We had the pleasure of connecting with Olympic gold winner Jerome Blake (and Dulcedo athlete!) fresh off his big win in Paris. Here’s what he had to say when we asked him about the lead-up to the games, how this Olympic experience was different from the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
- Competing at the Olympics understandably takes extreme physical training and preparation, but how did you mentally prepare? Getting ready for an Olympic Games is not easy. Having a good supporting team around you is the way to go – working with my mental performance coach, as well as having a good coach who understands what you’re preparing for helps, and self belief.
- Can you share what was going through your mind right before, during, and after you ran your portion of the relay? That day the only thing going through my head was "you are the best second leg runner in the world", and I wanted to show the world that. Everything else was a blur.
- How did your experience in Paris differ from the one you had in Tokyo (aside from winning gold this time!)? Paris compared to Tokyo was such a different experience walking into the stadium. I felt like I belonged and knew what I needed to do. In Tokyo there was some level of disbelief that I was actually at the Olympics, but this time around, I knew I was ready. I was very confident and looking forward to going out there and competing, especially the fact that there were almost 90 thousand people in the stadium. I was buzzing to go out there.
- Teamwork is a key element in the relay race. How did you and the team approach the race differently in Paris than in Tokyo? How did you personally approach the race differently with that experience behind you? Working as a team in the 4x100 is very important, and we’ve been together a lot longer. This time, from training and racing a lot more together all four of us, and just trusting each other a lot more, now you just know that the person will get to you. I feel like we ran our own race this time.
- As a gold medal winner (!), what would you tell your younger self today? I would probably tell my younger self "you did it". It was always a dream of mine to be an Olympic champion and achieve that, but there’s still so much more that I want to do now in the sport, so this Olympic gold gives me even more confidence that I can do more in the sport.
- What's next for you? As of right now, I still have a few more competitions before ending the season for the year, then have a much needed break and time away from sports to focus on some off the track opportunities.
- And for some fun, what are two or three songs that you listened to during the Olympics to get your head in the zone?Because I love music so much it’s hard to choose three songs, but I can do the top 5 songs I kept it going on repeat:
- Bad Vibes- Ayra Starr
- Ain't No Love in Oklahoma - Luke Combs
- Boots Don't - Shania Twain
- Marley Flow - Jords
- Thinkin' Bout Me - Morgan Wallen
Congrats again to Jerome and his Olympic teammates Aaron Brown, Brendon Rodney, and Andre De Grasse - you did it! Make sure to follow along on his next steps and send him some love on Instagram, TikTok, and X!
