Samyr Laine is a Triple Jumper who competed for Haiti in the Olympic Finals and holds a National record. 

“Laine currently resides in Alexandria, Virginia, speaks fluent French and is currently working on his book “A Foot in Two Worlds” (Thinkworks Publishing). Laine is working on his Jump for Haiti Foundation which will focus on mentor Haitian children and developing more Haitian athletes.”-Wiki

Our chat was fun and energetic to say the least!

ChristieOhh: Tell us a little about yourself! What do you have going on?

Samyr: I just got back from London competing in my first Olympic games and advanced to the finals. But considering that it’s the off season far as track and field is related I’m finishing my autobiography and working on my foundation “Jump for Haiti” which will provide sporting and education for children in Haiti. I’m just resting so that when I get back to training I can win Haiti’s first medal in the Olympics since 1928.

I’m just trying to keep improving and growing. I graduated from Harvard, got my Masters from Univ. of Texas and went to Law School at Georgetown. So I feel good to just relax my mind a little bit and just focus my time on track and field.

ChristieOhh: Awesome! What are some of the obstacles you have faced?

Samyr: For starters, way back when (lol) I got cut from my high schools track team. So to end up where I am now almost didn’t happen. But there’s also the fact of balancing law school with academics and passing the bar examine while competing all over the world..it was challenging. Just having to perform that balancing act. I have a great support team in Glenn Toby and my family so that made it easier on me!

ChristieOhh: What are you looking forward to now?

Samyr: I’m looking forward to growing, continuing to improve, continuing to develop as an athlete and as someone who can make a tangible difference in Haiti and hopefully other nations. I want to expose kids to sports and the lessons that can be learned through sports. I just want to continue to keep helping people and touching people in a positive way.

FUN FACT:

Laine was a college roommate of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and was the 14th person to register for the site.  -Wiki

Stay up to date with Samyr via his website www.samyrlaine.com and Twitter @LaineTrainHaiti

Images: bloomberg.com; repeatingislands.com; pulse2.com

Tags: georgetown, haiti, harvard university, mark zuckerburg, national record holder, olympic finalist, samyr laine, school of law, triple jumper, univ. of texas

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 23rd, 2012 at 11:32 pm and is filed under CERTIFIED Interviews, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.