JUST recently, she was honoured with the youth female athlete of the year award at the National Sports Commission’s Sports Awards Ceremony.This award, however, was nothing surprising for this 16-year-old Linden athlete who has received many accolades, medals and trophies since the commencement of her athletic career in 2013.
Shantoba Bright, the little slim, shy-faced, pretty-looking Mackenzie High School student started making headlines, and was the centre of conversation in the sports arena in Linden four years ago, and with so much youth, vigour and motivation left in her, she will continue to make headlines in the sports arena.
In fact, her noticeable humility explains that being the topic for conversation is not her main aim, but making her mother and family proud, and achieving her goal of making it to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Shantoba’s athletic potential was recognised in 2013 by her Physical Education teacher, Mr Kevin Bonnet who encouraged her to start jumping, as she has the built of a jumper.
Said Shantoba: “I took his advice and competed in the long and triple jump for inter-school sports, and qualified immediately for Nationals.
“There I won two gold medals as the Under 14 athlete.”
And that’s when she started taking sports seriously, Shantoba said. She would later join the Upper Demerara Students Athletics Club, where she received maximum support from her coach, Mr Johnny Gravesande.
“In 2014, I went to the CUT (Caribbean Union of Teachers) Games in Trinidad & Tobago and took part in a few field events,” Shantoba said, adding:
“That was the first time I travelled overseas to represent Guyana; I placed fourth. I then went to the CARIFTA Games in 2016 in Grenada, and I won two silver medals for both long and triple jump. I went to Argentina for the South American Youth Games, and I won a bronze; and I am now preparing to go to my second CARIFTA games in Curacao in April.”

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With such a rigorous training schedule and the several competitions, this Fifth Former has managed to perfectly balance both academics and sport so as to succeed in both.
Preparing to sit 10 CSEC subjects in May, Shantoba is confident that she will be extremely successful. “I have always been a bright girl,” she said.
“I balance it pretty well, and I have a supportive mom and coach; I have always maintained good grades, and went to all of the prize-giving exercises and received prizes for both academic and sports performance. I have never failed any subject.”
Shantoba aspires to become a lawyer and a professional athlete, and is determined to remain focussed and not get distracted, so as to achieve these goals.
In addition to it’s being for her own satisfaction, she also prioritises making her mother proud, as she is a single-parent and has always supported her, despite financial constraints.
“I was raised by my grandmother who died when I was eight,” she said. “Then I went to live with my mother, who is a single-parent. And she is very supportive of me, because she was a long-distance runner herself, but couldn’t pursue sports because she did not get any support. But she supports me, and gives me the necessary stuff that I need.”
She also spoke of her strict Christian upbringing, which has resulted in her being the chaste and respectable young lady she is today.
Shantoba also praised her very dedicated coach, Johnny, who is one of her main cheerleaders, but bemoaned the condition of the Mackenzie Sports Club Ground, which, if upgraded, athletics in Linden would go a far way.