VCB to late mentor Neville Myton: I will forever cherish your memories

Two-time 200m Olympic gold medallist Veronica Campbell Brown, the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA), and the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) have joined the list of those who have paid tribute to the late Olympian Neville Myton.

The former middle-distance runner passed away on Wednesday after a long battle with cancer. He was 74 years old.

Myton was a mentor for a number of Jamaica’s elite athletes most notably Campbell Brown, Simone Facey, Colin Bradford, and Shereefa Lloyd.

Campbell Brown posted on her Instagram page that “your mentorship and support made an indelible impact on my life. I will forever cherish your memories. RIP Mr. Myton.”

JAAA president Garth Gayle said Myton “was an athlete ahead of his time and a man for all seasons.

 “Neville was willing to give everything he had to the sport he loved and to the young men and women of this country. Just like his performances on the track, his kindness, warm, and inviting smile will stay with us always. We will miss him dearly. May his soul rest in peace.”

Myton was born in Old Harbour Bay in St Catherine on May 28, 1946, and attended Old Harbour Bay Primary before moving to Excelsior High School in 1963.

From Excelsior, Myton matriculated to Mesa Junior College in the United States where he helped his college win the National Junior College Athletic Association Championships twice. He was transferred to San Jose State University where he became teammates with the legendary Tommy Smith and John Carlos.

Myton graduated from San Jose State University in 1971 with two degrees -  a BA in Social Science and a BA in Physical Education and returned to Jamaica where he became a coach at Vere Technical, Tivoli Comprehensive, and Old Harbour High School.

Myton represented Jamaica at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, in the 800m and 1,500m while he was still a student at Excelsior High School. Four years later, at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, he set the national junior 800m record of 1:46:60 minutes, which still stands today. 

Myton won the 800m gold medal at the 1966 Central American and Caribbean Games and helped Jamaica to a 4x400m bronze in the 1967 Pan-Am Games before going to the 1968 Olympics.

JOA president Christopher Samuda said Myton “exemplified an educator of the ideals and values of sport, a custodian of the courage of sport and a benefactor of the wisdom of sport. 

“We serve not for gain in money, popularity, and self-interest. We serve not to purchase favours and friendship. We serve in placing self second and the interest of sport and others first. That was his creed and raison d'être. The mighty has not fallen in the form of Neville Myton for he rose in the eyes of his earthly peers and generations before and after him and is now transcendental having been called to higher service. 

“The Jamaica Olympic Association salutes an Olympian of the '64 and '68 eras and applauds a Jamaican sportsman whose imprint in the middle distances has given us the length, breadth, and depth of character.”