KAILUA-KONA — Because of Hawaii’s location in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, kids on the Big Island do not have an opportunity meet and learn from top level talent very often.
However, over the last month, youth athletes, especially those on the west side, were able to rub shoulders with one of the world’s greatest sprinters.
Jamaica’s Michael Frater, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, just wrapped up a 24 day trip to the Big Island where he spoke to various schools and clubs. He held speed clinics at Konawaena and Kealakehe High School, and also visited Hawaii Preparatory Academy earlier this week.
Frater finished up his speaking tour on Wednesday with a stop at Kona Aerials Gymnastics.
“It is always nice to have an Olympian come in and give an inspirational speech,” head coach and founder of Kona Aerials, Nanette Guiffrida said. “It helps the girls re-commit to hard work and shows them what it takes to become a champion.”
Kona Aerials does not get guest speakers very often. This was only the fifth over its 27 year history.
“This is the second time we have had someone from outside our sport come in,” Guiffrida said. “It is great for the girls to see success and know that it is reachable. It is one of those moments that helps lift you up on the days when training gets hard. It keeps you going forward.”
Frater’s speech to the young gymnasts focused on having the mindset to recover from various road blocks such as injuries. He talked about an injury he had when he was younger and emphasized that recovery doesn’t happen over night. It took nearly two years for Frater to return to top form.
“All athletes have setbacks,” Frater said. “I like to show how you can turn these road blocks into building blocks using things that have happened to me personally.”
One of the young gymnasts, Ariel Barker, was amazed by the presence of the Olympic athlete.
“It is insane,” she said. “It is crazy. I can’t believe he’s here.”
For two other girls on hand, Molly Batol and Kira Spencer, holding the gold medals in their hands was a memorable moment.
“I never thought I would get to touch something from the Olympics. It was really awesome,” Batol said.
“The medals were a lot lighter than I thought they would be,” Spencer added. “I just recently did a project on them and they seemed really heavy.”
Frater was born in Jamaica but attended high school in Florida where he met coach David Bowden, who is now a Big Island resident and was instrumental in bringing Frater to Hawaii.
Frater went on to run at Texas Christian University where in excelled at the sprint distances. He would soon make the Jamaican team and go on to pick up gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Games while running as a member 4×100 relay team with Usain Bolt and two other runners. Frater was a captain of the 2012 squad.
“Winning gold was the ultimate achievement,” Frater said. “It was like winning the Ironman and knowing you are the best in the world.”
Frater is currently contemplating a comeback attempt and has recently started training again, though he says his comeback bid will be determined by how his body reacts to training. He attempted to compete in the 2016 Rio games, but was diagnosed with the Zika virus before the trials, which affected his performance.
As for his trip to the Big Island, it was mostly business for Frater, but he was able to see the Ironman World Championship race, make a trip to the volcano and visit a few waterfalls.
“I did not get to do as much as I wanted to,” Frater said, “but it was good to see the island and I loved it.”