Triple-jumping teenager Jaydon Hibbert wants to be Jamaica's 'Usain Bolt in the jumps'
The 18-year-old has a host of records to his name. The triple jumper wants his story to inspire other young Jamaican athletes.
Athletics
Less than four years ago, Jaydon Hibbert was a smiley 15-year-old Jamaican with a dream that is a familiar one in his Caribbean island nation: He wanted to be an elite sprinter.
This season, still just 18, a high-flying Hibbert has indeed taken the international athletics scene by storm... in triple jump.
“I think I'm on the way to being the Usain of jumping,” Hibbert told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview ahead of the World Athletics Championships, referring to legendary Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt.
“Being the Usain Bolt in the jumps, that's the plan.”
The Bolt comparison could be considered a rather bold one if Hibbert hadn’t made the splash he has: He owns the world under-20 and NCAA records in the discipline and his 17.87m jump in May is still the furthest of any man this season.
And he’s only been jumping since 2020.
“I think any 18-year-old being one of the best in the world at something right now, they would go nuts,” an expressive Hibbert admitted. “But personally, I have to remain humble. I'm still young. Those [pro] guys are bigger guys. I am really happy, really grateful for this. It just shows how big my horizons are and how well I'm competing right now to be the best in the world.”
Jaydon Hibbert: From the streets of Kingston
To understand where Hibbert comes from helps to explain just how far he has come in such a short time. He grew up in the Arnett Gardens neighborhood, known for its public housing developments and referred to by locals as the ‘Concrete Jungle.’
“My life is a whole testimony; I could write a book right now and it [would] go on billboards,” Hibbert said, fighting back tears. “The community that I'm from in Jamaica can be deemed... they say that children there don't extend their horizons much, they just lay back and not try for more.”
“I’ve always wanted more,” he said. “I always asked for help, wanting to improve myself.”
Eight-time Olympic champion Bolt, certainly, has served as particular motivation for Hibbert, but it’s another sprinter – five-time Olympic medallist Shericka Jackson – who has not only been a hero but also become a mentor for the teen.
“She is me in the female form,” Hibbert laughed. “She is funny, always has a bright smile; she's humble. She is always poised and always pushing herself to the next limit.”
Jackson hasn’t shied away from the advising role, sending Hibbert words of encouragement that have helped him cut through challenging times, while also maintaining open communication between the two.
“I really look up to her,” he added. “She told me that I'm doing way better than her when she was my age and that she's super proud of me. Any time I'm thinking or overthinking something, she’s always there to re-assure. I’m really grateful for her, honestly.”
Usain Bolt and the power of inspiration
While Hibbert has a long way to go to come close to matching Bolt’s achievements, he is clear about what the sprinting superstar has meant to him – and the entire nation: “When Usain is on the track, I'm telling you, everybody is probably at the square of their community, watching him on a big TV. You have horns, trumpets, vuvuzelas, everything. Jamaica is wild... it's all emotion and excitement when Usain [competes].”
He understands the transcendent power of athletes like Bolt and Jackson, especially for young people.
“I really love my community, they've pushed me,” Hibbert said. “I get messages, ‘How did you do this? How did you get so far?' I try to inspire them to do well in school. I say, 'C'mon bro, go inside, study, do well. Be that kid, be someone that other people can look up to.'”
Hibbert continued: “The goal for me is to inspire the younger athletes in Jamaica to explore; don't just stick to the sprints, don't be cliché,” he said. “Try the jumps, you may never know what you have. [I want] younger athletes in Jamaica to not limit themselves. You may never know what you can do with an event.”
Though the records are eye-catching, Hibbert is also proud of the scholarship he earned to the University of Arkansas, where he won the NCAA title in June as a freshman. He’s brought Jamaican culture to the small Midwest university town of Fayetteville, Arkansas, too – as well as his jerk chicken and oxtail recipes.
“I think the people in Arkansas, especially the athletes, really respect and really love the Jamaican culture,” Hibbert explained. “Cooking there and giving everyone the experience to see how we prepare our food, it's been absolutely amazing. I wish I could do that every day. I wish I could call everyone into the kitchen and show them, 'This is how we eat.'”
Jaydon Hibbert and Paris 2024: 'On the right road'
Since the 1980s, Jamaica has been an international force in the sprint events, first among the women and then more recently for both the men and the women. But no Jamaican man has ever won an Olympic medal in triple jump.
That’s a fact that Hibbert would like to change at next year’s Olympic Summer Games Paris 2024.
“I think I'm on the right road and have the right people around me,” Hibbert said, before adding that he knows he still has a long way to go.
“I always have room for more. I won't get comfortable, because I know that there's more. I'm not saying that I won't accept the things that I have already done, [but] you don't want to drift and focus too much on the things in the future. I'm still in the process of sorting through some of this stuff.”
While his focus is squarely on a world medal in Budapest, Hibbert isn’t afraid to dream about what it might feel like to don his nation’s colours in Paris.
“It's the Olympics!” he said. “Being there and representing my country is absolutely a big opportunity. ... [If I can] experience not just track and field, but the different sports... people from all over the world, all the athletes. I don't think anything is better than that.”
The teen has a wide-eyed perspective about many things in life, but he’s taken his surging success in the sport as a person of faith: He’s controlling what he can – and letting everything else go.
“That's the route I'm taking: I'm not worrying,” Hibbert said about the year he’s about to embrak on.
“I'm just taking it week by week.”