Jamal Walton hasn't slowed down since February. The Miramar rising senior ran his first race in February at the Louie Bing Classic and added one more to his schedule after his performance at the Pan Am Junior Championships.
Walton blazed the track in Trujillo, Peru with a personal best time of 44.99, which ranks second all-time for U.S. high schoolers, and is a new junior class record. More importantly for Walton was that it qualified him for the World Championships in London. We caught up with him as well as Coach Chris McComb before they headed across the pond.
"Jamal returned from Peru Tuesday morning and rested both Tuesday and Wednesday," McComb said. He has been competing a lot lately so heading into the World Championships we wanted more rest."
Below is a look at their training log for the last couple of days:
- Thursday - Pool workout
- Friday - 6x200's (3 minutes rest in between)
- Saturday - Rest
- Sunday - 4x150's starting at the 400 mark and working on getting out good
- Monday - Starts and strides followed by a massage and therapy
- Tuesday - Travel day
The 400m was the focus all along as Walton relinquished the chance of winning gold in the 200 at Pan American juniors to rest his body and conserve energy.
"Coach and I talked the night I went 44 and we mentioned that my body may feel sore more than anything else," Walton said. "We both agreed that if anything else felt sore we may not want to push it and just focus on the 400m at Worlds."
For Walton, this isn't the first time representing the Cayman Islands on an international stage, but he knows the level of competition at the World Championships and making this senior level team, is something special.
"It means a lot," he said. "I ran at World Juniors, World Youth, and World Relays. I know this is a little different running with the best in the world, but I'm not intimidated at all and I embrace the competition. I want to win."
The first two rounds of the 400m dash are Saturday and Sunday with the finals on Tuesday.
More Coverage
- Jamal's Athlete Profile
- Article: Jamal Walton Becomes Second HS Athlete Ever To Go Sub-45 In 400 at Pan Am Juniors
