Yona proud of sex-symbol status

Lima, Peru:

Yona Knight-Wisdom has been in the media frequently lately because of his exploits on the diving board. His most recent outing was here at the Pan American Games, where he won a silver medal in the 1m springboard event.

His coverage in both The Gleaner and STAR Sports, as well as both publications' social media pages, have garnered high feedback from readers, especially females. However, many are quick to comment on his physique than his performances because of photos showing him in action, wearing nothing but swim trunks.

But the 24-year-old, who says he is very active on social media, is aware of these salacious comments and says they make him smile when he sees them.

"That's so funny," he told STAR Sports with a big chuckle. "I'm proud of my body, I work hard on my body. I have to. It's the nature of the sport. I have to have strength in my core, I have to have strong legs. I'm proud of what I've done for it, so if that makes me some form of sex symbol in Jamaica because of that, so be it, so be it. All publicity is good publicity."

Knight-Wisdom says he even receives numerous random direct messages from women, commenting on his physique, but also positive inspiring messages, the latter of which he says is nicer.

"I'm very active on social media," he said. "I post a lot on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and I get a lot of feedback, a lot of comments from Jamaican people, especially on my Facebook page. I've made sure I tried to reply to all of them, at least to say thank you, when they congratulate me. That gives me an insight into the respect I get from home.

"It's crazy because I'm in this little bubble of training and competing all the time and I don't see it a lot, but the times I'm exposed to it, for example, when I post a picture and I get a bit of positive feedback, it makes me feel so good that I'm not only doing something right to get that respect.

Knight-Wisdom says he likes using social media to inspire youngsters to give the sport a try as well.

"I'm also helping to inspire others as well, especially being a black man in aquatic sports, which is not seen frequently," he said. "There's no reason why that shouldn't happen more. There's no reason why there shouldn't be more black swimmers and more black divers. We're talented enough as a people to do that, and I'm trying to prove that as much as possible."