Kyron finds new coach

The most successful athlete ever produced by the British Virgin Islands, Kyron McMaster, has found a new coach after Hurricane Irma claimed the life of his long-time coach Dag Samuels in early September.

The man now guiding the fastest 400 metre hurdler this year is Jamaican native Lennox Graham, who is now Assistant Coach at Clemson University in South Carolina, United States, Sportsmax has reported.

McMaster, in an interview with Sportsmax on Tuesday, is said to have disclosed that he will be based in South Carolina.

“This decision was made solely sitting down with my parents and family. We wanted an environment where we are not crowded too much or around a lot of people – where I can be a lot more focused knowing what happened with my coach and the hurricane and everything,” the 20-year-old hurdler said.

McMaster, who declined to comment on the passing of his former coach when local journalists saw him in Road Town two days after Hurricane Irma, told Sportsmax it was hard to deal with the death of Samuels.

“It was hard because it’s like you’re making a decision to start a bond with somebody else from scratch,” he explained.

“So it is not easy to get a new coach like that or even compare a new coach, because Dag was my father figure apart from my real father.”

McMaster, who is yet to medal at the international level, clocked his world-leading time of 47.80 seconds in May when he competed at an international meet in Jamaica.