This is the second and final part of the interview of US hurdler Kristi Castlin who recently visited Guyana. In the following interview Castlin gives an insight into how difficult it is to get sponsorship even in the US for some of the today’s track and field stars; talks a little bit about her training and diet and of what she does when away from the track. The first part was published on November 12.
DD: – And does that make it difficult for you to get sponsorship.
KC:-Very, very difficult. It makes it extremely difficult. Sometimes you contemplate `Well maybe I should switch over and represent another country just because I may start making not maybe as much from my sponsor but the federation will get behind me more because I’m representing the entire country not just a brand Nike’.
I run for Nike so Nike has you know 50 other track and field stars so they hold me to a very high standard because they have a rolodex of girls that’s always coming up. They say `oh this is the next person in line or we can give her a contract you know’ so it’s really underappreciated and it’s very, very hard to get a professional sponsorship especially with Nike, Adidas, Reebok and those major companies.
DD: – I suppose if you get to be number one in the world things will improve.
KC: – Oh of course! I mean, it will improve major but in the past years that I’ve been running in the 100m hurdles there’s always been a different person being number one in the World, a different American or it’s been Sally Pearson of Australia, but, I mean you’ve got six girls that are so close somebody’s running 12.2s, 12.3s, 12.4s, 12.5s, So if you get that number one spot….but still even Brianna Rollins she was number one in the World, she won the World Championships, set the American record but you see her on some Nike ads but you really don’t see her on commercials, you don’t see her on billboards, she’s not getting the love that she deserves because it’s so many other sports stars, the market is flooded so and its important in the US that the thing you bring to the table is not only athletics you have to be smart, you have to be personable, you have to be witty. It’s so many things that come into play that sets you apart from just the regular athlete.
DD: – I know you probably did not see any athlete from Guyana so I can’t ask your impression but you did see the Stadium and what you think of the facility.
KC: – I saw a few young athletes today from (about) 15 years old to 23 so you all definitely have a very promising group of young individuals that can be very good. I saw young men and some young women that, if they put in the work, if they got the coaching, if they got the materials that they need on the track as far as starting blocks, hurdles, high jump mats things like that, if they got those things that they need, they could be extremely good.
DD: – So in other words facilities and coaching are the most important thing for our athletes’ development, for them to make it on the international scene.
KC: – yes! Definitely, because it’s very hard to have one track in the entire country because those international level athletes, they live in different places so you know it may be far for them to get to or something like that, but I’m just glad that the facility is there and hopefully, with that tools and with the coaching improving, they will have what they need to take themselves to the next level because those two things are vital components of being successful.
DD: – Those are the things that helped you….
KC: – (Interrupt) Of course, of course. I’ve had some of the best coaches in the World. I’ve trained at state-of-the-art facilities at Virginia Tech but in High School, we had an asphalt track, we did not have a rubber track. A lot of the tracks we competed on were rubber and I wasn’t able to experience that but as far as training every day..actually, my junior year of High School I found another coach. I had a summer track or club coach so I met him and he gave me pertinent information that I used. He really helped take me to the next level so the coach and the experience and me just being focused on winning and determined to get a scholarship those were some of the things that made me successful.
DD:- How many hours a day would you train.
KC:- Well normally I train about six to eight hours every day so I had to get up and not only perform on the track, I had to go to the gym, or the weight room, I had to go to the training room. The training room is where I would go and get treatment ice, stretching, physio, everything that I needed from that standpoint and then I would have to go see my nutritionist or get my meal. Anything that I needed, so in one day, on a long day I spend literally eight hours working. Now when it gets close towards those major championships and things like that then it’s usually four, five or six hours. I cut down on the hours a little because my workload is less heavy. But from about November until February, I really maintain a heavy workload unless I’m competing indoors which I would start training in August then I would start tapering off in December.
DD:-Your finest moment in track and field what really stands out.
KS:- I think my finest moment in track and field was when I ran my personal best in Oslo, Norway and that was only because I did not have a contract at that point. That was 2012. It was an Olympic year. I did not have a shoe contract. I had to change agent. I was just facing a lot of adversity and even when I went to Oslo, it was kinda cold, the weather conditions weren’t ideal but I was so determined to finish that race doing my very, very best and before I ran that race my Personal Best was 12.75s and when I finished that day my Personal Best was 12.56s so I improved almost two tenths of a second it was just a regular Diamond League meeting, I came in second, I did not win or anything like that but that’s what I was most proud of because of all that I went through I was really emotional and so I was really happy to get a breakthrough that day and that helped secure me a Nike contract.
DD: – Can you give a little insight into your diet what do you eat
KC: – I eat a lot of vegetables, spinach, chicken. I eat a lot of chicken fish, because fish oil is important, salmon, I like Swai, a fish called Swai, so I like that type of fish. Really what I had to stay away from was dairy products. I wasn’t lean and I wasn’t really toned when I was having dairy so I cut dairy out of my diet and I intake a lot of protein, boiled eggs, toast, things like that and that’s primarily what my diet consists off. For snack I have a lot of peanuts and fruit but basically you can’t get enough of fruits and vegetables ever but sometimes that does not provide us with all of the energy we need so you got to make sure you get in that chicken maybe a steak, beef but lean meat. I eat a lot of lamb chops and things like that.
DD:- And away from the track how do you enjoy yourself what kind of music you listen to.
KC:- I really like all music. I like Hip Hop and R and B but I really like oldies. I like Gladys Knight and Anita Baker and Aretha Franklyn, I like all those kind of oldies songs. I like to shop and spend quality time with my family. I like outdoors so I really like to get together and do a little cook out, parties, of course. I like to travel and I like to go the Club. I don’t go to the club often but when I do I like the music. I really like to dance. Even when I’m travelling overseas internationally after the meetings I like to go out and experience what different cultures have to offer from a partying standpoint.
DD: Which ids the best country you have visited that you really like.
KC: I really like France, I like Paris, that city, but I’d like to say culture wise I had a lot of fun in places like Zagreb, Croatia, had a lot of fun there Brussels, Belgium had a lot of fun there too. I like Morocco, that was really cool too but Guyana has been a place where I can really appreciate. I really love the people and the energy. It seems like everybody is out grinding and working trying to make things happen so the driving is a little crazy and people walking is a little crazy but I really like the people and the culture.
