January 25, 2024 • 56 mins
Embark on a captivating voyage with Grenada's very own Olympic gold medalist, Kirani James, as he unravels the threads of his life from a youngster in Gouyave to a titan of the track. Our heart-to-heart covers more than just his steps on the podium; it’s a deep dive into the cultural rhythms of his birthplace and the mental resilience sports demand. We roam through Kirani's cherished memories, from the vibrant Fish Friday celebrations to the awe-inspiring underwater sculpture park, while he imparts the wisdom gleaned from navigating high-stakes competitions.
As we chart Kirani's course to athletic stardom, we touch on the transformative power of early life decisions. Delving into the delicate dance of seizing opportunities and navigating the guidance of mentors, Kirani's narrative is a testament to the lasting impact of our beginnings. His relationship with coach Harvey Glance at the University of Alabama exemplifies the profound effect a mentor can have, illuminating the path to personal and professional triumph.
Celebration and camaraderie permeate our discussion as we reminisce about Grenada's jubilation in the wake of Olympic glory. Kirani invites us into his rigorous preparation for the 2024 Paris Games and offers a treasure trove of advice for aspiring athletes, emphasizing the vital role of a consistent training environment and proactive health management. In sharing his personal struggle with Graves' disease, Kirani champions the spirit of empathy and support, fostering a bond that transcends the world of athletics and resonates with anyone chasing their dreams. Join us to savor a conversation that champions perseverance, community, and the relentless pursuit of excellence.
CORRECTION the Museum in Grenada is called the Underwater Sculpture Museum, not the UNDERGROUND Museum.
Thanks for listening to Nutmeg Nation - I would like to thank my Editor Sean for helping with the audio of show, thanks to my Designer Yim for creating the logo and images for the show and thanks to my Guests!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carlene Humphrey (00:00):
Hi, I'm Carlene, and this is
Notmagnation.
I have with me the one and onlyKirani James.
Hi, Kirani.
Kirani James (00:14):
Hi, how are you doing?
Carlene Humphrey (00:15):
I'm good.
I'm good A fellow Grenadian.
You know you grew up in Grenadaand you are the first Olympic
athlete to win a gold medal forGrenada.
You put us on the map.
It's amazing all yourachievements, everything that
you've attained thus far.
So tell me, for those who don'tknow about you and your
(00:42):
upbringing, what was it likegrowing up in Grenada, in Guam
like?
What was it like?
Kirani James (00:48):
First of all, let me just say how long have we
been scheduled this interviewnow for?
Carlene Humphrey (00:55):
It's been.
You were scheduled last time,so it's been a process.
It's been a while.
Kirani James (01:01):
It's been a while from the initial message to who
knows.
Carlene Humphrey (01:06):
Yeah, I'm just so happy that we're here now
and we're making it happen.
It took us a while, but theysay the journey of a thousand
miles begins with one singlestep.
So I started, I sent you anemail.
I'm like I wonder if you gotthat email.
And then I sent you anotheremail.
Then you finally got back to me.
You have no idea, I was soexcited.
(01:26):
I told my friend.
I'm like, oh my gosh, I can'tbelieve he got back to me.
I didn't even think that itwould happen, you know so.
Kirani James (01:33):
But I'm glad.
I'm glad it could happen.
So growing up, I grew up intown in Grenada called Guam.
This way I grew up, spent mostof my life up there.
I grew up with two olderbrothers, a younger sister, with
our mother at that time, andprimary school I went to St
John's Anilikan Primary Schoolthat's where I went.
(01:55):
And secondary school I went toGrenada Boys Secondary School.
I was actually, I think I wasactually supposed to go to St
Rose, which is in Guam too, butthen, you know, things happened
and I ended up in well, notended up, but you know I got
transferred into GVSS.
So a lot of good things weregrowing up here.
(02:17):
Like, if you know, like,growing up in Guam is a fishing
town, so you know that's likeone of the main industries in
Guam.
You know fishing and you growup.
If you grow up close to the bayor the beach, then that's
something you see every day.
You see fishermen coming in,you know, from the ocean, with
the fish.
Fish market was right there,all that.
(02:39):
So that was kind of just anormal thing going up scene, a
lot of the fishermen going like,even like with the nets,
casting nets, and all that, likethat was normal.
The other couple of times, youknow, I was there, I was pulling
my net too, helping.
So you know, all of that wasreally kind of, you know, just
(03:03):
like I said, growing up it wasnormal doing these things and
having those experiences.
So these are things that Ialways cherish in my memory and
I'll never, never forget it,never forget, you know, that
area that I grew up in.
And you know, like I said,every time I try to do something
positive, whether it's on thetrack or off the track.
(03:23):
You know that's always on mymind.
So, yeah, but nothing too, youknow, crazy or anything, just
kind of normal upbringing orjust going up in that kind of
industry was really interestingto me, looking back at it.
Carlene Humphrey (03:39):
I grew up in Granance, and so we're in
different parts of Bernada youknow, yeah, that's totally
different yeah.
I'm a city girl and you're thecountry boy, you know.
Kirani James (03:52):
Yeah, that's what they say, that's what they call
it.
Carlene Humphrey (03:54):
You know what it's interesting.
You talk about the fishing andyou know now they have fish
Friday and I've been before andit's a big deal.
You know you go up on Fridayand you try different kinds of
fish.
So here in you mentioned thefishermen coming in and just
what that.
It's a fishing town, you know,for those who don't know about
Guam, and that's why I guessfish Friday is a big deal,
(04:18):
because that's what bringstourism in, and obviously during
Carnival, that's another bigthing for Granada.
But even here in you talk aboutthat experience in itself.
I'm like, oh, I just learnedsomething new about Granada.
I'm always learning stuff aboutGranada.
It's a beautiful island.
People can't believe how smallit is, but at the end of the day
(04:39):
, we are.
Like the underground sculpturemuseum is one of the top 25
wonders of the world.
So the fact that we'recontributing to that is amazing,
and just hearing you say itlike you just had a normal
upbringing.
So I'm going to tell everybodywho doesn't know you are the
world championship winner in2012 London Olympics, gold medal
(05:03):
winner, silver medal at the2016 Rio Olympics and bronze
medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
You know they say when you'rein your journey in life, it's
not where you're going, it'swhere you came from, and so when
you say you think about thememory of being part of that
fishing community, when you'reon the track and you're ready to
(05:27):
run and the gun goes off, whatdo you think of?
Kirani James (05:31):
What do I think of ?
Carlene Humphrey (05:32):
Yeah, what is it?
Is it what is like the gun goesoff and then you just go.
But do you have a vision?
Like it's very nerve wracking,like for us who's watching you
on the world stage you know whatI mean.
And when that gun goes off,it's like I'm an athlete myself
and I ran the 200 and the 100 inschool.
When that gun goes off, it'slike you know, do your diet at
(05:55):
that point?
Kirani James (05:56):
So you know, I mean, it's similar, it never
changes.
But I think for me you justwant to focus on your race,
focus on what you're supposed todo, especially in that moment.
Yeah.
Is you want to, whateverstrategy or whatever focus or
whatever plan that you have.
I think you want to focus onthat and execute into the best
of your ability.
(06:17):
Now, what it gets interestingis like throughout the lead up,
throughout the games or themeets, and all that you always
want to go for me, is alwaysabout focusing on just trying to
represent, you know, everyonethat's affiliated with me,
whether it's stakeholders,whether it's family, whether
(06:37):
it's community, all that youwant to go out and do your best
and try to make them proud.
So, yeah, leading up to it,yeah, obviously you want you
thinking about those thingsright as to okay, how am I going
to perform?
How are people you knowfollowing the races?
Are people knowing you knowwhat channel it is, what time it
is, to make sure that everyonecan tune in and do all those
(07:01):
things?
So, yeah, leading up is always alittle bit more, I would say,
not nerve wrecking, but is a bitmore surreal when you kind of
look at everything that, allthat's there in the stake and
how much you want to representand to kind of make everyone
(07:23):
proud, especially in that aspect, in that small aspect well, not
a small aspect, but an aspectin sport where you have
something where people couldgalvanize and people could come
together and so forth.
So sometimes, yeah, it feelslike a little bit of a
responsibility to go out andalways kind of perform at a
(07:45):
certain level because you knowthe expectation is always there.
So, yeah, going into thosemeets is a lot more interesting
in terms of, you know,navigating those, all those
emotions and all that, yeah.
But the race time is focused onthe plan, you know, and just
try to execute that in thatmoment for that 45 or whatever
(08:09):
second.
Carlene Humphrey (08:10):
Yeah, it's interesting because you know you
train for four years for thatone moment in time and it's like
anything can happen on the dayof it could be the wind is a
little too strong, it could, youknow.
You have so many people fall,starts and all that.
(08:31):
But going back from thebeginning, you were 14 when you
won your first race, so how didthat feel?
Did you even realize that youknow this is something that you
could do professionally?
Kirani James (08:45):
Yeah, I remember I was in there was a game called
the CUT Games Caribbean Union ofTeachers Games.
I think that was that year.
It was in St Lucia, I think,and that was my first time
actually leaving the country ona plane, on a Lyat, that shit.
All of that it felt like 10hours, you know, even though it
(09:05):
was just right in St Lucia.
So that was my first time ofgoing out and competing
internationally and I think Iwas about 13 at the time and
just having that experience, youknow, especially when you look,
you see on TV, you seeJamaicans, you see Trinidad,
(09:25):
folks from Trinidad and Tobago,barbados, bahamas, you see them
all on TV and they were likeokay, well, you know, hopefully,
especially at that level, maybesomebody could get, somebody
could get there, right, yeah,and you know, just looking at it
, going out there and competing,I think it was a games where
(09:47):
it's almost like you're doingall the events.
I remember I was doing the 400,the 200, I think I won the 400
and I got second in the 200, theJamaican beat me in the 200.
And I can say I won the 400.
So I was competing against,like you said, all those guys
from Jamaica, trinidad, bahamas,barbados, all the other
(10:07):
Caribbean countries.
I think it was from that momentwhere it was like okay, like
like I'm at that level in termsof just natural ability, like
we're all at that level.
So now it's about just kind offocusing and just using that as
a platform and a spring boat toto prepare me to to try to do
well.
So from there, you know, Ithink I was, I think in 2006, my
(10:30):
first year in my hometown clubcalled Spenso.
That was my club club in Guar.
The coach at that that time wasum, was Albert Joseph.
He coached me throughout mywhole, my whole youth career and
from there, from coming out offof that games, I was like, okay
(10:53):
, let me start taking athleticsvery seriously.
I'm not gonna play too muchfootball anymore.
I'm not gonna play too muchcricket, no, not too much
basketball, I'm just going tofocus and zone in on this one
sport.
And I think that's when itkinda hit me and to kind of like
I said you know, open my eyes,not just to go in, whether it's
(11:15):
to the Olympics or anything, buthow many opportunities it could
open, like coming up to the US,getting scholarships and all of
that.
So it was.
I would say that was the firsttime I had, you know, where I
felt like, okay, this could be,this could be something great.
And then we mentioned 2007 atWorld Youth.
(11:35):
I think I was 14 at the timeand I was running against, you
know, athletes that were 16, 17,right.
Carlene Humphrey (11:43):
So yeah, and you're 14, you said.
You said were you 13 or 14?
Kirani James (11:47):
I was 14 in 2007.
Carlene Humphrey (11:49):
Oh my goodness , wow I was 14, going on 15.
Yeah.
Kirani James (11:54):
I think that was in Ostrava, Czech Republic,
where we had the World.
Carlene Humphrey (11:57):
Youth Championship.
Wow, czech Republic.
Oh, my goodness.
Kirani James (12:00):
So yeah, so I was competing against all those guys
that maybe, as I was young,maybe it's just some naivety in
it where I was like I don't knowhow or this is gonna play out,
I don't have to think too much,just run and yeah, and I had
good performances.
I got a silver medal in thatWorld Youth Games at 14.
So, like I said, all of thatwas just more evidence of you
(12:23):
know, this could be somethingthat could be really good at.
