Kobe Lawrence lived up to expectations when he won gold in the Class One shot put at the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships last Friday.

The first-year Class One athlete who represents Calabar High School delivered nine big points to haul his school back into the spotlight, if not into contention, when all the attention of the previous three days had been focused squarely on the heavy favourites Jamaica College and defending champions Kingston College.

Lawrence’s gold medal was one of four won by Calabar in the field on Friday as they closed the cavernous gap in points between themselves and the top two.

But it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the shot put winner as he suffered two foul throws before registering a mark on his final throw of the first round of the competition. The 18.46m thrown by Lawrence moved him from last place to first, as the athletes prepared for the final round of the competition.

While he remained in the lead, Lawrence failed to get close to his biggest effort until the sixth and final throw of the competition, when he threw a massive 19.0m to completely distinguish himself from the field.

Despite the scratchy start, Lawrence said he never lost faith in his own abilities.

“I’m really happy. First, I just want to thank God. I kept on having faith, even when I was fouling, so I am really thankful.”

Having already qualified for the World Athletics Under-20 Championships with a 19.15m throw before Champs, expectations were high on the Calabar man to deliver for the former champions.

“I don’t really pressure myself. I just stay calm and as always believe in myself and have faith.”

With the competition already won when he had the ball in his hand for the final throw of all the athletes in the competition, Lawrence let it rip, a feature of the way Calabar athletes are trained to perform.

“Coach Julian always teaches me to go for it, so to come out here and embrace that, I am really happy,” he said.

Calabar have a strong legacy in the throws at Champs, with athletes such as World Championships silver medallist Fedrick Dacres having won gold for the green and black at the event. Lawrence said that he is happy to have that as motivation every time he steps into the shot put ring.

“I pull on it, that’s what runs through my mind. I just want to give a good account of myself. We have a strong legacy in the throws at Calabar and I feel I need to live up to that every time I perform.”

With two years of eligibility left at Champs, Lawrence is looking to create and leave his own legacy at the high school championships, before he moves on.

“It’s my first year in Class One, so I am looking to cement my own legacy at Champs.”

Lawrence also explained that while other athletes may have struggled due to the uncertainties about the staging of Champs caused by the pandemic, he had taken full advantage of it, which paid off in the end.

“I definitely took advantage of it. I kept on training, I didn’t stop training and it’s paying off now,” he said,

Up next for Lawrence will be the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya, in August and he has already laid out a game plan for that competition.

“I am looking to go there and make the top eight and see how it goes from there,” he outlined.