Stewie is on a mission for God

Stewie is ‘on a mission for God’ It has been five long years since she was last crowned 100m champion at the Jamaica National Trials, but for Kerron Stewart it was well worth the wait. The

Stewie is ‘on a mission for God’ It has been five long years since she was last crowned 100m champion at the Jamaica National Trials, but for Kerron Stewart it was well worth the wait. The

 struggles she has faced and continue to face has brought a real appreciation just to be on the track, let alone, to be able to stand on the top of the podium once more.

In an exclusive interview with Yardie Sports, the two time national champion spoke about winning the 100m ahead of former national champion Sherone Simpson, “It feels good. I have been out for a while, and to stay patient and to keep going and to come back to reap this reward, it’s a really good feeling.”

Clearly a fans favourite in homeland of Jamaica, the athlete who lives and trains in Auburn Alabama says, “I don’t believe that it’s me that they (the fans )love, but the God in me that they love or at least I hope it is Him.”

For Kerron, track now, is a far cry from what is was back in 2008 and 2009 when she was at the top of her game. She has been through quite a lot which has tested her and helped her to find God, meaning and purpose.

“Before I used to run for me and I ran to win just like other athletes. If I am honest a part of me still wants to do that but I have come to realize that it is not about me. I am still learning that it is not about me, but it’s about encouraging that one or two persons who feel it’s time to throw in the towel, you have to keep pressing on and going at it, and to be honest, back in 2008 and 2009 when I used to do so well I wasn’t really enjoying it.

“It was about the fame and stuff back then, but now I’m really enjoying track, even when I am so frustrated at times. I just wake up and find something to smile about in track.”

Developing the faith she now has, wasn’t easy for Stewart  who had to overcome many emotional struggles on the way.

“Things change when you come to the end of yourself and realize that there is nothing that you can do. You can’t change yourself and you can’t your life, you have to depend on God to do that. I was always an independent person so it took a lot of work, with me be flat on my face, for me to really trust God.

“I am still growing, I’m not perfect and I don’t want anyone to think – Kerron is perfect, that she lives a perfect life- I’m not perfect, I just trust God.”

Being a superstar in track and field comes with a lot of attention and a lot of extravagance so to turn your attention away from that and towards God cannot be an easy task for a sprinter in the prime of her career. The Auburn University graduate credits her mom with being able to make the change.

“You know they say, you see what your parents do and you try to do the same, I saw my mom make a change in her life and for me that was the happiest day of my life when she gave her life to God. After you finish high school and you go to college, you want to party and have fun but I realized that there is nothing else I want to do but live for God. In 2010 I got hurt and a whole lot of things went wrong in my life but I also got saved in 2010.

“In 2011, my entire season I could not sleep, and to go out on the track I had to trust God, cause some days I was like – I don’t know how I am going to make it  –  I had to go to training and hope I didn’t pass out. I developed very bad sleeping habits, I just couldn’t sleep. I would lie in bed and close my eyes and I was not sleeping and for an athlete, sleep is vital. Yet still, I had to go out there and compete even though I knew I was not well rested.

Battling through injuries and insomnia, the 29 year old has managed to rise back to the top of the pile and though she is happy to be injury free, sleep still evades her at the critical moment.

“I am still not sleeping, but I have reached to a point where I trust God, I show up and I pray he does the rest.”

As for the rest of the 2013 season, “I want to stay healthy, I want to win, I don’t just want to win for me and my country, but I want everything I do, for God to get the glory and for the first time I want to win for him and so I am on a mission,” she concluded.