And from there I said at homeyou have a character game, CBS
First Sports, you have intercall.
Intercall is always a big dealin Grenada.
Yeah.
You know.
So, like I said, you justtrying to go from strength to
strength with there.
But you know, it was a lot offactors that came into play, a
lot of people that were in mylife at certain points that
(12:45):
really helped me, whether it'sjust advice, whether it's just,
you know, like I say, with myclub, all of that stuff.
So it's a lot of you know,people that are influential in
terms of making me reach whereI'm at today.
So it's a wonderful experienceand, looking back, I could only
be grateful and humble that I'vehad all of that in my life.
Carlene Humphrey (13:08):
It's amazing to watch you and you know, for
me, I've been watching theOlympics since I was a child and
I've always loved track.
It's one of the most popularevents at the Olympics.
When we talk about the summergames, you hear the announcers.
There's like we know you werewaiting for the track event.
(13:28):
Like you know, this is it.
It's because we're looking atthe times.
Who's gonna beat the times?
Like even for you this year, Ibelieve, from what I heard.
I don't know if it's true thatUsain Bolt is gonna be in Paris.
Going back to what you weresaying about, you know the
people who were part of yourjourney to where you are now and
(13:51):
not realizing it, cause whenyou're young, you're like I
can't believe this is happening.
When did you realize?
I think it was?
Was it before you made it toLondon that you realized that
you know that there's somepotential for you to make an
impact or even compete at theinternational level?
(14:12):
You know what I mean.
Like against the world.
You know you had the worldstage.
Kirani James (14:16):
Yeah, like I said, that was always.
Like I said since 2006, 2007,.
There was always a potentialRight, you know potential
because you never know what'sgonna happen.
Yeah.
Oh, you know that talent isalways gonna dictate how far
that talent goes.
So even then there were evenconversations about, you know,
(14:37):
the Olympics or worldchampionships and all that.
So it was always.
It was always, I wouldn't sayexpectation, but it always.
You know the potential of allthat and if you remember, like
I've always, you know, in 2008,you know, I was in World Junior.
I got a silver medal there too.
2009, I was in World Youth, thesecond time.
(15:00):
I was 17, and I won the 400, wonthe 200 there.
2010 World Juniors I won the400 there.
So there was always like a very, I would say, prolific
progression with me when itcomes to, you know, going from
the youth level going up to thesenior level and 2011,.
(15:20):
You know, when I went to worldchampionships, you know, and I
won that, and then the Olympicswas following the following year
.
Obviously, there's even moreexpectation.
So, like I said, it's alwaysbeen there.
You know, even in when I was inWorld Junior in 2008, I
remember I was competing againstguys that were already in
(15:41):
college.
Carlene Humphrey (15:42):
Wow, that's so amazing.
Kirani James (15:45):
Yeah, so when I went there in like 2010, I went
to University of Alabama like Iwas seeing some of the same guys
in 2008.
So I said it's always.
It's always been there.
Like I said, I'm just gratefulthat I've had a lot of people
you know in my life to help me.
Like I said, my youth, my clubcoach in Grenada and I would say
(16:05):
, my college coach andprofessional coach, harvey
Glantz, you know, and then justso much people in my community
that helped me and even, like Isaid, then, the expectation and
the support was always there.
So, yeah, it wasn't just youknow, like you know, you just
aiming for one year in 2012 orwhatnot.
(16:26):
There was always a niceregression going from level
university then and it all kindof came together in 2012
Olympics.
Carlene Humphrey (16:37):
I have to say 2009 to 2010,.
I think that was the lead up,right.
That's where you kind of figureout that you know I'm gonna
after winning it's.
You know I read that 2010,.
You were offered scholarshipsat 10 US colleges.
Why did you choose Alabama?
Kirani James (16:59):
Why did I choose Alabama?
Carlene Humphrey (17:01):
Yeah, I mean you have 10 colleges offering
you opportunities to train, tostudy, to experience the
university life.
You know what I mean.
It's not just about competingin track, it's your education,
your future.
Why Alabama?
Kirani James (17:18):
Yeah, well, for me at the time, the whole
reasoning was you know, for mepersonally was when I got, when
I do was doing all the visitsand all of that.
I think I only ended upvisiting three or four schools,
really, right, all the.
I don't know if it's 10, maybethere was 10, I don't know if it
was all.
Carlene Humphrey (17:38):
They offered it to you.
Kirani James (17:40):
Yeah, there was.
Carlene Humphrey (17:41):
You were offered 10, like scholarships at
10 colleges, but obviouslywho's to remember?
I mean, that was 14 years ago.
You know what I mean.
I thought you can't remembereverything in life, right?
Kirani James (17:52):
So yeah, yeah, yeah, so yeah.
For me it was about, like Isaid, it was about growth and it
was about having good people inmy life.
So it was about okay, where canI go?
Well, for the next four years,I could not just grow as an
athlete, but grow as a person.
You know, and the head coach atthe time at the University of
(18:13):
Alabama and he became mypersonal coach, harvey Glantz I
think he was the main reason whyI chose Alabama.
When I went up there for avisit you know, just seeing how
we interact with the team, theteammates, the teammates that
were there at the time, you knowall of that he just kind of
gave me a bit of comfort knowingthat, okay, if I'm gonna spend
(18:35):
four years of my life here, thenI know that I'm in safe hands,
that I'm gonna be looked at andtaken care of.
Carlene Humphrey (18:41):
Right.
Kirani James (18:42):
So that was kind of the main reason.
It wasn't just about pure youknow, okay, this program has won
X amount of titles, or you haveX amount of prestige, or
anything like that.
It was more about the substance, more about the people and who
I'm gonna be around.
Yeah, yeah, you could be in thebest system or the best or the
(19:04):
most prolific, whatever, and youcould be around people that are
not really helping you grow asa person.
So at the end of the day, youknow, when it's all said and
done is, you know what I'm doingis gonna end at some point.
So for me it's about okay, whatcan I do where I can carry
something that I would have forlife and, you know, be for me,
(19:26):
you know, being a good person ortrying to be a good person and
learning and going in that waylight, you would have that, you
know, for the rest of your life.
I think that's what's gonnamatter more in your life than
any kind of accolades or anykind of thing.
So so I'm glad I went there andI had that experience and, like
(19:47):
I said, you know, post-glancywas my mentor, he was my father
figure, you know all the timeDid you have, were you, were you
.
Yes, yes for you.
Carlene Humphrey (19:57):
Yeah, were you close with your father, were
you close with your mom?
Like you said, he's your father, kind of like your father
figure.
Kirani James (20:04):
So yeah, well, you have to remember when I was 17,
when I left for university.
Right.
Right, yeah, so when I wasthere in a place where you know,
in terms of having that closefamily, like I, was there on my
own right.
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
So, like I said, when you havepeople that could look out for
you and give you good mentorshipand care for you more than just
(20:27):
you know what you're doing onthe track, that would always
mean a lot.
So, yeah, it shows you that youknow you value more than just
an athlete, but also as a person.
So that's why I say that so,yeah, yeah.
So when you look back at it,like yeah, like it made a world
(20:48):
of a difference 17,.
Carlene Humphrey (20:50):
Oh, my goodness, I can't imagine I'm
thinking about being 17 again.
And you know, at 17, I was inmy.
I'm at grade nine, as in grade12, like one more year of high
school, you know, and yeah at17,.
You're like, you're so close.
(21:11):
It's like for me.
I was part of the last class atgrade 13,.
I was the last class of grade13 here in Toronto and it was a
double cohort, so the pressurewas on.
It was like you have to.
I was applying both to collegesand university and I got into
York and I wasn't sure aboutgoing to York either.
(21:33):
Like I was like, should I go toYork, you know?
And then one of my friends waslike I'm going to York, I think
you should go.
And they offered me ascholarship.
It wasn't the best like it was.
Like it covered some of mybooks, karani.
But, I was like you know, butI'm telling you now, now that
it's been you're making me agemyself here, but it's been.
(21:56):
I graduated at York in 2008.
And two of my closest friends Imet at York and it's been one
of them.
It's 20 years that we've beenfriends and had I not gone to
York, I probably wouldn't havemeet them.
So, you know, it's like yousaid, you choose your path like
(22:17):
and you don't know what theoutcome will be.
But had I known, like who's tosay I would have like here, we
are now here, and now today islike we're in January in 2024.
And who would have thought thatI would be speaking to like the
gold medal Olympic champion,right Like?
This is a moment in time that Iprobably will never forget,
(22:40):
cause I'm going to tell youright now.
I remember where I was when youwere running, because my aunt
she even told me she was like oh, there's this guy.
You know, there's this guy,karani James, like this youth
champion, watch out for him.
Like they're saying he could bethe next, the next one, and you
know so I was watching youthroughout your journey, so you
(23:02):
know.
Kirani James (23:02):
You said you moved when you were.
When you were, what age?
Carlene Humphrey (23:07):
Oh yeah, I was six when I got here.
Yeah, in Toronto.
Kirani James (23:12):
Yeah, do you remember any of the time before
when you were at home oranything?
Carlene Humphrey (23:16):
Yeah, I do.
I was a little troublemaker.
I remember a little bit ofstuff.
I remember, like what did I goto the Burian school?
Like I remember the fall edge,walking on the fall edge Cause
my, I don't know if you knowthis part, but my grandmother's
house is by Grand Aunt's beachthere and I remember one time I
(23:39):
you're making me think aboutthis is so funny.
So anyways, you know you wereuniform to school every day and
I was a little troublemaker.
So I think my mom, or I don'tremember who, braided my hair.
But someone braided my hair andI didn't like the style karate
so I took it out and my dad cameto pick me up and he was like
what happened to your hair?
And I'm like I didn't like it.
(24:00):
And then I think they redid myhair.
But I was a troublemaker inschool and you know they give
you money for your snacks, likeat recess or whatever you call
it back home and I spent my busfare money so I didn't have
money to get home, to get on thebus.
I don't know who covered it,but somebody did.
(24:22):
But I remember getting introuble for that.
They were like why did you dothat?
You know, and not thinking.
I wasn't even thinking aboutthe fact that I had to get home,
cause I don't remember how muchthe bus fare was or the you
know.
I think it's like 50 cents orwhatever, but I spent my bus
fare money.
Kirani James (24:38):
Yeah, I was back then.
Yeah, back then it was 50 cents.
Carlene Humphrey (24:42):
Right.
Yeah.
Kirani James (24:46):
You think you're used to like the weather and all
that knowing kind of.
No no.
You never get used to it no, nono.
I don't know how you guys do it.
Carlene Humphrey (24:54):
I don't know how I do it either.
I complain every year.
I'm like, I tell my my aunt,I'm like I have to, I have to
come back.
I can't do this.
I don't know how much longer Ican do it.
I'd sell over 30 years ofstupid karate.
Yesterday it was minus 24, withthe windshield as wearing
mittens and everything Like youcan dress for the cold.
But I always say to myself I'mlike if I had the money, I, I
(25:18):
would.
I probably buy property inGrenada and, you know, be a
snowbird.
Kirani James (25:24):
Yeah, anything negative on the thermometer
doesn't sound good.
Carlene Humphrey (25:29):
And for you, your training there's, you'd be
in all the indoor facilitieshere.
You know what I mean.
But yeah, canada is a greatplace.
Yeah, here in Toronto, a lot ofpeople, a lot of changes would
happen, but the people arefriendly and stuff.
And every time I go back homeit's kind of like a culture
shock in a way, because I don'tcome back every year, but
(25:50):
everybody's so friendly.
You know, and you know when yougo back, my grandmother's house
is right by Granance Beach, soit's a five minute walk and she
used, if you know, the WhiteHouse, like she's, you go up the
hill, but you know where theTexaco gas station used to be,
right in Granance, there, likeyou're going up, going towards
the golf course.
(26:11):
Yeah.
Yeah, that's, my grandmother'shouse is right there.
So I tell her I'm like Granny,you got the best view in Granada
, yeah, yeah.
That's a lot about Granada, forsure, right Granance Beach, you
know.
