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Jermaine Gonzales ... battling to overcome a persistent hamstring injury.

Anthony Foster, Freelance Writer

JERMAINE GONZALES has no intention of becoming the next Tiger Woods nor Ronaldinho or even David Beckham.

He only hopes to become the best quarter-miler and that was why last week he ended up in the same room where those great sports stars had also gone for assistance.

Gonzales accepted an invitation from Pepsi Jamaica to attend the Gatorade Sports Science Institute - a research and educational facility - based in Barrington, Illinois to do what is called a "sweat test for elite athletes".

The objective of the test, which has been done by athletes such as Woods, Ronaldinho, Beckham, among many others, was to assist in Gonzales' return to peak performance through enhanced knowledge of his hydration needs and its impact on his performance.

Understand benefits

Gonzales said he was aware of this programme, but has learnt to understand more about its benefits now.

"After this experience, I am even more aware of the benefits, especially battling this injury," he said.

Gonzales, who showed indications of becoming a world-class quarter-miler from as early as 2002 when he won bronze at the World Junior Championships in Kingston, has struggled with a hamstring injury since Boys' Champs 2003.

Since then, for Gonzales, whose personal best is 44.85 and who also won a another bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2006, the road to recovery and stardom has not been easy for the former Tacius Golding star.

No easy season

"He has not been able to complete a season since then," coach Fitz Coleman, who has been working with Gonzales since his departure from high school at the IAAF High Performance Training Centre. "Each time he gets fit and starts to do well there is a recurrence of the injury."

Now, Coleman hopes, after the assessment (test) - which measured body mass index and body fat percentage and consists of executing one solid hour of continuous running, sprinting and jogging to basically simulate what the athlete does in training under similar atmospheric conditions - they can expect a brighter season.

A part of the test was to take samples of his sweat for analysis from which the results, to be ready in three weeks, will be used to recommend a hydration/nutritional regimen.

"We are working patiently this year with the hope that he will be able to take his form into the National Championships and then hopefully qualify for the Olympic team."