Robert Esmie, the athlete, will always be linked to the sprints.

Something about that Olympic gold medal performance in Atlanta in 1996 along with a pair of first place finishes at World Championships and a bevy of impressive results on both a national and international scale, not to mention the indoor scene renders this inevitability virtually cast in stone.

Robert Esmie, the coach, by contrast, would rather be far more diversified.

For as much as the now 51 year-old Jamaican-born long-time Sudburian can reflect on the summer of 2023 with his 40-60 athlete Air Blastoff contingent and wax poetic on the development of the likes of Melina Doiron, Darren Joiner, Milena Kulik and others in the 100m/200m dash events, the simple truth is that thrower Blaire Rickard quite arguably bettered them all.

“Not everyone is going to be a sprinter,” confessed Esmie. “I like them to try this, to try that.”

Truth be told, the highly energetic local mentor is not the same coach that he was when he first started along this pathway while still stationed on the Canadian west coast – though he still smiles as he recalls the vast spectrum of athletes - not just sprinters - that he worked with and influenced during his time in Vancouver.

“I would like to think that as I get older, I get wiser,” said Esmie. “I get more patient. I do believe in (competing in) multiple sports, as long as they complement each other. I just see track and field as the foundation for so many other sports. I was dabbling a little more in the field events this summer.”

Blame that on Blaire Rickard, if you will, the 13 year old now grade eight student at Lasalle Secondary whose tangential journey that first surfaced in May would lead to a steady stream of podium finishes, piling up the hardware at the North American Indigenous Games, the Ontario MTA Championship and finally the Athletics Ontario Youth (U14/U16/U18) Championships.

“I was doing the 100m and 200m and tried the 400m, but I saw people throwing the shot put at school and thought that was cool, so I told Rob I wanted to try it,” said Rickard, a regular on the Sudbury competitive gymnastics scene through much of her childhood. “I felt like I had more leg strength because of my power tumbling and stuff like that in gymnastics.”

“Because I had stronger legs, it was easier to push off,” Rickard added. “Your legs are key to help with the rotation of your body and help throw the put farther.”

It worked.

After capturing first place at the District H Legion Meet in Sudbury with a toss of 8.80 metres in June, Rickard stretched it out to 9.05m a month later to take gold at NAIG in Halifax before capping off a summer of exponential progress with a throw of 10.02m (a new PB) in finishing first again at the MTA showdown.

Though the shot put would come first, Rickard also tackled both the discus and javelin this year, finding herself a little more at ease with the former (“the discus spin is a little bit hard with the steps and stuff, but once you get it, it’s pretty easy now”) than the latter (“I am not very good with the rhythm (of the cross-over steps for javelin) – “I will stumble a little bit”).

Still, she is thankful for the man who has helped ease her into an area that he is not a whole lot more comfortable yet than his athlete might be. “Robert got me to where I am now,” said Rickard. “He is really good at explaining things and going through things slowly so that I understand them properly.”

“He doesn’t rush me through it.”

For as much as he can be effusive at times in talking about the young talent under his watch, Robert Esmie is as aware as anyone about just how difficult achieving any degree of track and field excellence is – reminding one and all that there must be fun built in, especially for the pre high-school crew, in order to maintain an interest.

“I give them four to eight weeks off after the summer to rest their body: go swimming, go play, go be kids; enjoy family time and vacation time,” he said. “Some will get bored and might return in September, but I ask them to come back by October 3rd.”

Clearly, those in their mid to late teens are subject to a different level of expectations than those who have not yet even reached puberty. “Overall, the high-school section (of our Air Blastoff team) was a highlight to see this summer,” said Esmie. “Athletes came in with a goal and the majority achieved or surpassed those.”

“To get nine of them to OFSAA was a success overall. We’re still shy of the podium, but that fuels me, it fuels them to get better.”

It’s a different conversation as we move to the U12 and younger bracket.

“That young division was exciting, watching those kids competing for the first time,” he said. “There were some nerves, but they came away with personal bests and some medals.”

The group of those who mounted the podium along the way included the likes of Arnav Harish, Hephzibah Votu-Obada, Brielle and Joshua Doiron and Adwaith Harish – along of course with Emie's own son, Nehemiah.

“Sometimes he’s not coachable because he thinks he knows it all,” laughed coach Esmie, sounding every bit the part of a parent. “I let him try some different events to change things up and just have some fun. I think he may end up become a decathlete someday.”

Of course, he’s also attracted to basketball, golf and tennis – and a whole bunch of school sports, apparently. That’s not a bad thing at all, in the eyes of his track coach.

“If you’re going to play basketball or soccer or all of these things, you will have the athleticism where you can make the transition quicker and adapt more easily,” said Esmie.

Even if it’s not in the sprints, Robert Esmie can appreciate athletic dedication and excellence.