"Gold is the only option" - Oblique Seville reveals how Jamaican fans motivate athletes to produce 'sprint factory'

Oblique Seville shared how criticisms from Jamaican fans help Jamaican athletes to perform better on the track. Seville clinched his maiden World title in the 100m at the 2025 World Championships.

Oblique Seville, coached by Glen Mills at the Racers Track Club, where the legendary Usain Bolt trained throughout his career, has broken into the upper echelon of men's 100m sprinters, living up to the legacy. He narrowly missed the podium at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, earned a bronze medal with the 4x100m relay team at the 2023 World Championships, but finished a distant eighth at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

In 2025, Seville began his season strongly at the Grand Slam Track stops and trounced World and Olympic champion, Noah Lyles, at the London and Lausanne Diamond League stops. He continued his momentum at the 2025 Worlds, leaving his countryman Kishane Thompson in second and Noah Lyles in third.

Talking about how Jamaican athletes have reigned on top over the years, Oblique Seville revealed that criticism from fans helped them make history on the world stage. (via CITIUS Mag)

"It means a lot because Jamaica, over the years, has shown that we are the sprint factory, and to put on a Jamaican, you have a task to do, which is to win gold, and gold is the only option because we are highly criticized, our athletes, based on their performance. And it always push us Jamaican athletes to actually do better and better each time go out there and perform," he said. (6:51 onwards)

Seville has two Pan American silver medals in his resume, won at the 2019 U20 editions.

Oblique Seville opened up about how his biggest supporter couldn't see him reach the pinnacle

Seville at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 2025 - Day 2 - (Source: Getty)

Oblique Seville lost his father, Gerald Seville, in 2018, just before his rise in the sport. Gerald was the track star's strongest support system, but unfortunately, he never got to see his son succeed on the world stage. In an interview following his World Championship medal, the 24-year-old spoke mournfully about his father, sharing that his last words were the push he needed.

"He didn’t get to see my true talent… it was an emotional time for me. Imagine your first supporter, the person who pushed you to reach this far in whatever you're doing… passing away and never getting to see your success. I have lived with that for years… up to this day…The last time I spoke to him, about two weeks before he died, we talked about track & field. He told me, 'Son, just go and do it because you can,'" he said. (via Olympics.com)

In his junior career, Seville won the 100m and 4x100m relay gold medals at the Carifta Games.

Edited by Agnijeeta Majumder