One of the outstanding Saint Lucian athletes of the 1970s died this week at the age of 71.
Marius ‘Heligar’ Calderon passed away on Monday evening at the Owen King EU Hospital. He is known to have had at least one daughter, a teacher.
Fortuna Belrose, former president of the Saint Lucia Olympic Committee, recalled Heligar as “one of Saint Lucia’s first track athletes to represent our nation internationally.”
He competed at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Calderon ran 50.04 to finish 37th in the 400m, and 2:01.08 for 28th in the 800m. The team of Genevieve Nestor, Heligar Calderon, John Erysthee, and Linus Ambrose ran 3:22.96 for 10th in the 4x400m.
In his late teens and early twenties, Calderon was described as a very formidable athlete, from 100m to 800m. He ran the 4x100m and 4x400m alongside the likes of Michal ‘Midget’ Pierre, Ali Black, Ovanton Lambert, Ingram Williams, Ronnie John, and Francis Francois. A member of the Cougars Track Club, he left with Erysthee and Pierre to form Burnley Striders under coach Andrew Magloire. That group also began the track and field programmes at St Joseph’s Convent and Castries Comprehensive Secondary School.
“While Helligar on the surface might not be looked upon in the likes of many prominent sportsmen, he was an integral part of sporting development in Saint Lucia during those early days, not just as a competitor but as a coach,” said Pierre. “It was a pleasure being with him, and may his life and legacy live on. I just don’t think Helligar was given the respect he deserved.”
Cuthbert ‘Twatine’ Modeste also offered his remembrance of Calderon, who he said was often at the then Victoria Park, now Mindoo Phillip Park, taking laps with the younger athletes. A familiar figure in the Marchand community, he kept himself largely to himself but was nonetheless well known to those steeped in sport.
In football, Calderon was a fearsome defender, one of the first players outside of St Mary’s College to appear for Paragons. When Paragons folded, he moved on to Olympians and then Leslie Land. Pierre noted that Calderon was “a no-nonsense defender.” The two, along with Peter Dudley and Ali Black, were lynchpins on the national rugby football team.