Yeah, did you go there a lotwhen you were younger, or did
you do more?
Kirani James (26:31):
stuff in Guav?
No, not really.
Most of my stuff was in Guav,maybe one Okay.
You know, one time they mighttake us on like a ender school
year or ender semester.
We'd call it like field trip orlike boss party or something
like that.
Carlene Humphrey (26:50):
Yeah.
Kirani James (26:50):
We would take you.
We would take you to Grananceand then we would take you to
whether it's Camarhon orsomewhere you know, and you hang
out and then you come back.
But yeah, most of the stuff wasin Guav and then really no
Granance, until I got a littlebit older.
Right.
Carlene Humphrey (27:06):
Yeah, so do you consider yourself a fisher?
Are you a fisherman?
Do you know how to fish?
Kirani James (27:11):
No, not really.
I know how to, but I haven'tfished a lot.
Oh, okay, my parents, they werealways a little bit concerned
with, you know, going out,especially with somebody else,
you know.
But you know, I used to one ofmy friends his dad was a
fisherman and we used to like,when they came in, like we would
(27:34):
like go and we would like carrysome of the fish like to the
fish market and then we wouldlike clean the boats and all
that.
So I did that for a littlewhile and I remember the first
time they paid me because youget paid for that and they came
to my house and they gave melike a $20.
And I was like that's it.
(27:55):
I was like you can't tell menothing.
I was like I was like Mark ormore, you know in that video
where it was like yeah, I'mbuying everything with that $20
right now.
Carlene Humphrey (28:06):
Oh my gosh, your first key, yeah, $20.
I mean, at that time I'm sureyou could buy a bed of stuff
with that.
Kirani James (28:13):
But yeah, that was $20.
Carlene Humphrey (28:15):
Yeah, now $20.
I'm like how did I spend $20?
Like I just bought you know.
Like even now, it's like whatdo you show for it?
Like the dollar is like.
Kirani James (28:26):
Yeah, that's a most people in Grannons and Buck
.
Carlene Humphrey (28:29):
Right, exactly .
Kirani James (28:33):
That's it.
Carlene Humphrey (28:34):
Mm-hmm, but your journey is so amazing.
I have a question for you.
When you won the medal and youwent back to Grenada, what was
that like?
What was the feeling like?
Tell me.
Kirani James (28:48):
And it was amazing .
Yeah.
It was something I alwaysremember because it was just a
celebration of everything youknow, like a celebration of my
achievement, a celebration ofathletes in the past, like
Darlene Francik, like oh, Iremember Alain Francik.
Carlene Humphrey (29:10):
Oh, my gosh Wow.
Kirani James (29:12):
All those guys that came before me was.
Carlene Humphrey (29:15):
Oh, my goodness.
Wow.
Kirani James (29:16):
It was a combination of everything.
So it was just a special time.
And, like you said for Grenada,you know, to win a medal at the
Olympics, you know, I don'tthink anybody could, you know,
write that in a script.
So you know, just being able todo that and kind of put the
(29:40):
country on the map in that sortof way, and just seeing
everybody celebrate andeverybody being proud, I mean it
was just.
It was a special, specialmoment.
And yeah, I don't think it'ssomething I would ever, I would
ever forget.
So, yeah, yeah, even like, evennowadays, like even when I go
(30:01):
home, you know, there's at leastone or two people that would
kind of reminisce about, aboutthat, about that and and and how
that moment was.
So it always is.
There's always a reminder whenI go home and how excited and
how exuberant everybody wasabout that moment.
Carlene Humphrey (30:24):
Yeah, no, it was a beautiful moment.
Yeah, I was right there withyou.
I wasn't in Grenada, but likeit, just I was like I can't
believe it.
Wow, you know, because there'sit's not like we have a lot of
people that have won and like amedal, a gold medal at the
Olympics, you know.
Kirani James (30:43):
So I was the first .
I was the first time with themedal.
Carlene Humphrey (30:46):
Yeah, you are making history.
You don't even like you're,just like you made history in
2012.
Kirani James (30:54):
You did.
I mean, it was yeah.
Yeah.
One of the ones I've ever seen.
Yeah.
In my country I have a hundredthousand people.
Mm-hmm.
Like I always use thiscomparison, I went to, like I
said, I went to Alabama and ourstadium, our football stadium,
brand Benny, it was 105,000people.
So I always use that analogy oftelling people like you know,
(31:15):
we have a country that you couldfall into our stadium, that you
could park into our stadium inAlabama.
Carlene Humphrey (31:20):
Wow, I never even thought about it that way.
Yeah, I'm here, so I'm inToronto, but there's different
parts of Toronto, like the GTA,greater Toronto area, and I'm
here in Brampton and there ismore people in Brampton than
there is in Grenada, like justalone.
So it's a good comparison.
(31:41):
I will think of that when I.
When I think of Grenada, I'mlike, wow, it fills a stadium.
Yeah, wow, masmerizing.
I know, you know what.
Everybody knows each other andpeople say hi and it's a small
town and Grenada's like afriendly, like it's so friendly,
like we are the only country inthe world that does not have a
(32:02):
military, you know.
Yeah.
Yeah, and it's.
There's a lot of history inGrenada.
People don't realize it.
We got a lot of history.
Yeah, you know.
You know you created historywithout even realizing it Like
you're just.
I'm sure, when it happened, you,you, you thought about it,
(32:22):
right, and you're like oh, butfor the rest of the world and us
Grenadians, I, I, I say to youI'm like, I, I can't believe you
did it.
You know you did it, you madeyour mark.
You could stop now and, and itwould, it would be like you're
in the history books, you're onthe, you're on the Olympic
(32:44):
website, you're, you're, you'rethere, like, and you've done
more than you had ever know,right, so we're, yeah, coming
from me, I'm like, you know, asa Grenadian, I'm proud of you.
You know, I'm not like I was.
I was born there, I wasn'traised in Grenada, so I have a
(33:05):
different experience, like assomeone who was born there, and
my parents, my mom and my dad,they're Grenadian and you know
the history.
It's just like, it's good, it'sa good, it's a good thing.
2024 summer games in Paris.
Leading up to that, what, what,what?
(33:26):
As an athlete, how does it looklike?
You're training every day.
I know, for those who don'tknow, you're actually not even
in Alabama, you're in Arizonaand what's it like training
there now, like, I mean, is thatyour training ground or you
know?
Kirani James (33:41):
Yeah, I've been living in Arizona since 2012,
since 2020.
Okay.
It's been a while, so I'm kindof used to how everything is.
Yeah, I think the main thing isthe weather.
Mm-hmm.
It's a lot more consistent thana lot of other places.
There's other places wherethere are good training bases,
(34:01):
like California, florida, texas.
Those areas have a similar kindof consistent weather.
So, yeah, I've been here.
I mean I'm really enjoying it,even though it's a little bit
cold this week, which issurprising for Arizona.
Carlene Humphrey (34:20):
Yeah, always warm there.
Yeah, dry heat, it's kind ofyeah.
Kirani James (34:25):
That's what we call the dry heat.
Mm-hmm, that's what they callit.
Yeah, I don't know if it's dryheat, it's furnace heat to me.
Carlene Humphrey (34:34):
Have you been to Las Vegas?
Kirani James (34:36):
I have been to Las Vegas, yes.
Carlene Humphrey (34:38):
So I think I haven't been to Arizona, but
I've been to Las Vegas andsomebody told me this but I
didn't realize it until I wasthere.
The dry heat, it affects you ifyou're not drinking a lot of
water.
So what happens is thetemperature is so dry that you
could go a long time withouteating, like I remember the
first time I went to Vegas I waslike how come I'm not even
(34:59):
hungry and they're like you needto drink water Because you're
not feeling the humidity likeyou would in any other part of
the world.
But the dry heat does affectyou in that way because you're
not hydrating, and if you're nothydrating, your body's not used
to that.
So it's a little bit different,I think, is what they say.
Kirani James (35:19):
That's interesting .
I never knew that.
Carlene Humphrey (35:21):
Yeah, somebody mentioned it to me.
They're like make sure you stayhydrated, keep drinking water,
because you won't realize ituntil, like, you've passed a
couple of hours and you're like,oh, I'm like, I'm not even
hungry, but I need to eat.
Yeah, it's elevated Consistencyis an important thing when
you're an athlete, right?
Kirani James (35:40):
Yeah, absolutely.
Carlene Humphrey (35:42):
What do you think you have to do as someone
who's at that stage in yourcareer, like what's the most
important thing for anyone whois a track athlete the up and
coming athletes.
What advice do you have forthem?
Kirani James (36:01):
The advice I would have to them is to focus on
your priorities.
I would say For me it's alittle bit different because I'm
a bit older.
So, yeah, for me it's just beingconsistent and trying to avoid
(36:23):
injuries, listening to my body alot more, because sometimes
when you're young, when you're21, 22, I mean you're $6 million
man like nothing knocks youdown, you wake up and you're
fresh.
As you get older that doesn'thappen anymore.
So you have to take real goodcare and listen to your body,
(36:47):
know when it's time to relax andmaybe take a step back and not
put too much pressure on yourbody.
But for a younger athlete, Iwould say to be consistent and
just focus on priorities andfocus on whatever path, whatever
(37:13):
goals that you have is to dothings that are going to
contribute to it.
And if your goal is to be thebest athlete that you can, then,
yeah, you know what yourpriority is.
It's your training, it's yourrecovery, it's your diet, it's
(37:37):
your focus on doing everythingthat you can to help maximize
whatever you're trying toachieve, maximize potential and
whatever you're trying toachieve.
So I can't tell you what yourgoal is.
Some people goals are differentand that's okay, you know.
But if your goal is to becompete at a games and to do
(37:58):
your absolute best, then youhave to focus on those things
that are going to help you getthere.
It's not a secret, it's notsome you know, you know, you
know, you know, you know youscience or whatever it's it's
it's you do those basic things,and that's 90% of what you're
(38:20):
supposed to do is is is thosebasic things right yeah, is is.
We're focusing on that and doingthat, so yeah, that's what
advice I would give them.
I wouldn't give them any typeof training advice or anything
like that.
Carlene Humphrey (38:36):
So that's good advice, I think, I think was on
that and those things no, eveneven for me, as every year, you
know, you go through like theNew Year's resolution and I
don't really do that.
But I do goals because goalsare long term.
They could be short term girlsor long term, long term goals,
(38:59):
but at the end of the day, we'reall trying to achieve something
, some more than others, likesummer.
You know some of us have a pathin life.
We're supposed to do somethinggreat.
You know what I mean andobviously you're here to do
something great, right?
You know who knows.
I mean.
You were born and then you knowyour parents raised you the best
(39:21):
that they could and obviouslyyou had the natural talent.
You just needed the people toback you, to support you and to
help you get there right.
So sometimes it is about thenatural talent at the end of the
day, right?
Did you have someone growing up, like when you were?
Did you watch the Olympics?
Was there someone that inspiredyou to do track?
(39:43):
When did you know that youwanted to?
Kirani James (39:46):
focus on, in terms of, I would say, somebody that
inspired me to do track okay.
I would say to be honest, I wasjust following my older brother
like he was one of those ineverything yeah just one of
those guys.
So he was, like I said, when Ijoined my club speed zone, like
(40:08):
he was a part of it.
I just followed him and taggedalong with him at that time.
But he's this mean, he's reallyis.
His main joy was alwaysbasketball but, like I said, he
was somebody that did every.
He was one of those athletesthat was, you know, like kind of
gym top that could do any andeverything right.
(40:32):
That could you know playbasketball, play football, long
jump, high, jump run.
You know volleyball, everythingin terms of getting really into
it, I would say him.
But in terms of the inspirationfrom on a Olympic level, I mean
it had to be for me, I mean itwas Aline Francik, like I think,
(40:55):
growing up, I think everybodyremember you know, in 2004 how
much, just how much of a of a ofexpectations there was on a lot
of excitement, I would say yeahwhen he was competing.
I remember you know like you hadto wake up early to watch
towards the races.
I guess I think it wassomewhere in here.
