St Helena teen sprinter's 5,000-mile journey for Island Games

BBC News

10 hours ago

Teenage sprinter Tyler Anthony has just made the biggest journey of his life.The 15-year-old left his home island of St Helena to travel to Orkney for the 20th International Island Games.The epic trip had several steps considering he was coming from the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean, roughly 4,850 miles away.Tyler flew from St Helena to Johannesburg, then to the UK, followed by a coach trip to Manchester, a flight to Aberdeen and, finally, a ferry to Orkney.
Despite being so far from home, Tyler is not far from familiarity.Alongside four other teammates, he is staying with St Helena's chief vet - who happens to have a house in Kirkwall.
Andy Cant, who is originally from Orkney, is currently working in St Helena, but has kept his house back home.When Tyler first qualified for the games, the word went out that he was looking for accommodation.He said: "Andy's wife, Alice, rang and she said 'Don't look for accommodation, you can come and stay with us in Orkney'."Because Andy and Alice are from Orkney, there's loads of athletes coming round the house. "So you get to mix and talk and ask how their training is, what they're doing and make it a friendly environment."Tyler was surprised by the weather in Orkney and has quickly warmed to the archipelago."It's just like back home in St Helena. Everything is small, everyone's cultural, it's really nice."
For Tyler, the Island Games is the biggest sporting event he has ever been part of.The St Helena team will be competing in athletics, squash and swimming.Although he is a bit nervous, he is mostly excited about the competition. Tyler, who will line up in the 100m and 200m, is one of the youngest competitors at the games.He said: "It really is amazing, the best thing that's ever happened to me to be honest. "From the day I qualified, it's been on my mind ever since."The teenager usually trains twice a week on a Monday with a local athletics club, and on a Wednesday with a personal coach. Tyler hopes to compete in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next summer and would love to one day break into the "big world of athletics".
He was first inspired to take up running when he was around eight-years-old.Tyler recalled: "I think I was in year four when I was in this athletics club. "The coach's son had qualified for the island games and that was my first time hearing about it. "He left a few weeks after and watching him on TV running."It kind of gave me the inspiration to train and do it in the future."Tyler hopes to get a medal at the Island Games this year and said he was taking the competition seriously.
And so far he has attracted a lot of attention from locals and spectators in Orkney. Tyler competed in his 100m heat on Sunday and finished sixth with a time of 11.82.He will take part in the 200m race on Tuesday.He said: "When I was walking up for the 100m, we had our St Helena crowd. "There were a few people here and there, cheering for St Helena. "I think it was a group of people from Orkney, who were further up from the 100m start and they were all cheering for me and I was so surprised. "It's very amazing to have a crowd cheering for me."People back home have also been showing their support. On BBC Radio Orkney's request music program on Friday night, he received 19 messages of good luck.