EASILY, one of Ms Alia Atkinson's most endearing qualities is her humility.
Shortly after she created history last Saturday by taking gold and equalling the world record in the World Championship short course 100m breaststroke in Doha, Qatar, Ms Atkinson posted the following on Twitter and Instagram:
"This is more than about me. A country... a nation, a race. First Jamaican swimmer, first female swimmer from the Caribbean, and I believe first black female swimmer in over 40 yrs. This is not just mine. #Caribbean waive is coming #likkle but we tallawah #never give up #never surrender." [sic]
Outside of her selflessness, Ms Atkinson also displayed in that social media posting a fixity of purpose and never-say-die attitude that have contributed to her success over the years.
All Jamaicans, we are sure, watched with pride and joy as Ms Atkinson powered her way to victory at the 12th FINA World Swimming Championship.
In that event, she not only equalled the world record of 1:02:36 minutes, but she also held off a challenge from Ms Ruta Meilutyte of Lithuania, who completed the race in 1:02:46 for second place.
We remember quite well the pride and pain Jamaica felt when Ms Atkinson finished fourth in the last Olympics and, of course, when she was nipped into a silver medal position in the 50-metre breaststroke at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, last July.
Probably our expectations were fuelled by the games' record 30.17 seconds she registered in the semi-final, as well as the games' record of 30.49 she swam in the heats.
But even after that bittersweet moment when she collected her silver medal, Ms Atkinson exhibited grace, even as she appeared to have concluded, from her own analysis, that she underachieved.
"For the most part, I cannot think of what went wrong," she told Jamaican journalists. "I just guess it was just a slower swim, everything was just slower, the dive, the pull-out, the swim, so I can't really pinpoint one thing. So I guess it was just not my day."
At the end of that comment, the Jamaica Observer journalist covering the games wrote, "the old Alia was back, delivering her killer ear-to-ear smile".
In her interview with this newspaper this week, Ms Atkinson expressed the hope that her historic performance would "ignite others, especially those in the so called non-traditional sports to try even harder because now they can see for themselves that significant achievements can be attained".
She pointed out as well that any such achievement is attained through hard work, mixed with very heavy doses of patience.
No one who has really succeeded in any endeavour will challenge that statement. For those are the requirements, coupled with personal sacrifices, that produce the kinds of results that make not only Jamaica but the world sit up and look. What more proof is required than how the CNN and the BBC, those mighty moguls of news, gave prime time coverage to Ms Atkinson and her accomplishment.
Ms Atkinson told us that the moment she realized she had won the historic gold medal is one that she will never forget.
When Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson touched the wall to finish the women’s 100 breast at the world championships, she not only became Jamaica’s first swimming world champion but also the first black woman to earn a world title. Atkinson’s time of 1:02.36 also tied Ruta Meilutyte’s world record.
Atkinson has been at the elite level of the sport for many years, winning the NCAA title in the 200 breast in 2010 and placing fourth in the 100 breast at the 2012 Olympics. The win is a big step forward for her. But having a “1” next to her name means more than the medal or the time. In a sport where the racial makeup at the elite level is 98 to 99 percent white, Atkinson’s breakthrough should give some hope to those who might perceive the color of their skin to be an obstacle in achieving their goals. It’s been six years since Cullen Jones won a gold medal in the 400 free relay in Beijing, becoming the epitome of what black swimmers can do. Simone Manuel and Lia Neal are building on that, and Atkinson’s swim on Saturday advances the objective. I’m sure Enith Brigitha, who became swimming’s trailblazer when she became the first black swimmer to win an Olympic medal in 1976, would be pleased to see the progress, even if this is 38 years after her accomplishment. There’s still a long way to go, but thanks to Alia Atkinson, it appears a big step forward has been taken.
She is not alone, because Jamaica will always remember that moment as well, as it made us truly proud and served as a further signal to the world that we are, indeed, a most talented people.
Our heartiest congratulations to Ms Atkinson.
