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Christopher Belcher has plenty of pride — in his alma maters Sayville and North Carolina A&T, in representing his country and in himself.
The professional sprinter, just over six years removed from receiving his high school diploma at the corner of Cherry Avenue and Brook Street, takes the world stage tomorrow at the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships in Doha, Qatar.
“My biggest accomplishment from this sport is coming from a small school like Sayville, a junior college, then transferring to the greatest HBCU (historically black colleges and university) in the country and later becoming a professional,” said Belcher, 25, who will compete for the U.S. in the 100 meter race tomorrow and in the 4 X 100 relay next week.
“I always tell people, it doesn’t matter where you come from: If you put the hard work in, you can make it out of anywhere,” he continued. “I really try to influence young people that have similar situations to mine.”
Belcher, who also played football and baseball at Sayville High School, didn’t run track until his sophomore year of high school.
“The baseball coach (Ryan) Cox told me to try out (winter) track, so I could get into shape for baseball,” said Belcher, who would become a state champion in track in high school.
After placing third in the 100-meter dash at the NCAA championships in 2017, Belcher turned pro and was sponsored by Nike. Later that summer, at his first Diamond League race in Monaco, Belcher found himself in an elite field of sprinters that included eight-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt, who was retiring and running his final Diamond League race.
“I really got into the sport because of Usain Bolt — really just because of how electric he was and how he was always having fun,” said Belcher, who fell a few hundredths of a second short to Bolt in that 2017 100-meter sprint.
Now, with a couple of more years of training under his belt, Belcher has his heart set on competing for the U.S. in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
“It would be an amazing opportunity, a true blessing to be in the Olympics and represent the United States, and go against the best in the world,” he said. “Every young track athlete’s dream is to run in the Olympics.”
100m Schedule at the IAAF World Championships:
Friday, Sept. 27, 9:30 a.m. — preliminary round
Friday, Sept. 27, 11:05 a.m. — heats
Saturday, Sept. 28, 11:45 p.m. — semifinals
Saturday, Sept. 28, 3:15 p.m. — final
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