The Road to Rio 2016
Introducing Hafsatu Kamara
In our series ‘The Road to Rio 2016’ we get to interview many Olympic hopefuls who are looking to get on the big stage and make a name for themselves and the country they are representing whilst getting an insight as to what drives them and how their preparation for the Summer Olympics in Brazil (2016) is going so far.
In this inaugural issue of the Road to Rio series we introduce you to Hafsatu Kamara of Texas USA a recent graduate from Cal State Northridge who currently lives and trains out of Los Angeles California and is working towards representing Sierra Leone at the 2016 Olympic Games.
Hafsatu is a 100 and 200 meters sprinter who last represented Sierra Leone at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow Scotland. Ever since her return from Scotland, she has been training hard and is very optimistic about making waves in Brazil next year (2016)
ASM: How long have you been running Track?
Hafsa: I’ve been running track for about 6 years now. I still consider myself new to the sport but not new to competition.
ASM: Give us a brief insight into your track & field career:
Hafsa: I started running track in high school (Nottingham High, Hamilton New Jersey) for about two years. I didn’t get serious about until my senior year. I received many offers to compete collegiately and I decided to go to
Coppin State University in Baltimore, Maryland. After two years at Coppin State, I transferred to California State Northridge in Northridge, California. It was there that my track career started to blossom and I was able to gain the training I needed. While at Northridge I started to compete for Sierra Leone. I saw an opportunity to represent my country and make a difference. My first meet as an international athlete for Sierra Leone was in the summer of 2013. I competed in the West African Region II Championship in Burkina Faso. Since then I’ve gone on to represent Sierra Leone at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games in Scotland.
Hafsatu Kamara
ASM/ February, 2015 45