DeVon Bean made his mark as a top sprinter, but his early success came as a long and triple jumper, even setting a school record in the long jump.

Bean, one of seven former Bermuda Pacers athletes set to be inducted in their inaugural Hall of Fame on April 29 at the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club, gained success as a sprinter after going undefeated throughout his high school career, where his interschool record in the over-15 boys 100 metres of 10.64 seconds still stands from 1992.

Also still standing is his under-10 long jump record of 4.86 metres from the interschool event in 1986.

Bean has some fond memories of his time in the Pacers programme, starting back in 1983 and winning medals in the long and triple jump events. Ten years later, in 1993, Bean became the first — and still only — Bermudian to be inducted into the East Coast Invitational Gold Medal Hall of Fame.

“Mr [Cal] Simons was my first coach as well as my PE teacher at West End Primary and he was responsible for noticing the talent that I had,” said Bean, who spots young talent himself these days as director of athletics for the Bermuda National Athletics Association.

“He convinced my parents to let me join the Pacers and the rest is history. I played a bit of football, but Mr Simons always made it known to me, ‘Devon, yes you’re good in football, but I think you can be great in track and field’. I played football seriously up until the Minors [age group] for Somerset Trojans, and then I started to specialise in track and field.”

Bean never forgot the influence people like Cal Simons had on him as a young boy. “Mr Simons was the one who laid the foundation for me, and I take on a lot of his coaching style which is passively aggressive as opposed to some coaches who are always shouting at athletes,” he said of his coaching style.

“You have to know what athletes you can do that to. With Mr Simons you know when he means business and when it is time to have fun. I incorporate that into my coaching style today, along with my experiences as an athlete, once I went off to school and did it professionally for a while.

“Mr Simons also helped me when I was going through a series of injuries. He re-motivated me, took me on the side and we did private training sessions on our own and it got me back on track. That year I went to the East Coast and won my seventh gold medal to get me inducted into the Hall of Fame.”

Bean says that induction into the Gold Medal Hall of Fame remains one of the highlights of his track career. “To put it into perspective Carl Lewis is a part of that, as well as Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Dennis Mitchell,” he said. “You just go by those three names and it shows you how prestigious it is. I’m the only Bermudian to be inducted into that.”

Bean is also still proud of his performance at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta when he clocked 10.27 seconds in the 100 metres. “That is still the Bermuda record, for over 20 years, something I’m very proud of,” he says.

Bean was just 12 when he first competed at Carifta Games, although his medal winning did not start until four years later in 1991 when he won two gold medals in the long jump (7.01m) and triple jump (14.58m). In 1992 he won a medal as a member of the 4x400 metres Bermuda relay team at Carifta.

He has also represented his country in the Pan American Games and the Central American and Caribbean Championships. As the national track coach, Bean sees the best of Bermuda’s young athletes and believes that the island is still rich in talent.

“It definitely is still there, but our biggest problem is that track and field is not considered a glamour sport,” he said. “Take my son for instance, I know he can run, but he loves football. Our faster athletes are playing other sports and I just wish they would take heed, if I can use the fastest man in the world [as an example].

“He [Usain Bolt] started track and field at 15 years old but loves football and loves cricket. However, it wasn’t until a PE teacher like Mr Simons said ‘you’re good in that, but if you put your effort in this you can be the fastest man in the world’.”

Bean dropped the names of several sportsmen in Bermuda who had early starts in track and field. “Names just off the top of my head ... Dean Bailey, Stanton Lewis, Jason Robinson, Damon Robinson, Damon Ming, Khano Smith and now Justin Donawa,” he said. “We don’t have the population to be losing athletes like that in the sport of track and field because our fraternity is so small. Yes, Justin is good in soccer and cricket, but he was the No 8 ranked triple jumper in the world as a youth.

“He’s chosen soccer for now, but hopefully he can get that bit back in his mouth and come back to track and field.”