As he heads off to Lima, Peru for the World Athletics Under-20 Championships, Norre Robinson, Bermuda’s sole representative at the competition, is excited to represent the island at this stage.

Following injury to Elise Dickinson, who had qualified for the 400 metres, the 100m sprinter became the only Bermudian competitor at an event running from Tuesday to Saturday.

The 16-year-old is less than 12 months into track competitions, having taken up the sport last September.

During this short period, the Warwick Academy has recorded some success, which includes appearing at this year’s Carifta Games in Grenada.

His Under-20 Championships qualification was through a universality spot, since he could only manage 10.56 sec when the required time was 10.55.

“I’m so glad I get to represent my country and get to show off what I can do so early in my career,’’ Robinson said.

“I hope to break the Bermuda under-20 record, which is 10.54, and, hopefully, set a personal best.”

The young sprinter is mindful of the fact that he will be up against some athletes who just competed at the Paris Olympics.

Bradley Nkoana headlines that list with a qualifying time of 10.03, and Thailand’s Puripol Boonson are some of the under-20 stars who were in France.

“It’s natural to be intimidated by that kind of thing, but I’ve to keep my composure and run my race,’’ he said.

“I went to the Bahamas National Championships a few weeks ago and I was the only Bermudian there as well. I’m expecting the same feeling in a different environment.

“My training has been hard at times. I’ve had to change a lot of habits, like my diet and my sleeping patterns.”

DeVon Bean, the national athletics coach, who is travelling with Robinson, is pleased with the progress the young athlete has made.

“It’s a new adventure for Norre, he’s been involved in athletics for less than a year,’’ the former top sprinter said.

“He’s improved quite rapidly since September 2023. My expectations of him are not that high, this is the World Under-20 Championships.

“This is the highest level of junior competition in the world. Just to put things into perspective, the current Olympic 200m champion, Letsile Tebogo, from Botswana won the 100m and 200m at the last Under-20 Championships, with a world junior record of 9.91 in the 100m.

“This is the type of level that Norre is going to be up against, which will be good for him going forward.

“I’ve been trying to keep him motivated, I’ve told him they’re athletes just like yourself.

“One thing I do stress to Norre is not to get too fixated on times. If he executes the race plan that we’ve been trying to implement the whole season, the times will come.”

Robinson has been working with high-performance therapist Bakari Simons for months, as he prepares for his Peru.

“When the opportunity came for Norre to go to Peru, I have been working with him everyday,’’ Simons.

“I’ve seen him improve over the last few months with his times dropping. We’re basically managing him like a race car, we've been hands-on for the last two months.”