Jamaican schoolboy discus throwers Chad Wright, 19, and Travis Smikle, 18, are two of a kind; they are friends as well as rivals. Both are in lower Sixth Form at track & field powerhouse Calabar High School in Kingston; both are quite articulate. Until now, their performances have been more or less equal, making it harder for fans to pick either as the clear favorite.

So how do you separate these “twins” of the non-traditional sport whenever they are up against each other? It seems as if you can’t – not even when they are competing at Champs, where the battle of wills, strength and skill is played out among Jamaican high schools. The friendship and rivalry have created a strong bond between the two who have been trading places and records for a while.

The competition between them was heightened, however, this year at the Feb. 21 UWI Invitational meet in Jamaica. In the Boys U-20 category, Travis watched Chad throw the discus 58.88 meters on his first attempt, to erase his (Travis’s) 57.18 national junior record established at the Junior Pan-Am Games last year. But Travis, the 2009 World Youth bronze medalist, kept his composure to out-throw Chad with his final heave of 59.21meters, a new national junior record.

After his win, Travis congratulated his home-turf archrival friend and told the media that he relished the moment because he knew the record would be erased in a matter of weeks. He further noted that he and Chad had come to realize that they were “rivals for once and friends for life.”

A week later, the two met at the ring again, this time competing for their country against the Caribbean’s best juniors at the 38th renewal of CARIFTA Games in Cayman. There, Chad went two up on Travis with a massive throw of 63.11 to take gold and, as Travis predicted, erased the national junior record that belonged to him. For the first in a long time the two were not a quinella; it took former record holder Quincy Wilson of Trinidad with a throw of 62.95 meters to separated Chad and Travis, pushing Travis into third for bronze with 58.24, almost a foot below his personal best.

Chad, who also won the Class 1 shot put at Champs, took the bronze at CARIFTA in that event, behind Wilson and compatriot and schoolmate Ashinia Miller, who was second to him at Champs.

After his big win at Champs, Chad said that it was one of the toughest competitions he had ever faced and that technique was the key to winning. “The only thing that was running through my mind was: stay low, quick in the middle, left heel down, push the hips and pull,” he recalled.

Of the rivalry between him and Travis, Chad pointed that it was only at the ring and that the competition throughout the season has been a “ding-dong battle.”

Travis, the first Jamaican to win a medal in an international throwing competition at any level (IAAF World Youth Championships), touched on the issue of balancing sports and the challenging Sixth Form work with mature reasoning. Although he finds the combination strenuous at times, he does not lose sight of the main reason for going to school: to get an education. “Our coach has instilled that in our brain and we take it into consideration and study.” Travis is eyeing a career in psychology and currently pursues sociology, business management and communication studies for CAPE (Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination) at the end of Upper Sixth Form.

Chad, on the other hand, is pursuing physics, computer science and Caribbean studies for CAPE and wants to do mechanical engineering.
 
The two, however, are far from being nerds; like their peers in general, they social network (Facebook), play video games and browse the Internet.

"They are bright, decent, focused and passionate about the throws."

Throws coach Julian Robinson has guided them long enough to know them well. “They are bright, decent and morally upright young men, who are focused and passionate about the throws,” he said.

Travis, he pointed out, is a Christian and makes decisions based on his religious beliefs. He also plays the drum in church.

Robinson further noted that while the athletes have minds of their own, they have much confidence in him and are respectful and willing to make sacrifices necessary for the success of their pursuits. They aren’t shy either about voicing to Coach their disagreement with him and are always keen on having discussions to clarify issues.

The duel between Chad and Travis is far from over, continuing next weekend at the Penn Relays discus ring in the US. Subsequently, they will challenge each other at the July 2-4 Junior Central American and Caribbean Games in the Dominican Republic and the IAAF World Junior Games in Canada July 19-25, for which they both have qualified.

To them, international competition is nothing new and they are ready for the next challenge. They are determined, talented and driven by the words of their school motto: “Never Say Die.” Travis approaches life with this mantra in mind; he believes that if they live by it, they will be sure to see great results.