(41:19):
Yeah, he was in Europe at thetime, I think, and you had to
get up early to watch some ofhim.
I remember, I remember watchingpeople excited and sometimes if
you don't have a TV at home andyou go over to your neighbor and
you never have a neighbor'slike look, you know he's running
now and you know.
(41:40):
So I would say from thatstandpoint, from on that level,
like he just raised theexcitement for every, I think,
for every kid that was growingup in that time mm-hmm you know,
in 2004, if you were eight,nine, ten, eleven, twelve,
thirteen, fourteen, like he, wasthe inspiration in Grenada, I
(42:02):
think around that time.
So yeah yeah, so it's so.
I mean, he turns out on aprofessional level and an
Olympic level like he was a guythat you know, you were looking
for for inspiration, and sayingthat, yeah, like he's Grenada,
he has his, he has a flag on hischest and his represent now.
So if he can get there, then wecan get there too, like we're
(42:23):
there yeah, yeah yeah, so Ithink that was that was.
That was very important for him.
Mm-hmm, my generation growingup especially athletes growing
up, he was, he was, I think, themain inspiration for all of us
yeah, oh, I remember I was likeI can't believe he didn't get it
.
Carlene Humphrey (42:41):
You know, like it was just I think he came in
fourth, I can't remember yeah,exactly, yeah, see, we both
remember.
Yeah, I was watching.
I remember watching that tooand seeing him compete and it's
interesting.
I was like is anyone else gonnado what he did?
Because I mean, he was theclosest in terms of Grenada
being on the map at the Olympiclevel, you know yeah and, yeah,
(43:05):
a lot of people before him andafter him.
I just you know, like you said,for me, I think I gotta tell you
2008.
So you said in 2008, you well,where were you competing?
There's something about 2008.
Anyways, you made me think.
(43:28):
In 2008 I was in Grenada.
I graduated university and Iwent back home.
I was like I told my dad I'mlike I want to go back to
Grenada.
We were having a reunion and Iwas back home and my aunt and I
we were watching the Olympics inBeijing together and I just
remember watching Michael Phelpsand Usain Bolt.
(43:52):
It was just amazing to watch.
You know, like, even thoughyou're not there, it's like the
amount of excitement they bring.
So you have no idea.
Like I mean, even when you wererunning, I was like, oh my gosh
, is he gonna do it?
Like I think I had to like makesure I made it home on time and
like I'm like I don't want tomiss the race.
(44:13):
And it's like you said, likeyou, if you have to go out to a
neighbor's house or if you haveto go on a break when you're at
work, like the Olympics, youmake sure, like certain events,
that I can't miss it.
I just I can't, you know so,but yeah, it's, it's a journey,
it's a process and it's it's awhole different thing.
Like I mean, even this year, doyou have any other events that
(44:36):
you have to compete at beforethe Olympics, or is it just
training?
Kirani James (44:42):
yeah, usually my season starts around the auto
season starts around March yeah.
I usually start around April,mid April, end of April.
Yeah, there's always a seriesof meets.
There's continental meets,there's different levels,
there's gold level, there'ssilver level, there's bronze
(45:03):
level and then there's a diamondleague, which is kind of our
main circuit races.
Yeah, it was a competing, youknow.
So there's gonna be a couple ofthose races before the Olympics
yeah, so hopefully I could get agood you know at least six
races in before the Olympics.
You kind of prep and to kind ofhave a season you know going in
(45:26):
.
So that's always, it's alwaysbeen yeah and yeah, there's,
there's always there.
There's always a season.
What people don't you know,like realize, like they see it
every year, but they don'trealize, like Olympics, like
world championships, like eventhe name of the championships or
(45:48):
the event might change a lot oftimes, it's the same athlete,
right?
So a lot of times you're stillcompeting against guys that you
already know and sometimes thatwhat just changes the name.
So for me, like every year,there's always a major
championship, whether it's worldchampionships, whether it's
(46:08):
Olympic games, whether it'sCommonwealth Games, there's
always a high level that youwant to aim for.
You know, like every four yearsis like every year oh my gosh,
you know what it's the same guysyeah, yeah yeah, it never
(46:29):
really stops it, never.
You know, like you're in afour-year prep, it's like a year
by year prep and yeah, likepeople don't even realize, like,
yeah, it's just the same guys.
Yeah, same guys.
You're competing against that.
They're going to be the sameguys over there last year,
budapest.
90% of them are going to bethere this year.
(46:50):
So, oh, wow, yeah, it should be, yeah no, I'm excited for you.
Carlene Humphrey (46:56):
I'm excited about the summer Olympics in
Paris.
It's going to be fun.
I mean, there's so much to lookforward to and you just don't
know until the day of like.
I mean, this year the Olympicsis starting.
I looked it up July, was itJuly 26th?
Am I right?
Remind me Karani?
Kirani James (47:17):
yeah, I'm not sure when track of field.
I think track and field startsa week later, but yeah, mm-hmm,
yeah, that's when it starts.
Carlene Humphrey (47:24):
I was looking at it.
I'm like, wow, we're alreadystuck in week in January.
And it's like, oh my god, wow,time is just flying by, isn't it
like I mean, yeah, I'm gonna be40 this year, karani yeah yeah,
it's one of those things whereit's like I can't believe it,
(47:45):
you know sorry.
Kirani James (47:48):
I couldn't tell I know a lot of.
Carlene Humphrey (47:50):
We just age so gracefully.
People are like, wow, really,I'm like, yeah, I am.
They can't believe it.
I can thank my, my mom and mydad, you know, for giving me
some good genes, right?
So there's one more thing Ithink I want to say before we
get into that.
I'm Carleen and this is notMagnation.
(48:11):
I'm sitting with Karani James,olympic athlete, the first gold
medalist for Granada.
You know you were talking aboutyour goals and focusing on your
goals and your health and yourfitness, and I remember reading
when you you had a time in yourlife and you've you found out
that you have Graves disease andyou know you were dealing with
(48:35):
that.
How was that like?
Kirani James (48:36):
I mean, obviously there's always obstacles that
you come upon yeah, I mean, likeyou said it was, it was an
obstacle yeah it was a surrealkind of experience because you
know, you never really imaginelike these things would just
happen and even though, yeah,like it might have happened over
time and maybe, like you know,certain symptoms, because a lot
(48:59):
of times, as an athlete, youknow, you know, you just you
think that you could.
It's just.
You're just having a littlemoment, right you just have.
You just power through it, youtrain through it and all of that
.
So you know, at first you knowwe weren't sure what, what, what
it was that was happening.
(49:19):
It could have been anything.
It could have been somethingwith my blood, it could have
been cancer, it could have been.
And we did the test and it wasGraves disease, you know it was.
It was surprised.
I was surprised, just like,just like everyone.
And from there it was aboutfinding out the right treatment
plan, the rights in the nextsteps to take.
Just try to go from there.
(49:41):
You know, I've never try to betoo negative on it.
Carlene Humphrey (49:47):
Right.
Kirani James (49:48):
Try to accept it for what it was and what it is.
Just try to focus on okay, howcan we get better?
Yeah, yeah.
Then try to wallow too much orlike be down or anything, and,
yeah, just okay, this is what itis, this is what I have.
Okay, what are the next steps?
(50:09):
Let's work towards that, but atthe same time, you know, be
patient and understand that itwill be a process and not try to
push yourself too hard or, ifyou're not seeing the
improvement that you want to tryto get, you know, feel down or
anything like that.
So, yeah, it was.
(50:29):
It was just something that Ihad to accept and just try to
listen to my body and just tryto improve day by day, get
better.
And I would say now, at thatpoint where I'm pretty stable,
I'll still have to do lab works,like every three months, to
make sure that the levels arewhere it's supposed to be.
(50:50):
So, yeah, so it's somethingthat you know.
I'll have to take medicationfor the rest of my life just to
maintain my thyroid levels.
Yeah.
But you know it is what it is,you know.
But I have to accept it and Ihave to just try to make the
best of it and try to focus onit.
(51:10):
And you know, if somebody comesalong and they have a similar
issue, then I know how to helpthem, how to guide them, how to
give them proper advice as tohow they would feel.
You know how they would notfeel what you know kind of
treatment they're getting oranything like that to just kind
of give them broaden theirperspective or broaden their
(51:32):
knowledge of it.
So you know I could do that,especially from an athletic
standpoint.
I know there's a coupleathletes in the past that had it
.
So yes, going forward.
You know, if you know, I thinkthe main thing is yeah, it
happened to me, but that doesn'tmean that I can't help the next
person you know go through thatexperience and have a more
(51:56):
supportive cast in going throughthat experience and just giving
them support in any way I can.
Carlene Humphrey (52:04):
No, you know what?
Anything in life, you know,things happen, that there's
things that we can control andthere's some things that you
just can't control, and that'sone of them.
Right, and so so is ithereditary, like is it?
No, it's not.
No it's not no.
It's not no, it's just no it'sjust.
So for those who don't know,there isn't a specific cause.
(52:27):
Oh really.
Kirani James (52:28):
Like could trigger it or anything.
Sometimes it just could be, youknow, your body just
overreacting.
Carlene Humphrey (52:35):
Oh, wow, yeah, you know, listening to you talk
about that this year.
I'm anemic and I've always hadto take iron supplements and
it's in my genetics and Iunderstand what you're saying
with that.
So you're going to have to take, you're going to have to take
something for your thyroid forthe rest of your life, right?
So with me I had a time where Iwas, you know.
He said you ignore yoursymptoms.
(52:56):
So I was ignoring symptoms oflike the lot when my iron is low
, I get you get cold, you're outof breath, like.
I remember, like walking up theflight of stairs in my
apartment here and I'm like, whyam I so winded, like, and those
are the things that, as someonewho's been dealing with this
most of my life since I was like14 or maybe even younger, and
(53:19):
then I ignored it and then I itgot so bad that when my dad, my,
my doctor, called me at 3 30 inthe morning karate, I'm like
what, who's calling me at thistime?
So I went to go get the results.
Like you know, you do yourregular checkup.
So I went in November and I wentand did my checkup and then he
called me on the Friday morning.
(53:40):
I'm like why I'm like halfasleep.
I'm like who's calling at thistime?
And then he left the messageand then he called again and I'm
like I, doctor, I'm a you.
He's like yeah, carline, youriron levels are really low.
And I'm like what do you mean?
It's just like.
It's like you're gonna have togo to the hospital.
I'm like the hospital is thatbad?
He's like yeah, he's like thelab called me.
(54:03):
And I'm like, okay, it's one ofthose things.
You ignore it until it getsreally bad.
Kirani James (54:10):
And I think that's the thing with, like, I guess,
with hindsight or looking back,where is that you can move,
pinpoint a lot of these things?
That's what I'm.
That's what I'm gonna say.
Like you could help the nextperson you know in the future.
You know somebody says, oh, I'mfeeling this way, you know, my
(54:30):
eye feels sandy, you know okay.
Okay, we need to, you need tocheck this.
Yeah, I see what's going on.
Yeah, I think sometimes thatthat that helped.
Like you say, we go out, gothrough things.
I think the main thing, if wecould help the next person you
know, that'll go into a certainexperience and I think that's
(54:50):
that's making the best out of it, out of all situations.
Carlene Humphrey (54:54):
So, yeah, no, it's good, it's good.
You said you experienced thatand I could tell you, like I
have a coworker.
He had something happen to him,that happened to me and I saw
it.
I'm like you need to go to thehospital, like today, and he
didn't listen to you, didn't gothat night.
But he went the followingmorning and he said Carly and I
yeah, I broke my ankle.
I'm like, yeah.
When you show me how it look.
(55:15):
I was like you need to go.
I'm like I don't even know howyou manage it.
I'm like your tolerance forpain is a lot higher than mine
because I remember that pain,and I'm like there's no ignoring
this.
I first I was like hoping Ibroke, like I remember when I
broke my ankle I thought Isprained it, karani.
And when the doctor came withthe exam, I was like no, he's,
(55:37):
like, yeah, you, you fracturedit.
It's a minor factor, but mm-hmm.
