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By Neto Baptiste
Former national high jumper and Olympian Priscilla Frederick Loomis says she remains open to discussions with the national athletics association about how she can contribute to the development of young athletes and track and field in Antigua and Barbuda.
Speaking recently on the Good Morning Jojo sports show, the US-based former athlete said she had always wanted to help nurture young talent in Antigua, acknowledging that she also bore some responsibility for the lack of progress in establishing such a partnership.
“There’s an athletes’ commission that meets, and they had asked me to be on the board and I said yes, and then I got so busy. I mean, I was building my career, so I definitely dropped the ball with the athlete side of it, but I haven’t heard from higher-ups, no.
“Again, I understand everybody gets busy. I am now 37 years old, so a lot does change, but for me, what I preach is closed mouths don’t get fed. So if somebody would like for me to host something and come out and do things for the youth, why would I say no?” she said.
Loomis, whose father, James Frederick, is Antiguan, began representing Antigua and Barbuda internationally in 2012 after switching her allegiance.
She went on to win silver medals at the 2015 and 2019 Pan American Games and represented the twin-island state at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she finished 28th overall.
However, health complications eventually brought her competitive career to an end, forcing her to abandon her ambition of representing Antigua and Barbuda at one final Olympic Games.
Loomis said she was unable to compete at her best following a bout of COVID-19 in 2021, which led to heart complications and prevented doctors from clearing her to compete.
“Once I got COVID in 2021 and the doctors would not clear me because I did have heart complications, so it was one of those things that I did everything that I possibly could. I was kind of defying doctors’ orders and training a little bit here and there, finally getting cleared one month before trials, and I’m really, really proud of myself.
“I missed all of indoor and still was top in the world because I was 37th. To miss an entire season but to still be able to compete and get a couple of those marks in afterwards, to be the top was incredible,” she said.
Despite the setbacks, Loomis remains proud of what she achieved during her career, which included setting national records in the women’s high jump.
She recorded an outdoor personal best of 1.91 metres in Toronto in 2015 before clearing 1.90 metres indoors in Staten Island in 2016. Both performances remain Antigua and Barbuda national records.