Sports Reporter
For many athletes, the support they have around them can either make or break them. For CMU junior sprinter Whitney Rowe, that support is Olympic gold medalist Robert Esmie.
Rowe attended Burnaby Mountain High School in Burnaby, British Columbia where she met the member of the Canadian Hall of Fame, who was inducted for his role in the gold medal-winning performance of the Canadian national team in the 4×100 relay in the 1996 Olympics.
While the two ultimately developed a great rapport with each other and remain close to this day (Rowe is even the godmother to Esmie’s son), she recalls being intimidated at first because of Esmie’s success at the international level.
“When I started I just kept thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, I need to impress him,’ but he doesn’t put himself on a pedestal at all,” Rowe said. “He was totally supportive.”
The goal for coach Esmie and Rowe from the start was to get her a scholarship to run at the collegiate level.
“She’s a great person and I remember when I very first met her, I thought, ‘How can I help this person,’” Esmie said, sharing that the scholarship they worked towards was important to her in not only helping her be successful professionally, but personally as well.
They succeeded in their goal, achieving the scholarship and giving Rowe the freedom in deciding where to run.
“For him, I think, that’s all he really cared about,” Rowe said. “He wanted to get me that scholarship and help me as an athlete and as a person off the track. I can always fall back on him if I need to talk or if I’m questioning something.”
Rowe decided to come to CMU after hitting it off with the coaching staff and has since developed a close relationship with women’s track and field coach Katrice Thomas, whom she says is another inspiration to her and one of the people she feels comfortable to turn to.
“She’s always believed in me and reminds me of the potential that I have,” Rowe said, and then expanded on the idea of potential by stating her goals she has set for herself this season. “I want to be in Nationals and I want to be an All-American, but I can’t be All-American I’m not [American], I want to get that top-eight All-American standing.”
Rowe’s ultimate goal is to join the Canadian national team and although she wouldn’t necessarily say the Olympics, she said that making the Olympics would be a dream. Esmie, however, feels that it may be closer to a reality than she thinks.
“I think, in my mind right now, she is still a baby in this sport,” Esmie said. “In two or three years, I see her making the Olympics depending on who she surrounds herself with.”
But, for now, Rowe is just enjoying the ride and admitted that her favorite moment with her team was a time when her and a group of friends slipped on ice and fell in unison after she was excited by a Canadian flag in someone’s window.
“I screamed at the top of my lungs and I think that’s what caused the ripple effect,” Rowe said of the fall. “That was probably one of the best moments I’ve ever had.”
Her emphasis on having fun and enjoying small moments like that one, Esmie says, is important in staying in the right mindset and succeeding in the sport.
“Those small successes move yourself away from the difficult days,” Esmie said. “If you have fun with what you do, it’ll make it easy.”
jdredmon@mavs.coloradomesa.edu
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