Makeba Alcide’s compact, athletic prowess and bubbly personality certainly qualifies her for the sobriquet of Saint Lucia’s first ‘Super-Athlete,’ especially given her strong representation as a pentathlon and heptathlon competitor.
Makeba, 23, grew up at Morne Fortune, Castries. She got into athletics at age 11, after her transfer from the La Croix Maingot Combined School to the Ave Maria Girls Primary.
Her coach, Cuthbert Modeste was instrumental in Makeba’s early development, having observed the budding young athlete’s potential. Pretty soon Makeba teamed up with her ‘sole club’ Speed Printing Survivors. After turning out impressive performances on home soil and representing Saint Lucia in the region, it was just a matter of time before she ventured overseas.
In January 2000, Makeba departed Saint Lucia and continued on the road to her career at the University of Arkansas, USA on a part-time academic and athletic scholarship, which required her maintaining good grades. She is currently pursuing a degree in kinesiology (study of body movements and muscle formation). She is due to graduate later this year, in December.
This year Makeba qualified for the World Athletics Championships held August 10 – 18 in Moscow, Russia along with Levern Spencer and Jeannelle Scheper.
She employs a hectic training schedule and the season is broken down between indoor and outdoor meets. This requires her to reach her peak at last four times per year, even without summer track meets.
Whilst back home on a summer break Makeba gave Dazzle an insight into her athletic world and her prospects for the future.
Dazzle: What motivated you to take such a keen interest in the sport of track and field?
Makeba: From a young age I always wanted to get involved in sports. Once I got the opportunity, I grasped it and run with it. Soon I realised that I was good at it; it was lots of fun and being around a good team and good coach put me in good stead.
Dazzle: How did your participation in sports hone you into a pentathlon and heptathlon athlete?
Makeba: I got involved in that field because I pushed back and forth from several different events until I realised that there’s an event called the heptathlon. The pentathlon consists of five events whereas the heptathlon involves competing in seven events. Usually the pentathlon is held indoors and the heptathlon outdoors. The pentathlon involves the 60-metre hurdles, high jump, long jump, shot putt and the 800-metre race. It is all done in one day and is based on a points system – the average tally of your points over the events. The heptathlon is usually a two-day event. On the first day you have the 100-metre hurdles, high jump, shot putt and the 200-metre dash. On the second day you have the long jump, javelin and the 800-metres, and it is all based on the same points system.
I am the first pentathlon athlete to represent Saint Lucia.
Dazzle: Who are the people that have most influenced your overall development as an athlete?
Makeba: First of all, my mom. Once I got involved in track and field she fully supported me. She is an executive member of the St.Lucia Amateur Athletics Association (SLAAA) and is presently a Level I certified coach. Others who have been a great help are my original coach, Cuthbert Modeste who started the whole deal; the national coach, Henry Bailey and also Victoria Desparte, a Cuban coach doing a work stint on the island who helped me develop my pentathlon skills. I also keep in good contact with the current SLAAA president, Cornelius Breen.
Dazzle: What have been your greatest achievements over the years?
Makeba: 2013 has been my ‘breakthrough’ year in which I have attained my greatest achievements. I currently hold the NCAA Indoor Pentathlon record and this, to me, has been my greatest achievement thus far. I didn’t know that it was that big a deal, but it is a pretty big deal in the USA. I broke the records of some top-class world athletes.
Dazzle: Which is your ‘pet event’ amongst all the events that you compete in?
Makeba: My pet event is actually the high jump. I guess I am the fourth best high jumper in the Caribbean currently, behind Levern Spencer, Jeannelle Scheper and a Jamaican athlete. I am proud to be one of the region’s top athletes. The high jump is my better event and I have developed a lot this year compared to past years. Next to the high jump, I am pretty competitive in the other events with the exception of the javelin, which is my weaker event.
Dazzle: Is there any athlete who stands as your role model and has inspired you?
Makeba: My role model in track and field has always been Jackie Joyner-Kersee. It’s like she is the best female athlete ever, and being able to compete to that standard is really good for me.
Dazzle: What is your ultimate goal as an athlete and does it include plans to compete at the Olympics?
Makeba: My ultimate goal would be to represent Saint Lucia and put the country on the map as much as I can, before I stop competing at track and field.
As an athlete I do set certain high standards for myself but I also set reachable standards. I want to master being a heptathlon athlete. I observe a lot of world-class heptathlon athletes and my current coach, Brian Compton is doing some extensive work with me. And, yes I definitely have my sights set on competing at the 2016 Olympics to be held in Rio, Brazil.
