Troy University Athletics
Johnson's Journal - Osbourne's Journey from Jamaica to Troy
3/31/2026 11:22:00 AM | Track & Field
By: Jon Johnson
Javon Osbourne, a discus and shot put thrower on the Troy track & field team, prides himself on weight room training as symbolized last year when winning the Male Strength and Conditioning Award presented annually to a student-athlete by Troy University Athletics.
"I put in a lot of work to get to that point," Osbourne said.
But if you really want to see him light up, ask the native of Clarendon, Jamaica, to explain his duties as a student-worker with the Troy University Police Department.
"I drive around in my car and try to see who's breaking the law," Osbourne said with a sly smile. "I'm like a second pair of eyes for the police officers. I can give out speeding tickets; I can give out parking tickets.
"My bachelor's (degree) was in criminal justice. I want to be a security officer in the military, the Air Force specifically. That's the goal."
Before that, however, the 6-foot-4, 205-pound graduate student still has things he'd like to accomplish in track & field.
While Osbourne already holds Troy's all-time record in the discus throw with a score of 58.47m set in 2023, which broke his own mark of 55.64m set as a freshman, Osbourne continues to aim high.Â
"I know I've achieved a lot, but ultimately my goal is to go to the NCAA National Championships in Eugene (Oregon) and get one of those All-American trophies," he said.
Starting the sport
During 2017, a ninth-grade classmate in Jamaica suggested Osbourne give the discus and shot put a try.
"I was very skinny and weighed like 180 or something like that," Osbourne said. "He was just like, 'You have the build … you're tall enough … I think it would be a great fit for you.'Â
"At the time, I was like, 'Um, I don't know. Maybe.' And then I ended up taking his offer and I went to a training session one day. From there, it was history."
However, things got off to a rocky beginning.
Though Osbourne made the team as a discus and shot put thrower, he was called upon in an early meet to also compete in the high jump.
That competition didn't end well.
"I just started throwing discus in October (2017)," Osbourne explained. "January came around and my coach respected me a lot and wanted me to go to a championship, and they didn't have any high jumpers to get points over there.Â
"He asked me if I did high jump in elementary school, and I was like, 'Yes sir.' I've always been a team player, so I volunteered to go do high jump.
"Maybe jump five, I realized I didn't go up. I just went straight into the bar and onto the bag. I was like, 'That's weird,' because I thought I applied enough force to go up.Â
"One of the athletes from the high jump came over to me and was like, 'Darn, what happened?' And I was like, 'What do you mean?' Then, I looked down and I just started panicking.Â
"It never hurt, but my patella (kneecap) was pretty much sticking up here and my foot was turned like that way," Osbourne motioned with his arms in describing the mangled leg. "I actually tore my patella off the bone tendon."
Several weeks later, surgery was performed and he was out for the rest of the season.
"The surgery went good," Osbourne said. "Fast forward, I went back to practice the summer of that year and continued to train leading up to my senior year of high school (Kingston College, all male secondary school). We graduate (high school) in year 11, which would be like a senior over here, but then we have grades 12 and 13, which is like pre-college.
"In grade 13 is when I started progressing to how I really wanted to. I was in the world's top 10 for discus (2021)."
Troy shows interest
Troy assistant track & field coach Michelle Clayton first reached out to Osbourne in April of 2021.
"At the time, I did not know what Troy was," Osbourne said. "I was like, 'Is this like a D-II (school)?'"
Osbourne figured if he kept progressing, he'd hear from many more college coaches and didn't really think much about Troy in the beginning.Â
"My plans were to go to college, but I was more focused on throwing to the point of thinking the coaches will reach out to me," Osbourne said. "If I'm doing great there, everything else will fall into place. That was my mindset."
While a few other universities did contact Osbourne about scholarship possibilities, it was Clayton who he felt most comfortable with.
"Coach Michelle and I had a great connection from the start," Osbourne said. "Yes, the other coaches were good as far as communication-wise, but in terms of the connection we had, I would say Coach Michelle was the best out of them.
"From there I just continued to train and decided to sign to Troy in June (2021). She sent me the national letter-of-intent and I signed it and came straight to Troy."
Coming to AmericaÂ
It was Osbourne's first trip to America when he arrived in Troy that summer.Â
After landing in Alabama at the airport in Montgomery, he was picked up for the drive to campus.
"I was riding from Montgomery and it was pitch black and I just saw trees," Osbourne remembers. "I was just like, 'This isn't what I expected.'"
When they arrived in town, Osbourne had a request.Â
"The first thing I asked for … because we don't have McDonald's back home … I asked the people who came to pick me up if we could stop at McDonald's, and I ended up getting a Big Mac because I had always seen it on TV,'" he said.
Osbourne enjoyed the hamburger and then headed to campus after a long day of travel.
"The next day, I woke up in my dorm and ended up going outside and walking around the campus just to explore what it was like," Osbourne said.
It didn't take long for Osbourne to become comfortable in the new surroundings. His work as a college student-athlete was about to begin.
Training to succeed
Knowing he needed to increase his strength, Osbourne hit the weight room - and the training table - right away.
"I initially wanted to get bigger because of the sport I do," Osbourne said.
"When you're converting from the high school weight to the college weight, you have to have more mass to move the shot put. And then in the discus, it's a great fit to have some mass behind it."
To go along with his best discus throw of 58.47m, Osbourne's best shot put throw was 18.40m in 2023, which ranks third in school history.Â
Osbourne credits Clayton, who also serves as the throws and strength coach of the Trojans, for pushing him.
"Coming from Jamaica, I was somewhat strong, but then when I came to Troy, my strength coach Michelle … she does a really good job of making me get even more stronger," Osbourne said.
"In my sophomore year, I ended up increasing all of my maxes to about 40 or 50 percent. I feel like she was a key role in making me get stronger."
Injury-bug bites again
Osbourne hurt his knee in February a year ago while practicing, but was able to push through the spring season before having minor surgery in July to clean it out.
He's been dealing with arthritis in the knee and hasn't been able to compete despite rehabbing.
"I'm not in a good shape in terms of getting back to practice, because every time I practice, it gets swollen again," Osbourne said. "So I'm still going PT (physical therapy) and doing all the preventative measures to get back to 100 percent.
"It's been really frustrating, because I want to be throwing; I want to be training. I have goals that I haven't achieved yet."
Osbourne said if he isn't able to return this season, he could possibly come back for another year at Troy.
"At the end of the day, the goal is to make sure I'm back 100 percent health-wise after I'm done with the sport," Osbourne said. "If me competing is going to make my knee worse over time, it doesn't make sense (to compete).Â
"If it's a case where I can get back to 100 percent and still compete, then I would have another season here at Troy. Ultimately it's up to the doctors as to what I do with the knee."
Meanwhile, Osbourne continues to rehab and ride around campus in his role with the campus police.
So far, Osbourne hasn't given out any tickets to his teammates.
"I try to warn them, because they're my teammates and I wouldn't want them to have to pay a fine," Osbourne said with a smile. "I'm like, 'You have to come move your car, or if not, I'm going to have to give you a ticket. I have to do my job.'"
It's something Osbourne takes pride in on and off the track.
Players Mentioned
