For close to a decade, Jacqueline “Jackie” Pusey was a familiar figure on the track, representing St. Mary High School, California State University Los Angeles, and Jamaica with distinction. Twice an Olympian, a medallist at major international competitions and a record-setter at home, she remains part of the country’s sprinting heritage.
Born on August 14th, 1959 in the parish of Saint Mary, Pusey’s entry into athletics came at the age of 11 when her brother’s coach, Douglas Clark, persuaded her parents to allow the children to try track. Initially reluctant, they eventually agreed, and Pusey’s ability was quickly apparent. She began secondary school at Marymount High, which had no sports programme, before transferring to St. Mary High, where her talent could be developed within a growing track and field set-up.
At Girls’ Championships she became the central figure in St. Mary High’s challenge to Vere Technical’s dominance. In 1976 and 1977, she helped secure back-to-back team titles, collecting four gold medals in her final year in the 200 metres, 400 metres, 4×100 metres and 4×400 metres, and setting new records along the way. Regional meets brought further success, including multiple CARIFTA and CAC medals, among them a quadruple gold at the 1978 CARIFTA Games. She also captained St. Mary High to victory at the 1977 Eastern Secondary Champs, lifting the overall trophy in front of a National Stadium crowd.
Her rise continued on the international stage. At just 16, Pusey was the youngest Jamaican selected for the 1976 Montreal Olympics, where she reached the semi-finals of the 200 metres and anchored the 4×100 metres relay team to sixth place, the first time Jamaica had reached that Olympic final. Four years later, at the Moscow Games, she ran a personal best of 22.90 seconds in the 200 metres semi-final and was part of a 4×100 metres squad that set a national record of 43.19 seconds, though baton problems cost them a podium finish.
Beyond the Olympics, Pusey recorded notable victories. In 1975 she won the 200 metres at the Rosicky Memorial meet in Prague in 23.77 seconds. At the 1978 Norman Manley Games she defeated 1976 Olympic 100 metres finalist Evelyn Ashford over 200 metres. Her best season came in 1981, when she achieved lifetime marks of 11.29 seconds for 100 metres and 51.38 seconds for 400 metres, the latter bringing her bronze at the IAAF World Cup in Rome. That year’s Central American and Caribbean Championships saw her take gold in the 200 metres, 400 metres and 4×100 metres, all in championship record times, along with silver in the 4×400 metres.
Pusey’s international career concluded with the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki, where she ran the second leg in the 4×100 metres as Jamaica won bronze alongside Merlene Ottey, Leleith Hodges and Juliet Cuthbert. It was the country’s first women’s relay medal at the competition and a fitting end to her senior career.
Her performances did not go unrecognised. She was named Jamaica’s Sportswoman of the Year in 1981, sharing the spotlight with Bertland Cameron as Sportsman of the Year. She was inducted into the Cal State LA Hall of Fame in 1989, where she still holds the university’s 200 metres record, and was honoured by the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association in 2004. On February 1st, 2020 the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association presented her with a citation, describing her as a “Prodigy and Patriot” and acknowledging her contribution to Jamaican sport.
In interviews, Pusey has spoken openly about the limited support available to athletes during her era. Competitors often had to cover their own costs to attend trials, with no formal structures for injury management or post-career planning. She recalls rarely competing without some form of injury and credits her college coach with helping her stay fit enough to perform. Retirement brought its own challenges, as she missed the close bonds formed within teams and the experiences of travel and competition. She has also expressed regret that her generation did not have the same earning potential as athletes today, which might have allowed her to invest in supporting future talents.
Jackie Pusey’s career bridged school dominance, international representation and the early phases of Jamaica’s emergence as a consistent force in women’s sprinting. Decades later, her name remains part of the conversation whenever St. Mary High is mentioned at Girls’ Championships, a reminder of an athlete who left a measurable mark on both her school and her country.
