The good old days, the glory days… Maurice ’Kapitu’ Camille   ‘I loved track & field athletics a lot and competition was tough’ |08 February 2022

In today’s series of ‘The good old days, the glory days…’, we meet former track star Maurice Camille affectionately known as ‘Kapitu’.

Published fortnightly, the series is aimed at reviving memories of achievements and honouring former Seychellois greats who have become coaches, administrators or are just living a simple life away from their once loved sport.

Our first invitee of the series was Vincent ‘Tolor’ Dorasamy.

If you want to feature in this series, don’t hesitate to contact us on 4385775.

Early years in sports

A lot of sportsmen or women are lucky enough to make it to the highest level, become rich and famous, and have an accomplished career.

But there remains a percentage of sportsmen and women who are unlucky to have a decent sporting career. And most of the time, their dreams are cut short by either injury or loss of form.

Maurice Camille, nicknamed ‘Kapitu’, is one of those athletes whose career on track was cut very short by a knee injury.

In fact, ‘Kapitu’, who was born on La Digue, started as a footballer for the Strikers team of Bel Ombre. Then he played hockey in the Young Seychellois team and at the same time participated in athletics competition.

He only took up athletics seriously at the age of 23 in 1976.

“I remember very well two weeks before in my first important competition Denis Rose beat me in my first 400m race. I fell down 50m from the finish line. I went back to doing tough training up the hills and on the beach to build power in my legs. And after two weeks’ training, I saw the result as I beat Denis Rose on the finish line and set a new record,” Camille told Sports NATION.

Double gold medallist at first IOIG

He was part of the Seychelles team for the first Indian Ocean Islands Games (IOIG) in Reunion in 1979 and the country’s track & field athletics team was under the command of Russian coach Evans Dubograev who came here seven months earlier.

He won three medals ‒ two gold and a silver. His gold medals came in the 100m (11.50 seconds) and 200m (22.80 seconds) and claimed silver in the 4x100m relay.

“Had I ran the 4x400m relay I would have won three gold medals in the Games. I was asked by my coach to let my place to Vincent Confait who was a substitute in the 4x400m relay team.

“As I was the captain of the team I agreed as I had already won two gold medals,” added Camille.

The quartet of Vincent Confait, Regis Tranquille, Casey Pereira and Denis Rose won the 4x400m relay gold medal in a time of 3 minutes 20.6 seconds (3:20.6).

The other gold medal in athletics for Seychelles was won by Regis Tranquille in the 400m in 49.17 seconds.

‘Kapitu’ was once the record holder for 100m (11.50 seconds, electronic timing in Reunion in 1979) and 200m (22.80 seconds, electronic timing in Reunion in 1979) and 400m (51.0 hand timing in July 1978 and 50.6 hand timing in July 1979 in Seychelles).

“I loved track & field athletics a lot and competition was tough. We trained hard and competed even harder against each other. If I was beaten one weekend, I would make sure I trained harder to avenge the loss in the following competition. This helped to improve our level,” explained ‘Kapitu’.

Knee injury

Following the good results achieved at the first IOIG in Reunion in 1979, Seychelles wanted its sportsmen and women to start rubbing shoulders with the very best in the world.

And Seychelles did go for the very top, by taking part in the Olympic Games for the first time in Moscow, Soviet Union from July 19 – August 3, 1980. But first Seychelles had to set up its National Olympic Committee which it did in 1979 and it was recognised by the International Olympic Committee that same year.

Although he was among the top sprinters in Seychelles at that time, ‘Kapitu’ failed to make the final team for Moscow.

This is because he picked up a knee injury during a training camp in Arusha, Tanzania, ahead of the Games.

In fact, that was to be the end of ‘Kapitu’’s career on the athletics track as he did not take part in any other competitions.

Despite the heartbreak, ‘Kapitu’ featured on a 40 cents stamp produced for the 1980 Olympic Games.

What is ‘Kapitu’ up to nowadays?

“I am running my business in Madagascar,” ‘Kapitu’ told Sports NATION.

In fact ‘Kapitu’ left Seychelles for Madagascar in 2003 but he came back in 2010. “Upon my return to Seychelles I decided to rejoin the local athletics circle and was elected as a member of the Seychelles Athletics Federation. I also worked for the federation. I decided to head back to Madagascar in 2018. I’ve built my house there (in Madagascar) and running my own business,” added ‘Kapitu’.

Advice for the young generations of sportsmen and women

‘Kapitu’ remarked that if a youth wants to be successful in sports, he/she has to show discipline, determination and make sacrifices.

But for him “children in Seychelles today are pushing their parents around”.

He noted that “the greatest discovery of my generation is that a person can alter his/her life by altering his/her attitude of mind. Being positive and having the right attitude is probably one of the most difficult principles”.

“The difference between a successful person and others is neither lack of strength nor lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will,” implied ‘Kapitu’.