Two-time Olympian Bingham reflects in Rhode Island after preparing for Paris

By Jim Stewart

Caledon's Khamica Bingham was Canada's fastest female sprinter in 2023 as she cruised to her third title at the Bell Canadian National Track and Field Championships in Vancouver.

One of her heats featured a winning time of 11.14 seconds—a personal best that year. In the 100-metre finals, the lightning-fast Bingham won with a time of 11.25, a winning margin of 0.07 seconds, to defend her national title in the marquee event last July. 

It was a meaningful victory for Bingha.

“It was close and dear to my heart after everything I had endured. It was also so unconventional in terms of how I prepared for the championships. My husband [Damar Forbes] became my coach. I never had a family member at any of my national championships due to distance or travel logistics. I felt that family support present at the meet with my husband as my coach.”

Flash-forward one year and the two-time Olympian is in reflective mode in Rhode Island where she is coaching the Brown University sprinters and hurdlers.

On the picture-perfect, 260-year-old campus, the personable track star is also recovering from a recurring Achilles injury that short-circuited her quest for a third successive berth on Canada's Olympic Track and Field team.  

Despite the disappointment of missing her opportunity to represent Canada at the Paris Olympics, Bingham was grateful for the support she has received from her community in Caledon.

The gracious track star also extolled the virtues of the “Quest for Gold” lottery and the OLG's support of athletes across the country.

“OLG has provided direct personal support and I've been able to benefit significantly. Without financial support from the Quest for Gold lottery, I wouldn't have been able to stay in Ontario or get assistance with my education, equipment, and training.”

The fastest female sprinter in Canada discussed the importance of OLG's ongoing support of Ontario's athletes: “Training and competing are costly. The program has contributed over $100M and athletes have been able to utilize the funds from the lottery's proceeds. 100% of the profits go back to the Quest for Gold Athletes to support them in training and competition. My neighbors in Caledon even bought hundreds of dollars of tickets to support the funding of athletes when they realized I was on the ticket.

I'm so thankful and grateful about the OLG's help and my neighbors' impact.”

Bingham, who moved to Caledon when she was in Grade 5, offered insights into the levels of local support she has received from townsfolk: “I love Caledon.  It's so peaceful.  I really enjoy mentoring young athletes in so many of the town's organizations. The support system in my neighborhood is also the best. We have a close-knit relationship and my neighbors have supported me during the highs and the lows.”

One of those lows took place alongside a high as Bingham experienced an epiphanic moment in the starting blocks at the COVID-postponed 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

“Four months after I lost my mom to an auto-immune illness, I realized how big my support system was in 2021. I was on the starting line by myself, looking at the finish line, and had this peaceful feeling about who had been there for me.”

She also reflected fondly on the support she received and the collegiality she enjoyed during her formative days sprinting for the University of Toronto Blues.

“Competing for UT was a building block that showed me how important team was. We had an amazing sense of team. You were doing it for the team, not just for yourself. My favorite memory of competing for the Blues was winning the 4 X 200 relay at the CIS championships. We weren't favored to win, but we did.”

Bingham also feels a similar connection to team in her current position as Operations Coordinator on the Track and Field Coaching Staff at Brown University in Rhode Island.

“It's the best job in the world. Brown's been really flexible and has given me lots of freedom to be a coach and an athlete. I get to help behind the scenes to help take the stress off the Head Coaching staff.  I'm also able to train at the same time. This team has brought back the fun and childlike love of track that I enjoy. Everyone has been so kind and everyone performs for the team.”

The importance of being part of a team contributed significantly to Bingham's development as a high-performance athlete.  Surprisingly, her athletic roots as a child and teenager were not in track, but on a local gymnastics team. However, Bingham delineated how the rigor of gymnastics set the building blocks for her transition to track at 15.

“Gymnastics is the greatest sport to build foundations.  Gymnastics made me ‘Fit, Flexible, and Disciplined.' There was lots of sacrifice involved, too. Most importantly, gymnastics also created powerful, explosive movement, especially during my floor routine. It created a strong core for me. My floor routine replicated the same kind of energy and power needed to run the 400.” 

Teaching track athletes at Brown to be explosive and powerful is part of Bingham's new coaching role at the Ivy League school in Providence, Rhode Island, but the mental side of training high performance athletes is also a significant factor.

When asked what she would do to help the 2024 Canadian Track team maintain focus during the Drone Scandal afflicting all our national athletes in Paris, the current Bears' coach offered insights into the art of coaching and high-performance athletes.

“The biggest thing they are taught is the ability to adjust to and manage problems. I would remind them that there are things that you cannot control. I would narrow their focus. We'd focus on eliminating the noise.”

Canada's reigning sprint champion's focus is evident in her techniques both as a coach and athlete.  So is her gratitude and indomitable spirit as she recovers in Providence and attempts another comeback from nagging Achilles injuries.

Khamica Bingham's story about “perseverance in the storm” is inspirational to all Canadians as we praise our Olympic heroes in Paris this summer.