Seymour Newman Honoured, Has Bittersweet Memories & High Praise for JAAA

Seymour Newman was a fearsome competitor over both the 400m and the 800m for Jamaica in the 70s. Tall, fast, strong and fluid, he gave his competitors nightmares at every turn.

Newman, who held the national record in the 800m for over 45 years (1977 to 2022) was one of the five honourees at the JAAA/PUMA/Jamalco Development Meet in Halse Hall on Saturday, February 4, 2023.

Dennis May & Seymore Newman – JAAA PUMA Jamalco Development Meet 2023

The quiet man, who is rarely seen in public, spoke with @Athletics_JA.

“Since being back in Jamaica, I worked with Linton McKenzie as he prepared for road races,” said Newman, who hails from Manchester. “Then I got involved in coaching schools in my area. I’ve helped both Holmwood and Knox College. Knox did fairly well. For the past seven or eight years I have been retired.”

His best memories competing were beating the superb Cuban, Alberto Juantorena in Mexico and running 43.8 seconds in the 4x400m.

His worse memory in the sport came in the 1976 Olympics when he qualified for the final of the 800m and was thrown out after a Steward meeting.

“I qualified for the 800m final at the Olympics, only to be disqualified,” he lamented. “I was misrepresented by the Jamaican officials in a meeting after the race. I was hit from behind in the semifinals. The American runner was first disqualified (for the infraction). Things took a turn for the worse afterwards. “The USA protested and then they came back and disqualified me and put the American back into the final. That will live with me – after forever,” he said. “I am still looking for answers.”

Notwithstanding, Newman was effusive with praise for the local track and field programme.

“The JAAA is one of the hardest working organisations in Jamaica in terms of keeping the level of the sport in Jamaica for the last 50 years,” he opined. “People don’t realise the amount of work that they put in to get it done. We see the Bolts, Shellys and Veronicas but they don’t know how much work the JAAA has to do to keep these people going.”