So now I know for myself, likewhen I, when he told me, I was
like what Are you sure?
Yeah, that's not, that's not asomething you should.
I'm like you got to go now,like because it could.
It just makes it worse thelonger you take to take care of
something with like an injury,right?
(55:59):
So, yeah, I'm so happy that wefinally had this conversation.
It's been I have to tell youthis, it's been a dream of mine
Like I was like you just helpedme accomplish something that I
didn't even think was attainable.
I didn't even know if you weregoing to say yes, and when you
(56:21):
did, I was like I can't believeit.
You know, and talking to younow, you're, you're so humble.
So it's just, you never knowwhat to expect in life.
Kirani James (56:32):
Yeah, I'm glad it all worked out.
Yeah, yeah.
Carlene Humphrey (56:38):
It was a pleasure speaking to you too.
I'm Carleen, and this is NotMagnation with the one and only
Karani James.
Hi, I'm Carlene, and this is
Notmagnation.
I have with me the one and onlyKirani James.
Hi, Kirani.
Kirani James (00:14):
Hi, how are you doing?
Carlene Humphrey (00:15):
I'm good.
I'm good A fellow Grenadian.
You know you grew up in Grenadaand you are the first Olympic
athlete to win a gold medal forGrenada.
You put us on the map.
It's amazing all yourachievements, everything that
you've attained thus far.
So tell me, for those who don'tknow about you and your
(00:42):
upbringing, what was it likegrowing up in Grenada, in Guam
like?
What was it like?
Kirani James (00:48):
First of all, let me just say how long have we
been scheduled this interviewnow for?
Carlene Humphrey (00:55):
It's been.
You were scheduled last time,so it's been a process.
It's been a while.
Kirani James (01:01):
It's been a while from the initial message to who
knows.
Carlene Humphrey (01:06):
Yeah, I'm just so happy that we're here now
and we're making it happen.
It took us a while, but theysay the journey of a thousand
miles begins with one singlestep.
So I started, I sent you anemail.
I'm like I wonder if you gotthat email.
And then I sent you anotheremail.
Then you finally got back to me.
You have no idea, I was soexcited.
(01:26):
I told my friend.
I'm like, oh my gosh, I can'tbelieve he got back to me.
I didn't even think that itwould happen, you know so.
Kirani James (01:33):
But I'm glad.
I'm glad it could happen.
So growing up, I grew up intown in Grenada called Guam.
This way I grew up, spent mostof my life up there.
I grew up with two olderbrothers, a younger sister, with
our mother at that time, andprimary school I went to St
John's Anilikan Primary Schoolthat's where I went.
(01:55):
And secondary school I went toGrenada Boys Secondary School.
I was actually, I think I wasactually supposed to go to St
Rose, which is in Guam too, butthen, you know, things happened
and I ended up in well, notended up, but you know I got
transferred into GVSS.
So a lot of good things weregrowing up here.
(02:17):
Like, if you know, like,growing up in Guam is a fishing
town, so you know that's likeone of the main industries in
Guam.
You know fishing and you growup.
If you grow up close to the bayor the beach, then that's
something you see every day.
You see fishermen coming in,you know, from the ocean, with
the fish.
Fish market was right there,all that.
(02:39):
So that was kind of just anormal thing going up scene, a
lot of the fishermen going like,even like with the nets,
casting nets, and all that, likethat was normal.
The other couple of times, youknow, I was there, I was pulling
my net too, helping.
So you know, all of that wasreally kind of, you know, just
(03:03):
like I said, growing up it wasnormal doing these things and
having those experiences.
So these are things that Ialways cherish in my memory and
I'll never, never forget it,never forget, you know, that
area that I grew up in.
And you know, like I said,every time I try to do something
positive, whether it's on thetrack or off the track.
(03:23):
You know that's always on mymind.
So, yeah, but nothing too, youknow, crazy or anything, just
kind of normal upbringing orjust going up in that kind of
industry was really interestingto me, looking back at it.
Carlene Humphrey (03:39):
I grew up in Granance, and so we're in
different parts of Bernada youknow, yeah, that's totally
different yeah.
I'm a city girl and you're thecountry boy, you know.
Kirani James (03:52):
Yeah, that's what they say, that's what they call
it.
Carlene Humphrey (03:54):
You know what it's interesting.
You talk about the fishing andyou know now they have fish
Friday and I've been before andit's a big deal.
You know you go up on Fridayand you try different kinds of
fish.
So here in you mentioned thefishermen coming in and just
what that.
It's a fishing town, you know,for those who don't know about
Guam, and that's why I guessfish Friday is a big deal,
(04:18):
because that's what bringstourism in, and obviously during
Carnival, that's another bigthing for Granada.
But even here in you talk aboutthat experience in itself.
I'm like, oh, I just learnedsomething new about Granada.
I'm always learning stuff aboutGranada.
It's a beautiful island.
People can't believe how smallit is, but at the end of the day
(04:39):
, we are.
Like the underground sculpturemuseum is one of the top 25
wonders of the world.
So the fact that we'recontributing to that is amazing,
and just hearing you say itlike you just had a normal
upbringing.
So I'm going to tell everybodywho doesn't know you are the
world championship winner in2012 London Olympics, gold medal
(05:03):
winner, silver medal at the2016 Rio Olympics and bronze
medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
You know they say when you'rein your journey in life, it's
not where you're going, it'swhere you came from, and so when
you say you think about thememory of being part of that
fishing community, when you'reon the track and you're ready to
(05:27):
run and the gun goes off, whatdo you think of?
Kirani James (05:31):
What do I think of ?
Carlene Humphrey (05:32):
Yeah, what is it?
Is it what is like the gun goesoff and then you just go.
But do you have a vision?
Like it's very nerve wracking,like for us who's watching you
on the world stage you know whatI mean.
And when that gun goes off,it's like I'm an athlete myself
and I ran the 200 and the 100 inschool.
When that gun goes off, it'slike you know, do your diet at
(05:55):
that point?
Kirani James (05:56):
So you know, I mean, it's similar, it never
changes.
But I think for me you justwant to focus on your race,
focus on what you're supposed todo, especially in that moment.
Yeah.
Is you want to, whateverstrategy or whatever focus or
whatever plan that you have.
I think you want to focus onthat and execute into the best
of your ability.
(06:17):
Now, what it gets interestingis like throughout the lead up,
throughout the games or themeets, and all that you always
want to go for me, is alwaysabout focusing on just trying to
represent, you know, everyonethat's affiliated with me,
whether it's stakeholders,whether it's family, whether
(06:37):
it's community, all that youwant to go out and do your best
and try to make them proud.
So, yeah, leading up to it,yeah, obviously you want you
thinking about those thingsright as to okay, how am I going
to perform?
How are people you knowfollowing the races?
Are people knowing you knowwhat channel it is, what time it
is, to make sure that everyonecan tune in and do all those
(07:01):
things?
So, yeah, leading up is always alittle bit more, I would say,
not nerve wrecking, but is a bitmore surreal when you kind of
look at everything that, allthat's there in the stake and
how much you want to representand to kind of make everyone
(07:23):
proud, especially in that aspect, in that small aspect well, not
a small aspect, but an aspectin sport where you have
something where people couldgalvanize and people could come
together and so forth.
So sometimes, yeah, it feelslike a little bit of a
responsibility to go out andalways kind of perform at a
(07:45):
certain level because you knowthe expectation is always there.
So, yeah, going into thosemeets is a lot more interesting
in terms of, you know,navigating those, all those
emotions and all that, yeah.
But the race time is focused onthe plan, you know, and just
try to execute that in thatmoment for that 45 or whatever
(08:09):
second.
Carlene Humphrey (08:10):
Yeah, it's interesting because you know you
train for four years for thatone moment in time and it's like
anything can happen on the dayof it could be the wind is a
little too strong, it could, youknow.
You have so many people fall,starts and all that.
(08:31):
But going back from thebeginning, you were 14 when you
won your first race, so how didthat feel?
Did you even realize that youknow this is something that you
could do professionally?
Kirani James (08:45):
Yeah, I remember I was in there was a game called
the CUT Games Caribbean Union ofTeachers Games.
I think that was that year.
It was in St Lucia, I think,and that was my first time
actually leaving the country ona plane, on a Lyat, that shit.
All of that it felt like 10hours, you know, even though it
(09:05):
was just right in St Lucia.
So that was my first time ofgoing out and competing
internationally and I think Iwas about 13 at the time and
just having that experience, youknow, especially when you look,
you see on TV, you seeJamaicans, you see Trinidad,
(09:25):
folks from Trinidad and Tobago,barbados, bahamas, you see them
all on TV and they were likeokay, well, you know, hopefully,
especially at that level, maybesomebody could get, somebody
could get there, right, yeah,and you know, just looking at it
, going out there and competing,I think it was a games where
(09:47):
it's almost like you're doingall the events.
I remember I was doing the 400,the 200, I think I won the 400
and I got second in the 200, theJamaican beat me in the 200.
And I can say I won the 400.
So I was competing against,like you said, all those guys
from Jamaica, trinidad, bahamas,barbados, all the other
(10:07):
Caribbean countries.
I think it was from that momentwhere it was like okay, like
like I'm at that level in termsof just natural ability, like
we're all at that level.
So now it's about just kind offocusing and just using that as
a platform and a spring boat toto prepare me to to try to do
well.
So from there, you know, Ithink I was, I think in 2006, my
(10:30):
first year in my hometown clubcalled Spenso.
That was my club club in Guar.
The coach at that that time wasum, was Albert Joseph.
He coached me throughout mywhole, my whole youth career and
from there, from coming out offof that games, I was like, okay
(10:53):
, let me start taking athleticsvery seriously.
I'm not gonna play too muchfootball anymore.
I'm not gonna play too muchcricket, no, not too much
basketball, I'm just going tofocus and zone in on this one
sport.
And I think that's when itkinda hit me and to kind of like
I said you know, open my eyes,not just to go in, whether it's
(11:15):
to the Olympics or anything, buthow many opportunities it could
open, like coming up to the US,getting scholarships and all of
that.
So it was.
I would say that was the firsttime I had, you know, where I
felt like, okay, this could be,this could be something great.
And then we mentioned 2007 atWorld Youth.
(11:35):
I think I was 14 at the timeand I was running against, you
know, athletes that were 16, 17,right.
Carlene Humphrey (11:43):
So yeah, and you're 14, you said.
You said were you 13 or 14?
Kirani James (11:47):
I was 14 in 2007.
Carlene Humphrey (11:49):
Oh my goodness , wow I was 14, going on 15.
Yeah.
Kirani James (11:54):
I think that was in Ostrava, Czech Republic,
where we had the World.
Carlene Humphrey (11:57):
Youth Championship.
Wow, czech Republic.
Oh, my goodness.
Kirani James (12:00):
So yeah, so I was competing against all those guys
that maybe, as I was young,maybe it's just some naivety in
it where I was like I don't knowhow or this is gonna play out,
I don't have to think too much,just run and yeah, and I had
good performances.
I got a silver medal in thatWorld Youth Games at 14.
So, like I said, all of thatwas just more evidence of you
(12:23):
know, this could be somethingthat could be really good at.
And from there I said at homeyou have a character game, CBS
First Sports, you have intercall.
Intercall is always a big dealin Grenada.
Yeah.
You know.
So, like I said, you justtrying to go from strength to
strength with there.
But you know, it was a lot offactors that came into play, a
lot of people that were in mylife at certain points that
(12:45):
really helped me, whether it'sjust advice, whether it's just,
you know, like I say, with myclub, all of that stuff.
So it's a lot of you know,people that are influential in
terms of making me reach whereI'm at today.
So it's a wonderful experienceand, looking back, I could only
be grateful and humble that I'vehad all of that in my life.
Carlene Humphrey (13:08):
It's amazing to watch you and you know, for
me, I've been watching theOlympics since I was a child and
I've always loved track.
It's one of the most popularevents at the Olympics.
When we talk about the summergames, you hear the announcers.
There's like we know you werewaiting for the track event.
