Top things you did not know about Jamaica's rising sprint star Alana Reid
After setting a personal best of 10.92 seconds in April 2023, the World U20 200m bronze medallist shifted her base to Florida, joining the training camp of world 100m champion Sha’Carri Richardson. She is now hoping to emulate her icon Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce.
Athletics
Alana Reid has established her name as one to watch in the women’s sprint with her blistering 10.92 seconds over 100m, which makes her the world’s second fastest U20 sprinter.
Last October, the Jamaican, moved to Florida to train with the fastest woman in the world, Team USA star Sha’Carri Richardson, a clear intent of her plans to go even quicker this season.
Here are some things to know about the promising star, her dream of going to Paris, and following in Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s footsteps.
Alana Reid dashed to a personal best of 10.92 seconds, whch makes the second fastest U20 woman.
Alana Reid’s impressive records
The sprint sensation may have captured the world’s attention with her speedy 10.92 seconds at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls Athletics Championships in Kingston, which lowered Veronica Campbell-Brown’s 22-year-old championship record of 11.13. But Reid has always been quick.
She already showed her sprinting talent in Primary School before maturing in high school. When she was 16, Reid became the first U18 woman to break 24 seconds over 200m at the biennial athletics competition between North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Associations, the NACAC U23 Championships.
The following year in Cali, she won 200m bronze at the 2022 World U20 Championships, her first global medal, before clinching the CARIFTA Games 100m title in the Bahamas last year. She rounded off her big year with two medals at the Pan Americans U20 in Puerto Rico - 100m gold and 4x100m relay silver.
“If it wasn’t for certain stuff that happened in 2023, I wouldn’t be in the position that I’m in right now, and I have to give thanks to God for that,” she revealed in her first vlog on 15 January.
“My biggest moment was the ISSA Boys and Girls championships when I broke the 100m record.”
Turning pro at 18: "A whole different feeling"
The fast starts and quick runs from last year influenced her decision to sprint right into professional track after high school instead of competing in college.
Her personal best of 10.92, which was good enough for a fifth-place finish at the 2023 women’s 100m final at the World Championships behind Richardson, probably swayed her decision to forego joining the University of Oregon.
Reid chose to hone her athletic career in sunny Florida. She joined the Star Athletics Track Club led by American Olympic champion Dennis Mitchell, which is also the training base of 23-year-old Richardson.
But leaving home and leaping into the professional running circuit hasn’t been easy.
“It’s a whole different feeling, especially when you just rush out of high school and just become a professional athlete,” she admitted.
“Moving to a whole different country with my family behind placed me in a zone where I felt lost within myself. I had to pick myself back up and brush it off say, ‘hey we are here, we have a goal, we have something to achieve’. Mentally, I am not where I want to be, but I am getting there.”
Training alongside Sha'Carri Richardson: ‘A good feeling’
Alana Reid is gradually settling in at the new base, enjoying her moment with experienced stars.
“Where Sha’Carri is concerned, it is a good feeling being around her,” she said.
“She teaches me a lot and she shows me a lot of stuff. There are times when I will make a few errors, and she will put me aside and say whatever. But it's not for me to come here and focus on anybody; it is to focus on myself and prepare myself to be better than who I am.”
The club is also home to world gold medallists Twanisha Terry, the 4x100m American 4x100m relay champion from Eugene and Budapest, and Canadian relay star Aaron Brown**.
Alana Reid looking up to sprint icon Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce
Reid may be spending a lot more time now with the world’s fastest woman, but it’s her compatriot Fraser-Pryce who has had a huge influence on her budding sprinting career.
“Last year, I had myself watching all the videos of Shelly-Ann,” said the teenager, who has always been stronger in the 200m but is now settled in the shorter sprint like the sprinting legend.
She hopes to emulate one of the most iconic female athletes of all time, who has won more global titles than any other sprinter in history.
“[I was watching her videos] just to look at her running technique, her form, how she does this.... I mainly focus myself not to be like a person, but to follow in their footsteps.”
Alana Reid - a dog lover
When the sixth-fastest female U20 100m runner ever is not enjoying the company of her teammates, she enjoys hanging out with her two dogs.
The self-confessed ardent dog lover welcomed a new puppy after moving to Florida, to give her lonely dog company.
Her official kick-off food before training is cereal which also happens to be her go-to snack. The Jamaican’s guilty pleasure food is a tuna sandwich.
An engineer at heart, following her father’s sporting passion
Despite her blistering pace, Reid didn’t quite set out to be a sprinter. Her childhood dream was to be a civil engineer.
“Every career day I would dress up in the vest thing and the helmet or my mum [would] dress me up, because that’s what I wanted to become,” she revealed.
But her fast legs kept her on the school tracks.
Her athletics performance could have been influenced by genetic genes from her footballing father, Garfield Reid. Garfied played as a defender for the national team and was the first Jamaican to play in the Norwegian league.
Alana Reid has Paris Olympic dreams
After her record-breaking 2023, the sprinting prodigy has big plans for the Olympic year.
As the nation’s fifth fastest sprinter behind Shericka Jackson who tops the women’s 100m list with 10.65 seconds, Reid has set her focus on qualifying for her first major championships this year.
“My dream is to go to Paris,” the Florida based runner said.
“I’m working towards going to Paris and I’ll do everything in my powers to make sure I do my best going into the trials to be selected to go to Paris. I’m chasing that dream so it’s just for me to stay focused in training.”