the highlight with Bertland Cameron as Sportsman of the 12 months. She was inducted into the Cal State LA Corridor of Fame in 1989, the place she nonetheless holds the college’s 200 metres file, and was honoured by the Inter-Secondary Faculties Sports activities Affiliation in 2004. On February 1st, 2020 the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Affiliation introduced her with a quotation, describing her as a “Prodigy and Patriot” and acknowledging her contribution to Jamaican sport.
In interviews, Pusey has spoken brazenly concerning the restricted help obtainable to athletes throughout her period. Opponents usually needed to cowl their very own prices to attend trials, with no formal buildings for damage administration or post-career planning. She recollects not often competing with out some type of damage and credit her school coach with serving to her keep match sufficient to carry out. Retirement introduced its personal challenges, as she missed the shut bonds fashioned inside groups and the experiences of journey and competitors. She has additionally expressed remorse that her technology didn’t have the identical incomes potential as athletes at this time, which could have allowed her to put money into supporting future skills.
Jackie Pusey’s profession bridged college dominance, worldwide illustration and the early phases of Jamaica’s emergence as a constant drive in ladies’s sprinting. A long time later, her title stays a part of the dialog at any time when St. Mary Excessive is talked about at Ladies’ Championships, a reminder of an athlete who left a measurable mark on each her college and her nation.