(13:28):
Like you know, this is it.
It's because we're looking atthe times.
Who's gonna beat the times?
Like even for you this year, Ibelieve, from what I heard.
I don't know if it's true thatUsain Bolt is gonna be in Paris.
Going back to what you weresaying about, you know the
people who were part of yourjourney to where you are now and
(13:51):
not realizing it, cause whenyou're young, you're like I
can't believe this is happening.
When did you realize?
I think it was?
Was it before you made it toLondon that you realized that
you know that there's somepotential for you to make an
impact or even compete at theinternational level?
(14:12):
You know what I mean.
Like against the world.
You know you had the worldstage.
Kirani James (14:16):
Yeah, like I said, that was always.
Like I said since 2006, 2007,.
There was always a potentialRight, you know potential
because you never know what'sgonna happen.
Yeah.
Oh, you know that talent isalways gonna dictate how far
that talent goes.
So even then there were evenconversations about, you know,
(14:37):
the Olympics or worldchampionships and all that.
So it was always.
It was always, I wouldn't sayexpectation, but it always.
You know the potential of allthat and if you remember, like
I've always, you know, in 2008,you know, I was in World Junior.
I got a silver medal there too.
2009, I was in World Youth, thesecond time.
(15:00):
I was 17, and I won the 400, wonthe 200 there.
2010 World Juniors I won the400 there.
So there was always like a very, I would say, prolific
progression with me when itcomes to, you know, going from
the youth level going up to thesenior level and 2011,.
(15:20):
You know, when I went to worldchampionships, you know, and I
won that, and then the Olympicswas following the following year
.
Obviously, there's even moreexpectation.
So, like I said, it's alwaysbeen there.
You know, even in when I was inWorld Junior in 2008, I
remember I was competing againstguys that were already in
(15:41):
college.
Carlene Humphrey (15:42):
Wow, that's so amazing.
Kirani James (15:45):
Yeah, so when I went there in like 2010, I went
to University of Alabama like Iwas seeing some of the same guys
in 2008.
So I said it's always.
It's always been there.
Like I said, I'm just gratefulthat I've had a lot of people
you know in my life to help me.
Like I said, my youth, my clubcoach in Grenada and I would say
(16:05):
, my college coach andprofessional coach, harvey
Glantz, you know, and then justso much people in my community
that helped me and even, like Isaid, then, the expectation and
the support was always there.
So, yeah, it wasn't just youknow, like you know, you just
aiming for one year in 2012 orwhatnot.
(16:26):
There was always a niceregression going from level
university then and it all kindof came together in 2012
Olympics.
Carlene Humphrey (16:37):
I have to say 2009 to 2010,.
I think that was the lead up,right.
That's where you kind of figureout that you know I'm gonna
after winning it's.
You know I read that 2010,.
You were offered scholarshipsat 10 US colleges.
Why did you choose Alabama?
Kirani James (16:59):
Why did I choose Alabama?
Carlene Humphrey (17:01):
Yeah, I mean you have 10 colleges offering
you opportunities to train, tostudy, to experience the
university life.
You know what I mean.
It's not just about competingin track, it's your education,
your future.
Why Alabama?
Kirani James (17:18):
Yeah, well, for me at the time, the whole
reasoning was you know, for mepersonally was when I got, when
I do was doing all the visitsand all of that.
I think I only ended upvisiting three or four schools,
really, right, all the.
I don't know if it's 10, maybethere was 10, I don't know if it
was all.
Carlene Humphrey (17:38):
They offered it to you.
Kirani James (17:40):
Yeah, there was.
Carlene Humphrey (17:41):
You were offered 10, like scholarships at
10 colleges, but obviouslywho's to remember?
I mean, that was 14 years ago.
You know what I mean.
I thought you can't remembereverything in life, right?
Kirani James (17:52):
So yeah, yeah, yeah, so yeah.
For me it was about, like Isaid, it was about growth and it
was about having good people inmy life.
So it was about okay, where canI go?
Well, for the next four years,I could not just grow as an
athlete, but grow as a person.
You know, and the head coach atthe time at the University of
(18:13):
Alabama and he became mypersonal coach, harvey Glantz I
think he was the main reason whyI chose Alabama.
When I went up there for avisit you know, just seeing how
we interact with the team, theteammates, the teammates that
were there at the time, you knowall of that he just kind of
gave me a bit of comfort knowingthat, okay, if I'm gonna spend
(18:35):
four years of my life here, thenI know that I'm in safe hands,
that I'm gonna be looked at andtaken care of.
Carlene Humphrey (18:41):
Right.
Kirani James (18:42):
So that was kind of the main reason.
It wasn't just about pure youknow, okay, this program has won
X amount of titles, or you haveX amount of prestige, or
anything like that.
It was more about the substance, more about the people and who
I'm gonna be around.
Yeah, yeah, you could be in thebest system or the best or the
(19:04):
most prolific, whatever, and youcould be around people that are
not really helping you grow asa person.
So at the end of the day, youknow, when it's all said and
done is, you know what I'm doingis gonna end at some point.
So for me it's about okay, whatcan I do where I can carry
something that I would have forlife and, you know, be for me,
(19:26):
you know, being a good person ortrying to be a good person and
learning and going in that waylight, you would have that, you
know, for the rest of your life.
I think that's what's gonnamatter more in your life than
any kind of accolades or anykind of thing.
So so I'm glad I went there andI had that experience and, like
(19:47):
I said, you know, post-glancywas my mentor, he was my father
figure, you know all the timeDid you have, were you, were you
.
Yes, yes for you.
Carlene Humphrey (19:57):
Yeah, were you close with your father, were
you close with your mom?
Like you said, he's your father, kind of like your father
figure.
Kirani James (20:04):
So yeah, well, you have to remember when I was 17,
when I left for university.
Right.
Right, yeah, so when I wasthere in a place where you know,
in terms of having that closefamily, like I, was there on my
own right.
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
So, like I said, when you havepeople that could look out for
you and give you good mentorshipand care for you more than just
(20:27):
you know what you're doing onthe track, that would always
mean a lot.
So, yeah, it shows you that youknow you value more than just
an athlete, but also as a person.
So that's why I say that so,yeah, yeah.
So when you look back at it,like yeah, like it made a world
(20:48):
of a difference 17,.
Carlene Humphrey (20:50):
Oh, my goodness, I can't imagine I'm
thinking about being 17 again.
And you know, at 17, I was inmy.
I'm at grade nine, as in grade12, like one more year of high
school, you know, and yeah at17,.
You're like, you're so close.
(21:11):
It's like for me.
I was part of the last class atgrade 13,.
I was the last class of grade13 here in Toronto and it was a
double cohort, so the pressurewas on.
It was like you have to.
I was applying both to collegesand university and I got into
York and I wasn't sure aboutgoing to York either.
(21:33):
Like I was like, should I go toYork, you know?
And then one of my friends waslike I'm going to York, I think
you should go.
And they offered me ascholarship.
It wasn't the best like it was.
Like it covered some of mybooks, karani.
But, I was like you know, butI'm telling you now, now that
it's been you're making me agemyself here, but it's been.
(21:56):
I graduated at York in 2008.
And two of my closest friends Imet at York and it's been one
of them.
It's 20 years that we've beenfriends and had I not gone to
York, I probably wouldn't havemeet them.
So, you know, it's like yousaid, you choose your path like
(22:17):
and you don't know what theoutcome will be.
But had I known, like who's tosay I would have like here, we
are now here, and now today islike we're in January in 2024.
And who would have thought thatI would be speaking to like the
gold medal Olympic champion,right Like?
This is a moment in time that Iprobably will never forget,
(22:40):
cause I'm going to tell youright now.
I remember where I was when youwere running, because my aunt
she even told me she was like oh, there's this guy.
You know, there's this guy,karani James, like this youth
champion, watch out for him.
Like they're saying he could bethe next, the next one, and you
know so I was watching youthroughout your journey, so you
(23:02):
know.
Kirani James (23:02):
You said you moved when you were.
When you were, what age?
Carlene Humphrey (23:07):
Oh yeah, I was six when I got here.
Yeah, in Toronto.
Kirani James (23:12):
Yeah, do you remember any of the time before
when you were at home oranything?
Carlene Humphrey (23:16):
Yeah, I do.
I was a little troublemaker.
I remember a little bit ofstuff.
I remember, like what did I goto the Burian school?
Like I remember the fall edge,walking on the fall edge Cause
my, I don't know if you knowthis part, but my grandmother's
house is by Grand Aunt's beachthere and I remember one time I
(23:39):
you're making me think aboutthis is so funny.
So anyways, you know you wereuniform to school every day and
I was a little troublemaker.
So I think my mom, or I don'tremember who, braided my hair.
But someone braided my hair andI didn't like the style karate
so I took it out and my dad cameto pick me up and he was like
what happened to your hair?
And I'm like I didn't like it.
(24:00):
And then I think they redid myhair.
But I was a troublemaker inschool and you know they give
you money for your snacks, likeat recess or whatever you call
it back home and I spent my busfare money so I didn't have
money to get home, to get on thebus.
I don't know who covered it,but somebody did.
(24:22):
But I remember getting introuble for that.
They were like why did you dothat?
You know, and not thinking.
I wasn't even thinking aboutthe fact that I had to get home,
cause I don't remember how muchthe bus fare was or the you
know.
I think it's like 50 cents orwhatever, but I spent my bus
fare money.
Kirani James (24:38):
Yeah, I was back then.
Yeah, back then it was 50 cents.
Carlene Humphrey (24:42):
Right.
Yeah.
Kirani James (24:46):
You think you're used to like the weather and all
that knowing kind of.
No no.
You never get used to it no, nono.
I don't know how you guys do it.
Carlene Humphrey (24:54):
I don't know how I do it either.
I complain every year.
I'm like, I tell my my aunt,I'm like I have to, I have to
come back.
I can't do this.
I don't know how much longer Ican do it.
I'd sell over 30 years ofstupid karate.
Yesterday it was minus 24, withthe windshield as wearing
mittens and everything Like youcan dress for the cold.
But I always say to myself I'mlike if I had the money, I, I
(25:18):
would.
I probably buy property inGrenada and, you know, be a
snowbird.
Kirani James (25:24):
Yeah, anything negative on the thermometer
doesn't sound good.
Carlene Humphrey (25:29):
And for you, your training there's, you'd be
in all the indoor facilitieshere.
You know what I mean.
But yeah, canada is a greatplace.
Yeah, here in Toronto, a lot ofpeople, a lot of changes would
happen, but the people arefriendly and stuff.
And every time I go back homeit's kind of like a culture
shock in a way, because I don'tcome back every year, but
(25:50):
everybody's so friendly.
You know, and you know when yougo back, my grandmother's house
is right by Granance Beach, soit's a five minute walk and she
used, if you know, the WhiteHouse, like she's, you go up the
hill, but you know where theTexaco gas station used to be,
right in Granance, there, likeyou're going up, going towards
the golf course.
(26:11):
Yeah.
Yeah, that's, my grandmother'shouse is right there.
So I tell her I'm like Granny,you got the best view in Granada
, yeah, yeah.
That's a lot about Granada, forsure, right Granance Beach, you
know.
Yeah, did you go there a lotwhen you were younger, or did
you do more?
Kirani James (26:31):
stuff in Guav?
No, not really.
Most of my stuff was in Guav,maybe one Okay.
You know, one time they mighttake us on like a ender school
year or ender semester.
We'd call it like field trip orlike boss party or something
like that.
Carlene Humphrey (26:50):
Yeah.
Kirani James (26:50):
We would take you.
We would take you to Grananceand then we would take you to
whether it's Camarhon orsomewhere you know, and you hang
out and then you come back.
But yeah, most of the stuff wasin Guav and then really no
Granance, until I got a littlebit older.
Right.
Carlene Humphrey (27:06):
Yeah, so do you consider yourself a fisher?
Are you a fisherman?
Do you know how to fish?
Kirani James (27:11):
No, not really.
I know how to, but I haven'tfished a lot.
