Auburn’s Kai Selvon Has Sights Set on London

“My wish is to make the Olympic team for Trinidad and I am ready to do so,” declared Kai Selvon, the talented sprinter for the Auburn University Tigers. Kai’s (pronounced Kie) goals are very realistic as she has just completed a successful indoor campaign in which she captured the Southeastern Conference (SEC) women’s 60m indoor title and was placed 7^th in the NCAA 60m finals in 7.29 seconds. During the 2012 indoor campaign, Kai established personal bests of 7.20 seconds in the 60m and 23.15 seconds in the 200m and was named to the All-American list. But Kai is not resting on her laurels as she approaches the outdoor season; she has London as her final destination, with the first step being the Trinidad Trials which is scheduled for June. Kai spoke to TrackLedger.com about her goals for this season as well as reflected on her indoor season and her Daegu world championship experience. Reflecting on Indoors Commenting on her indoor season Kai said “I was grateful and excited about my SEC performance, and after making it to nationals [NCAA], I had exceeded the expectation I had set for myself. I am glad I did well.” “The intensity has stepped-up in training and I am doing as much as I can do. Coach is expecting us to give him our best,” said Kai. Kai is coached by Henry Rolle, who was recently named as the new Bahamian relay coordinator. For the upcoming outdoor season, Kai will be competing in the 100m and the 200m. “I think my 60m indoors will help me to do well in the 100m,” she said.  Going into the 2012 outdoor season, Kai has a personal best (PB) of 11.41 seconds in the 100m and 22.89 seconds in the 200m. Kai pointed out that the Auburn coaching staff will determine when she will be making her outdoor season debut. Olympic Dream Kai desire to make the Trinidad Olympic team is fueled by her solid  work ethics which has lead to her vast improvements over the past three seasons. Kai is also confident that Coach Rolle will have her ready for the Trinidad Trials. “I know that I have put in the hard work so I know that I can lower my PB in the 100 and the 200 this season. I think I can do that,” she said with a degree of reserved confidence. International Experience Kai is no stranger to international competition  as she  competed at the 2011 Daegu world championship, finishing 4^th in the 200m semi-final, just missed making the finals and setting her personal best of 22.89 seconds in the earlier rounds. Reflecting on the lesson learned from her Daegu experience Kai said, “I know that I was just not a contestant but I was also a competitor.” Kai, who had also competed at the World Youth and World Junior championships as well as the Carifta Games, said that the Carifta Games “prepared me as you get a feel for  the competitive atmosphere.” Mindset Kai, who is pursuing a degree in Industrial Design, said that she enjoys competing on the track for the Auburn Tigers because she has school all day and she just wants to take her mind off her classes for a while. While track may be a temporary mental escape for this talented sprinter and full time student from St Joseph, Trinidad, there is no escaping the fact that Kai could indeed be on the podium in London. Kai could be an integral part of the Trinidad relay team and joining forces with Kelli-Ann Baptiste, Semoy Hackett and others could lead to Kai not only being a competitor in London  but also a medalist.