Cejhae Greene is working hard and living the dream.
The 26-year-old has traveled the world, raced against the best and is enjoying every moment of the journey.
“Everything that you’ve been waiting for, you’re actually doing it for real,” he said. “One of the biggest things that stood out was that this is a job now. That was one of the biggest things, taking time to enjoy the moment – you made it here, now let’s do something great.”
The 100-meter specialist who represents Antigua and Barbuda has competed at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games as well as the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, where he was the flagbearer for his country. The opportunity for Greene to represent his country in that role was an experience of a lifetime.
“One of the craziest experiences ever,” he said. “Obviously I’ve been to the Olympics before, just walking in the opening ceremonies, everything is just crazy in itself. But when you walk out with the flag, that’s an even crazier experience. It was one of those surreal moments where you are like wow, we dream of being out here, but now we’re out here as a flag bearer? It doesn’t get much better than that.”
“It’s one of those things where you see yourself doing it many, many times,” he said. “But now that it’s actually happened it’s like wow, we can check this off of our list.”
Greene grew up in a small village in Antigua and Barbuda called Willikies, which Greene said is made up of a couple of hundred people. Greene said that in the summers, he used to travel to the beach – on a donkey.
“Every summer if you weren’t riding a donkey to the beach, running to the beaches and swimming or fishing, you didn’t really grow up in Willikee.”
Greene was big on soccer, but his father was a big track and field enthusiast. Greene realized over time that he was pretty fast and decided to give track and field a shot.
“He’s a school principal, so I would be with him at all of the sports things that he would host, and I would race all the older guys,” he said. “That’s kind of how it started. As you keep doing sports, you start realizing ‘oh, maybe I can give this a shot. Then you start racing a little more and you start beating people until you realize that oh, I’m actually kind of fast.”
Greene was well rounded as a runner and dominated the high school scene, winning multiple state titles in the 400, 800 meters and the long jump. He eventually settled on running the 200 meter dash due to what he says was a process of elimination.
“As you become older, coaches start seeing that this is probably where (Greene) will excel more.”
Greene decided to take his talents to Florida State, which is over 1600 miles away from his home in Antigua and Barbuda. Why did he choose FSU? Because of a Facebook message left by then-sprint coach Ken Harnden.
“One day I was just on facebook scrolling, doing what kids do on social media and I got a message from Ken Harnden,” he said. “I thought it was spam at first, I didn’t think it was real.”
The Facebook message led to a phone call with Harnden, which led to a commitment to FSU. He joined a high level recruiting class that included Olympic Gold medalist Michael Cherry. After a short time at FSU, he followed Harnden to Georgia, where he achieved great success for the Bulldogs.
Greene strives for greatness every day that he steps on the track. For Greene, the positive outlook that he has for current and future success comes from his work ethic.
“My mentality is that I refuse to be outworked,” he said. “If I go out there and give it my best all of the time, for one, I know the result will be good. Two, you really can’t be mad if you give it all you got.”
While the journey hasn’t always been easy, it’s never rattled the confidence that he has in himself. During the hard times, he always remembers to trust the process and be patient.
“I’ve always believed in my talent,” he said. “When you see your peers do well and excel, it gives you the extra confidence, not to take anything away from everyone else, but if he can do it, I know I can do it. It’s just a matter of my time, waiting for it to happen and trusting the process.”
Greene is far from boastful, but is humble and grateful for the blessings that he’s received and the success that he’s achieved. His motivation for being successful is much bigger than making the medal stand.
“For me it’s family,” he said. “I’m a big family man. I’ve got so many people that look up to me. Being from a small community, it’s a special feeling. When you do well, you understand that you’re not just doing well for yourself. You’re doing well for your community, your family – the younger ones at home that want to be like you and want to make that next step, but just need a little motivation, a little guidance to get there.”
Greene said that his family keeps him humble, especially with him being so far away from them. He takes pride in knowing that his family, specifically his parents, are very proud of him.
“Ain’t nothing like seeing your mom and your pops calling you and saying that they’re so proud of you,” he said. “Because I’m so family oriented, I always put out my best foot because I take satisfaction in seeing them celebrate after going through the rough times together.”
Track and field has been good to Greene, and he’s grateful for everything he’s gotten out of it, especially the people he’s met and the places he’s gone. Those connections mean a great deal to Greene.
“If I’m being real, it’s the connections that the sport has brought to me,” he said. “Some of my best friends, I’ve met through the sport. Where it takes me, the different countries, the different experiences and different cultures.”
Greene isn’t complacent in what he’s accomplished. The uncertainty is what he loves about the sport. He knows that the possibilities are endless as long as he keeps working hard.
“I think that’s what brings me back each and every day – If I work a little bit harder, something else amazing could happen. You just never know the uncertainty of it. That rush of doing what you didn’t think not necessarily was possible, but surprising yourself and going above and beyond your expectations, I love that feeling.”