Oh, okay, my parents, they werealways a little bit concerned
with, you know, going out,especially with somebody else,
you know.
But you know, I used to one ofmy friends his dad was a
fisherman and we used to like,when they came in, like we would
(27:34):
like go and we would like carrysome of the fish like to the
fish market and then we wouldlike clean the boats and all
that.
So I did that for a littlewhile and I remember the first
time they paid me because youget paid for that and they came
to my house and they gave melike a $20.
And I was like that's it.
(27:55):
I was like you can't tell menothing.
I was like I was like Mark ormore, you know in that video
where it was like yeah, I'mbuying everything with that $20
right now.
Carlene Humphrey (28:06):
Oh my gosh, your first key, yeah, $20.
I mean, at that time I'm sureyou could buy a bed of stuff
with that.
Kirani James (28:13):
But yeah, that was $20.
Carlene Humphrey (28:15):
Yeah, now $20.
I'm like how did I spend $20?
Like I just bought you know.
Like even now, it's like whatdo you show for it?
Like the dollar is like.
Kirani James (28:26):
Yeah, that's a most people in Grannons and Buck
.
Carlene Humphrey (28:29):
Right, exactly .
Kirani James (28:33):
That's it.
Carlene Humphrey (28:34):
Mm-hmm, but your journey is so amazing.
I have a question for you.
When you won the medal and youwent back to Grenada, what was
that like?
What was the feeling like?
Tell me.
Kirani James (28:48):
And it was amazing .
Yeah.
It was something I alwaysremember because it was just a
celebration of everything youknow, like a celebration of my
achievement, a celebration ofathletes in the past, like
Darlene Francik, like oh, Iremember Alain Francik.
Carlene Humphrey (29:10):
Oh, my gosh Wow.
Kirani James (29:12):
All those guys that came before me was.
Carlene Humphrey (29:15):
Oh, my goodness.
Wow.
Kirani James (29:16):
It was a combination of everything.
So it was just a special time.
And, like you said for Grenada,you know, to win a medal at the
Olympics, you know, I don'tthink anybody could, you know,
write that in a script.
So you know, just being able todo that and kind of put the
(29:40):
country on the map in that sortof way, and just seeing
everybody celebrate andeverybody being proud, I mean it
was just.
It was a special, specialmoment.
And yeah, I don't think it'ssomething I would ever, I would
ever forget.
So, yeah, yeah, even like, evennowadays, like even when I go
(30:01):
home, you know, there's at leastone or two people that would
kind of reminisce about, aboutthat, about that and and and how
that moment was.
So it always is.
There's always a reminder whenI go home and how excited and
how exuberant everybody wasabout that moment.
Carlene Humphrey (30:24):
Yeah, no, it was a beautiful moment.
Yeah, I was right there withyou.
I wasn't in Grenada, but likeit, just I was like I can't
believe it.
Wow, you know, because there'sit's not like we have a lot of
people that have won and like amedal, a gold medal at the
Olympics, you know.
Kirani James (30:43):
So I was the first .
I was the first time with themedal.
Carlene Humphrey (30:46):
Yeah, you are making history.
You don't even like you're,just like you made history in
2012.
Kirani James (30:54):
You did.
I mean, it was yeah.
Yeah.
One of the ones I've ever seen.
Yeah.
In my country I have a hundredthousand people.
Mm-hmm.
Like I always use thiscomparison, I went to, like I
said, I went to Alabama and ourstadium, our football stadium,
brand Benny, it was 105,000people.
So I always use that analogy oftelling people like you know,
(31:15):
we have a country that you couldfall into our stadium, that you
could park into our stadium inAlabama.
Carlene Humphrey (31:20):
Wow, I never even thought about it that way.
Yeah, I'm here, so I'm inToronto, but there's different
parts of Toronto, like the GTA,greater Toronto area, and I'm
here in Brampton and there ismore people in Brampton than
there is in Grenada, like justalone.
So it's a good comparison.
(31:41):
I will think of that when I.
When I think of Grenada, I'mlike, wow, it fills a stadium.
Yeah, wow, masmerizing.
I know, you know what.
Everybody knows each other andpeople say hi and it's a small
town and Grenada's like afriendly, like it's so friendly,
like we are the only country inthe world that does not have a
(32:02):
military, you know.
Yeah.
Yeah, and it's.
There's a lot of history inGrenada.
People don't realize it.
We got a lot of history.
Yeah, you know.
You know you created historywithout even realizing it Like
you're just.
I'm sure, when it happened, you,you, you thought about it,
(32:22):
right, and you're like oh, butfor the rest of the world and us
Grenadians, I, I, I say to youI'm like, I, I can't believe you
did it.
You know you did it, you madeyour mark.
You could stop now and, and itwould, it would be like you're
in the history books, you're onthe, you're on the Olympic
(32:44):
website, you're, you're, you'rethere, like, and you've done
more than you had ever know,right, so we're, yeah, coming
from me, I'm like, you know, asa Grenadian, I'm proud of you.
You know, I'm not like I was.
I was born there, I wasn'traised in Grenada, so I have a
(33:05):
different experience, like assomeone who was born there, and
my parents, my mom and my dad,they're Grenadian and you know
the history.
It's just like, it's good, it'sa good, it's a good thing.
2024 summer games in Paris.
Leading up to that, what, what,what?
(33:26):
As an athlete, how does it looklike?
You're training every day.
I know, for those who don'tknow, you're actually not even
in Alabama, you're in Arizonaand what's it like training
there now, like, I mean, is thatyour training ground or you
know?
Kirani James (33:41):
Yeah, I've been living in Arizona since 2012,
since 2020.
Okay.
It's been a while, so I'm kindof used to how everything is.
Yeah, I think the main thing isthe weather.
Mm-hmm.
It's a lot more consistent thana lot of other places.
There's other places wherethere are good training bases,
(34:01):
like California, florida, texas.
Those areas have a similar kindof consistent weather.
So, yeah, I've been here.
I mean I'm really enjoying it,even though it's a little bit
cold this week, which issurprising for Arizona.
Carlene Humphrey (34:20):
Yeah, always warm there.
Yeah, dry heat, it's kind ofyeah.
Kirani James (34:25):
That's what we call the dry heat.
Mm-hmm, that's what they callit.
Yeah, I don't know if it's dryheat, it's furnace heat to me.
Carlene Humphrey (34:34):
Have you been to Las Vegas?
Kirani James (34:36):
I have been to Las Vegas, yes.
Carlene Humphrey (34:38):
So I think I haven't been to Arizona, but
I've been to Las Vegas andsomebody told me this but I
didn't realize it until I wasthere.
The dry heat, it affects you ifyou're not drinking a lot of
water.
So what happens is thetemperature is so dry that you
could go a long time withouteating, like I remember the
first time I went to Vegas I waslike how come I'm not even
(34:59):
hungry and they're like you needto drink water Because you're
not feeling the humidity likeyou would in any other part of
the world.
But the dry heat does affectyou in that way because you're
not hydrating, and if you're nothydrating, your body's not used
to that.
So it's a little bit different,I think, is what they say.
Kirani James (35:19):
That's interesting .
I never knew that.
Carlene Humphrey (35:21):
Yeah, somebody mentioned it to me.
They're like make sure you stayhydrated, keep drinking water,
because you won't realize ituntil, like, you've passed a
couple of hours and you're like,oh, I'm like, I'm not even
hungry, but I need to eat.
Yeah, it's elevated Consistencyis an important thing when
you're an athlete, right?
Kirani James (35:40):
Yeah, absolutely.
Carlene Humphrey (35:42):
What do you think you have to do as someone
who's at that stage in yourcareer, like what's the most
important thing for anyone whois a track athlete the up and
coming athletes.
What advice do you have forthem?
Kirani James (36:01):
The advice I would have to them is to focus on
your priorities.
I would say For me it's alittle bit different because I'm
a bit older.
So, yeah, for me it's just beingconsistent and trying to avoid
(36:23):
injuries, listening to my body alot more, because sometimes
when you're young, when you're21, 22, I mean you're $6 million
man like nothing knocks youdown, you wake up and you're
fresh.
As you get older that doesn'thappen anymore.
So you have to take real goodcare and listen to your body,
(36:47):
know when it's time to relax andmaybe take a step back and not
put too much pressure on yourbody.
But for a younger athlete, Iwould say to be consistent and
just focus on priorities andfocus on whatever path, whatever
(37:13):
goals that you have is to dothings that are going to
contribute to it.
And if your goal is to be thebest athlete that you can, then,
yeah, you know what yourpriority is.
It's your training, it's yourrecovery, it's your diet, it's
(37:37):
your focus on doing everythingthat you can to help maximize
whatever you're trying toachieve, maximize potential and
whatever you're trying toachieve.
So I can't tell you what yourgoal is.
Some people goals are differentand that's okay, you know.
But if your goal is to becompete at a games and to do
(37:58):
your absolute best, then youhave to focus on those things
that are going to help you getthere.
It's not a secret, it's notsome you know, you know, you
know, you know, you know youscience or whatever it's it's
it's you do those basic things,and that's 90% of what you're
(38:20):
supposed to do is is is thosebasic things right yeah, is is.
We're focusing on that and doingthat, so yeah, that's what
advice I would give them.
I wouldn't give them any typeof training advice or anything
like that.
Carlene Humphrey (38:36):
So that's good advice, I think, I think was on
that and those things no, eveneven for me, as every year, you
know, you go through like theNew Year's resolution and I
don't really do that.
But I do goals because goalsare long term.
They could be short term girlsor long term, long term goals,
(38:59):
but at the end of the day, we'reall trying to achieve something
, some more than others, likesummer.
You know some of us have a pathin life.
We're supposed to do somethinggreat.
You know what I mean andobviously you're here to do
something great, right?
You know who knows.
I mean.
You were born and then you knowyour parents raised you the best
(39:21):
that they could and obviouslyyou had the natural talent.
You just needed the people toback you, to support you and to
help you get there right.
So sometimes it is about thenatural talent at the end of the
day, right?
Did you have someone growing up, like when you were?
Did you watch the Olympics?
Was there someone that inspiredyou to do track?
(39:43):
When did you know that youwanted to?
Kirani James (39:46):
focus on, in terms of, I would say, somebody that
inspired me to do track okay.
I would say to be honest, I wasjust following my older brother
like he was one of those ineverything yeah just one of
those guys.
So he was, like I said, when Ijoined my club speed zone, like
(40:08):
he was a part of it.
I just followed him and taggedalong with him at that time.
But he's this mean, he's reallyis.
His main joy was alwaysbasketball but, like I said, he
was somebody that did every.
He was one of those athletesthat was, you know, like kind of
gym top that could do any andeverything right.
(40:32):
That could you know playbasketball, play football, long
jump, high, jump run.
You know volleyball, everythingin terms of getting really into
it, I would say him.
But in terms of the inspirationfrom on a Olympic level, I mean
it had to be for me, I mean itwas Aline Francik, like I think,
(40:55):
growing up, I think everybodyremember you know, in 2004 how
much, just how much of a of a ofexpectations there was on a lot
of excitement, I would say yeahwhen he was competing.
I remember you know like you hadto wake up early to watch
towards the races.
I guess I think it wassomewhere in here.
(41:19):
Yeah, he was in Europe at thetime, I think, and you had to
get up early to watch some ofhim.
I remember, I remember watchingpeople excited and sometimes if
you don't have a TV at home andyou go over to your neighbor and
you never have a neighbor'slike look, you know he's running
now and you know.
(41:40):
So I would say from thatstandpoint, from on that level,
like he just raised theexcitement for every, I think,
for every kid that was growingup in that time mm-hmm you know,
in 2004, if you were eight,nine, ten, eleven, twelve,
thirteen, fourteen, like he, wasthe inspiration in Grenada, I
(42:02):
think around that time.
So yeah yeah, so it's so.
I mean, he turns out on aprofessional level and an
Olympic level like he was a guythat you know, you were looking
for for inspiration, and sayingthat, yeah, like he's Grenada,
he has his, he has a flag on hischest and his represent now.
