Gary Card finishes 100m runner-up at the 2026 World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon; unwavering drive to greatness

Athletics: Jamaican rising star Gary Card’s endless hunger to be the best - “I’m never going to be satisfied”

Speaking to Olympics.com at the conclusion of the 2026 World Athletics U20 Championships, the teenage sprint sensation opened up about his goals in the sport, the inspiring nature of Jamaica’s pedigree and his disdain for defeat.

Jamaica’s Gary Card was only six years old when he ran on an athletics track for the first time.

Growing up in the shadow of legendary sprinters like Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake , he dreamt of not only becoming “one of the greats,” but potentially, the greatest of all-time.

“This country has such a rich history, which I can feel,” the teenager said from the sidelines of the 2026 World Athletics U20 Championships in Oregon, “Jamaica” proudly emblazoned across his chest.

“I’ve grown up wanting to be one of the greats for literally all my life,” he added, during an exclusive interview with Olympics.com in Eugene.

“To be wearing it (this jersey) now, at this stage – at this young age – knowing that it’s really my future to be on the biggest stage, being one of the biggest names, it really means a lot to me.”

Card finished runner-up behind the United States’ Tate Taylor in one of the fastest U20 100m races in history, before guiding Jamaica to a bronze medal and season’s best in the men’s 4x100m final .

While his achievements might not have been the most headline-grabbing in a meet that saw two athletes from the host nation complete the 100m-200m sprint double for the first time in history, they were nonetheless impressive.

However, his hunger for greatness remains unsatiated. Asked what it would take to make him satisfied, Card offered a brutally honest reply: “ I’m never going to be satisfied.

“There’s always going to be a new rival coming up, a new medal to get, a season to conquer, a new time to run,” he posited. “I’m the type of person, [that] once I run a time, I automatically think that I can do better, so there’s always gonna be a new title, medal or rival.

“So I don’t think I’ll be satisfied…for now, at least.”

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Training with the best to become the best

The 19-year-old from Kingston was always a known quality at the junior level in Jamaica.

Card had enjoyed success at the U20 National Trials and even represented the island at the CARIFTA Games – an important meet for junior athletes in the Caribbean.

But the hype surrounding the nonchalant teen studying entrepreneurship at the University of Technology really took off when he finished runner-up to reigning world champion Oblique Seville in the men’s 100m final at the Jamaican Athletics Championships.

Clocking a new junior national record of 9.93 seconds – the joint third-fastest U20 mark of all-time – he announced himself to the world and signaled his readiness for the senior ranks. The only person not caught off guard by the result? Card himself.

“It wasn’t a surprise that the nine came,” he told Olympics.com. “But it being so low, so close to 9.8, [and] knowing that there were mistakes in my race – knowing that if I did the perfect race, I could have run faster – that’s what really surprised me.”

Of course, it’d be hard to expect anything less from the promising sprinter who trains alongside many of the island’s fastest men, including Olympic Games Paris 2024 100m silver medallist Kishane Thompson .

“A lot of my success is based on them,” he said, even crediting Thompson’s work ethic and speed for helping Card’s growth on the track. “He pushes me every day. He beats me in every training.

“He always says, ‘iron sharpens iron,’ so he’s for sure one of the main reasons why I’ve run so fast and done so good this season,” Card added, noting the impact of Thompson’s international success at the Olympic Games and beyond.

“It inspires me, knowing that I see him every day and watching him on that big stage,” he added. “ Because I’m in the same program he is, I’m right beside him, learning from him, so I can do it too. ”

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Influences, aspirations and hidden passions

Set to join the likes of Seville and Thompson in the senior ranks next season, Card is excited to be a part of Jamaica’s next great sprinting generation. Training and competing alongside that sort of talent, it’s also why he has no plans to leave the island in the near future.

“I’m the type of person where once I’m at somewhere, unless I’m forced out, I just trust the program that I’m with long-term,” he stated, shutting down any talk about moving to the United States to compete on the highly competitive collegiate circuit.

There’s also the deep sense of gratitude he felt towards his late coach, Stephen Francis – an influential personality who transformed Jamaica into a sprinting powerhouse.

“He basically laid the pathway for me to do so good this season,” Card said of Francis, who also guided the likes of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce , Elaine Thompson-Herah, Asafa Powell and Shericka Jackson . “ Everything I did at the [U20] championship was for him. ”

There’s also his father, who Card credits for “modeling me to be a man from when I was young,” making it even harder to part with the land that molded him – one he hopes to represent at either the Olympic Games LA 2028 or Brisbane 2032 .

“I try to do my own style of running, because I’m nowhere near his level yet,” he explained, when the inevitable comparison to eight-time Olympic champion Bolt was made. “But I wish to be someday. So it’s nice that some people think I will be like him.”

Describing himself as a “boring person” off the track, the teenage sprinter is clear that he wants to dominate his rivals on it, as well as in the virtual world he frequently retreats into when there’s a lull in training or competition.

“ I don’t like to lose at anything ,” Card admitted. “I like to win at [video] games or [by] running on the track.” At the moment, “games” are mostly limited to basketball sim NBA2k and Epic Games’ Fortnite, which he supposedly became “king of the hill” at in Eugene.

“It’s a very relaxing thing to me, games and track. It takes away, what to me, is the basic kind of stress of the world. So if I’m not training or not in school, I’m playing games.”

What else would anybody expect from the fast-rising star, who claims he can’t be satisfied by times, medals and honors?

Picture by USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect