Team NI star Jamie Moffatt set to complete remarkable journey at Youth Commonwealth Games

The County Down teenage is a relative newcomer to athletics, only taking the sport up just over two years ago.

After suffering a serious injury when he was 13, Moffatt wasn’t allowed to participate in any sporting activity for 12 months.

Now having already clocked a sub-11 second 100m time, Moffatt is looking forward to representing Team NI in the Caribbean at his first major multi games tournament.

“It has been a long journey but also a short one at the same time,” he said. “I have only been doing athletics for two years and this has come as a surprise to most – including me.

“It has been a steady upwards rise thankfully and I have enjoyed every moment of it.

“I’m still relatively new to the sport. I’m encountering new challenges pretty much every time I go out to train.

"I’m still perfecting my technique – it’s far from prefect and it is only going to go up from here. I’s not going to curtail and I am ready to give it more.”

Moffat always enjoyed sport but didn’t take it too seriously in his younger days.

“I was into sports, but I wasn’t playing for a club or anything like that,” he added. “I was playing football, rugby, hockey and I have a love for all sports.

“I kind of wanted to believe that I could be a footballer, but I knew deep down I wasn’t the best. In athletics and sprinting, I think this is the one where I have found my grove.”

Moffatt explains the severity of his injury.

“I had a Pars fracture (a stress fracture of the pars interarticularis, a thin bone segment joining two vertebrae in the lower spine) in my L4 and L5 in my lower vertebrae,” he said. “That caused me to be in a Boston brace for a whole year which meant no physical activity – I was just sitting around.

“It really empathised to me the importance of sport on your mental health and how important it is to get out there and be active.

“I got back into sport when I was around 14, out doing some runs, playing football with my mates things like that – just the basics.

“At 15 I started doing athletics and joined North Down Athletics Club and I kind of realised that I’m semi-decent at the sport. My mates encouraged my to keep on going.

“I had my first competition in 2021 and it was the only competition the whole year because of Covid.

"In 2022 I was around the podium but never quite getting first place. This season has been a complete change in mindset.

“I have changed how I think mentally and worked physically, I have upped the training intensity and frequency, I have incorporated a lot of gym work this season and I think that is one of the main reasons for my success this year.”

As well as competing, Moffatt is looking forward to the heat in the Caribbean.

“I can’t wait,” he added. “I can’t wait for the option to get a good tan as well, but the heat is something that I am going to have to get used to.

“It feels the whole season has been leading up to this moment and I’m excited to see what I can do on the biggest stage possible.

“I’d like to get a medal but realistically I’d like to get to the finals. On paper the semi-final is possible, but I want to aim for the finals and that top bracket.”