So if he can get there, then wecan get there too, like we're
(42:23):
there yeah, yeah yeah, so Ithink that was that was.
That was very important for him.
Mm-hmm, my generation growingup especially athletes growing
up, he was, he was, I think, themain inspiration for all of us
yeah, oh, I remember I was likeI can't believe he didn't get it
.
Carlene Humphrey (42:41):
You know, like it was just I think he came in
fourth, I can't remember yeah,exactly, yeah, see, we both
remember.
Yeah, I was watching.
I remember watching that tooand seeing him compete and it's
interesting.
I was like is anyone else gonnado what he did?
Because I mean, he was theclosest in terms of Grenada
being on the map at the Olympiclevel, you know yeah and, yeah,
(43:05):
a lot of people before him andafter him.
I just you know, like you said,for me, I think I gotta tell you
2008.
So you said in 2008, you well,where were you competing?
There's something about 2008.
Anyways, you made me think.
(43:28):
In 2008 I was in Grenada.
I graduated university and Iwent back home.
I was like I told my dad I'mlike I want to go back to
Grenada.
We were having a reunion and Iwas back home and my aunt and I
we were watching the Olympics inBeijing together and I just
remember watching Michael Phelpsand Usain Bolt.
(43:52):
It was just amazing to watch.
You know, like, even thoughyou're not there, it's like the
amount of excitement they bring.
So you have no idea.
Like I mean, even when you wererunning, I was like, oh my gosh
, is he gonna do it?
Like I think I had to like makesure I made it home on time and
like I'm like I don't want tomiss the race.
(44:13):
And it's like you said, likeyou, if you have to go out to a
neighbor's house or if you haveto go on a break when you're at
work, like the Olympics, youmake sure, like certain events,
that I can't miss it.
I just I can't, you know so,but yeah, it's, it's a journey,
it's a process and it's it's awhole different thing.
Like I mean, even this year, doyou have any other events that
(44:36):
you have to compete at beforethe Olympics, or is it just
training?
Kirani James (44:42):
yeah, usually my season starts around the auto
season starts around March yeah.
I usually start around April,mid April, end of April.
Yeah, there's always a seriesof meets.
There's continental meets,there's different levels,
there's gold level, there'ssilver level, there's bronze
(45:03):
level and then there's a diamondleague, which is kind of our
main circuit races.
Yeah, it was a competing, youknow.
So there's gonna be a couple ofthose races before the Olympics
yeah, so hopefully I could get agood you know at least six
races in before the Olympics.
You kind of prep and to kind ofhave a season you know going in
(45:26):
.
So that's always, it's alwaysbeen yeah and yeah, there's,
there's always there.
There's always a season.
What people don't you know,like realize, like they see it
every year, but they don'trealize, like Olympics, like
world championships, like eventhe name of the championships or
(45:48):
the event might change a lot oftimes, it's the same athlete,
right?
So a lot of times you're stillcompeting against guys that you
already know and sometimes thatwhat just changes the name.
So for me, like every year,there's always a major
championship, whether it's worldchampionships, whether it's
(46:08):
Olympic games, whether it'sCommonwealth Games, there's
always a high level that youwant to aim for.
You know, like every four yearsis like every year oh my gosh,
you know what it's the same guysyeah, yeah yeah, it never
(46:29):
really stops it, never.
You know, like you're in afour-year prep, it's like a year
by year prep and yeah, likepeople don't even realize, like,
yeah, it's just the same guys.
Yeah, same guys.
You're competing against that.
They're going to be the sameguys over there last year,
budapest.
90% of them are going to bethere this year.
(46:50):
So, oh, wow, yeah, it should be, yeah no, I'm excited for you.
Carlene Humphrey (46:56):
I'm excited about the summer Olympics in
Paris.
It's going to be fun.
I mean, there's so much to lookforward to and you just don't
know until the day of like.
I mean, this year the Olympicsis starting.
I looked it up July, was itJuly 26th?
Am I right?
Remind me Karani?
Kirani James (47:17):
yeah, I'm not sure when track of field.
I think track and field startsa week later, but yeah, mm-hmm,
yeah, that's when it starts.
Carlene Humphrey (47:24):
I was looking at it.
I'm like, wow, we're alreadystuck in week in January.
And it's like, oh my god, wow,time is just flying by, isn't it
like I mean, yeah, I'm gonna be40 this year, karani yeah yeah,
it's one of those things whereit's like I can't believe it,
(47:45):
you know sorry.
Kirani James (47:48):
I couldn't tell I know a lot of.
Carlene Humphrey (47:50):
We just age so gracefully.
People are like, wow, really,I'm like, yeah, I am.
They can't believe it.
I can thank my, my mom and mydad, you know, for giving me
some good genes, right?
So there's one more thing Ithink I want to say before we
get into that.
I'm Carleen and this is notMagnation.
(48:11):
I'm sitting with Karani James,olympic athlete, the first gold
medalist for Granada.
You know you were talking aboutyour goals and focusing on your
goals and your health and yourfitness, and I remember reading
when you you had a time in yourlife and you've you found out
that you have Graves disease andyou know you were dealing with
(48:35):
that.
How was that like?
Kirani James (48:36):
I mean, obviously there's always obstacles that
you come upon yeah, I mean, likeyou said it was, it was an
obstacle yeah it was a surrealkind of experience because you
know, you never really imaginelike these things would just
happen and even though, yeah,like it might have happened over
time and maybe, like you know,certain symptoms, because a lot
(48:59):
of times, as an athlete, youknow, you know, you just you
think that you could.
It's just.
You're just having a littlemoment, right you just have.
You just power through it, youtrain through it and all of that
.
So you know, at first you knowwe weren't sure what, what, what
it was that was happening.
(49:19):
It could have been anything.
It could have been somethingwith my blood, it could have
been cancer, it could have been.
And we did the test and it wasGraves disease, you know it was.
It was surprised.
I was surprised, just like,just like everyone.
And from there it was aboutfinding out the right treatment
plan, the rights in the nextsteps to take.
Just try to go from there.
(49:41):
You know, I've never try to betoo negative on it.
Carlene Humphrey (49:47):
Right.
Kirani James (49:48):
Try to accept it for what it was and what it is.
Just try to focus on okay, howcan we get better?
Yeah, yeah.
Then try to wallow too much orlike be down or anything, and,
yeah, just okay, this is what itis, this is what I have.
Okay, what are the next steps?
(50:09):
Let's work towards that, but atthe same time, you know, be
patient and understand that itwill be a process and not try to
push yourself too hard or, ifyou're not seeing the
improvement that you want to tryto get, you know, feel down or
anything like that.
So, yeah, it was.
(50:29):
It was just something that Ihad to accept and just try to
listen to my body and just tryto improve day by day, get
better.
And I would say now, at thatpoint where I'm pretty stable,
I'll still have to do lab works,like every three months, to
make sure that the levels arewhere it's supposed to be.
(50:50):
So, yeah, so it's somethingthat you know.
I'll have to take medicationfor the rest of my life just to
maintain my thyroid levels.
Yeah.
But you know it is what it is,you know.
But I have to accept it and Ihave to just try to make the
best of it and try to focus onit.
(51:10):
And you know, if somebody comesalong and they have a similar
issue, then I know how to helpthem, how to guide them, how to
give them proper advice as tohow they would feel.
You know how they would notfeel what you know kind of
treatment they're getting oranything like that to just kind
of give them broaden theirperspective or broaden their
(51:32):
knowledge of it.
So you know I could do that,especially from an athletic
standpoint.
I know there's a coupleathletes in the past that had it
.
So yes, going forward.
You know, if you know, I thinkthe main thing is yeah, it
happened to me, but that doesn'tmean that I can't help the next
person you know go through thatexperience and have a more
(51:56):
supportive cast in going throughthat experience and just giving
them support in any way I can.
Carlene Humphrey (52:04):
No, you know what?
Anything in life, you know,things happen, that there's
things that we can control andthere's some things that you
just can't control, and that'sone of them.
Right, and so so is ithereditary, like is it?
No, it's not.
No it's not no.
It's not no, it's just no it'sjust.
So for those who don't know,there isn't a specific cause.
(52:27):
Oh really.
Kirani James (52:28):
Like could trigger it or anything.
Sometimes it just could be, youknow, your body just
overreacting.
Carlene Humphrey (52:35):
Oh, wow, yeah, you know, listening to you talk
about that this year.
I'm anemic and I've always hadto take iron supplements and
it's in my genetics and Iunderstand what you're saying
with that.
So you're going to have to take, you're going to have to take
something for your thyroid forthe rest of your life, right?
So with me I had a time where Iwas, you know.
He said you ignore yoursymptoms.
(52:56):
So I was ignoring symptoms oflike the lot when my iron is low
, I get you get cold, you're outof breath, like.
I remember, like walking up theflight of stairs in my
apartment here and I'm like, whyam I so winded, like, and those
are the things that, as someonewho's been dealing with this
most of my life since I was like14 or maybe even younger, and
(53:19):
then I ignored it and then I itgot so bad that when my dad, my,
my doctor, called me at 3 30 inthe morning karate, I'm like
what, who's calling me at thistime?
So I went to go get the results.
Like you know, you do yourregular checkup.
So I went in November and I wentand did my checkup and then he
called me on the Friday morning.
(53:40):
I'm like why I'm like halfasleep.
I'm like who's calling at thistime?
And then he left the messageand then he called again and I'm
like I, doctor, I'm a you.
He's like yeah, carline, youriron levels are really low.
And I'm like what do you mean?
It's just like.
It's like you're gonna have togo to the hospital.
I'm like the hospital is thatbad?
He's like yeah, he's like thelab called me.
(54:03):
And I'm like, okay, it's one ofthose things.
You ignore it until it getsreally bad.
Kirani James (54:10):
And I think that's the thing with, like, I guess,
with hindsight or looking back,where is that you can move,
pinpoint a lot of these things?
That's what I'm.
That's what I'm gonna say.
Like you could help the nextperson you know in the future.
You know somebody says, oh, I'mfeeling this way, you know, my
(54:30):
eye feels sandy, you know okay.
Okay, we need to, you need tocheck this.
Yeah, I see what's going on.
Yeah, I think sometimes thatthat that helped.
Like you say, we go out, gothrough things.
I think the main thing, if wecould help the next person you
know, that'll go into a certainexperience and I think that's
(54:50):
that's making the best out of it, out of all situations.
Carlene Humphrey (54:54):
So, yeah, no, it's good, it's good.
You said you experienced thatand I could tell you, like I
have a coworker.
He had something happen to him,that happened to me and I saw
it.
I'm like you need to go to thehospital, like today, and he
didn't listen to you, didn't gothat night.
But he went the followingmorning and he said Carly and I
yeah, I broke my ankle.
I'm like, yeah.
When you show me how it look.
(55:15):
I was like you need to go.
I'm like I don't even know howyou manage it.
I'm like your tolerance forpain is a lot higher than mine
because I remember that pain,and I'm like there's no ignoring
this.
I first I was like hoping Ibroke, like I remember when I
broke my ankle I thought Isprained it, karani.
And when the doctor came withthe exam, I was like no, he's,
(55:37):
like, yeah, you, you fracturedit.
It's a minor factor, but mm-hmm.
So now I know for myself, likewhen I, when he told me, I was
like what Are you sure?
Yeah, that's not, that's not asomething you should.
I'm like you got to go now,like because it could.
It just makes it worse thelonger you take to take care of
something with like an injury,right?
(55:59):
So, yeah, I'm so happy that wefinally had this conversation.
It's been I have to tell youthis, it's been a dream of mine
Like I was like you just helpedme accomplish something that I
didn't even think was attainable.
I didn't even know if you weregoing to say yes, and when you
(56:21):
did, I was like I can't believeit.
You know, and talking to younow, you're, you're so humble.
So it's just, you never knowwhat to expect in life.
Kirani James (56:32):
Yeah, I'm glad it all worked out.
Yeah, yeah.
Carlene Humphrey (56:38):
It was a pleasure speaking to you too.
I'm Carleen, and this is NotMagnation with the one and only
Karani James.
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