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Countdown to Beijing
Sprinters, Pride of Jamaica, Are in the Spotlight
By DUFF WILSON
Published: July 20, 2008
KINGSTON, Jamaica — For children in Jamaica’s rural villages, running is as much a part of growing up as Little League baseball or Pee Wee football in the United States. Boys and girls enter national races when they are as young as 5, and by the time they are teenagers, top sprinters are competing before a crowd of 30,000 every year at the National Stadium.
Carlos Barria/Reuters
Usain Bolt, left, is the fastest man at 100 and 200 meters this year. His coach, Glen Mills, said Jamaicans were proud of their clean drug record.
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Peter Dean Rickards for The New York Times
Athletes in Kingston, Jamaica, succeed despite often-shabby training facilities.
Sprinters are a source of pride in this island nation, which struggles with crime and poverty despite its reputation as a carefree paradise for tourists. Home to 2.8 million people, Jamaica has produced this year’s four fastest women at 200 meters, four of the top six at 100 meters and the fastest man in both events, Usain Bolt. Jamaicans are expected to medal in the showcase sprinting events and relays next month at the Olympic Games in Beijing.
Although drug cheating and suspensions have cast a pall over track and field, no sprinter who trains primarily in Jamaica has tested positive for steroids, according to the records of track and antidoping groups.
Glen Mills, Bolt’s coach, said Jamaicans were proud of their clean record.
“It is something that we guard dearly, and it is something that the country would turn on you,” he said. “They would turn on you so strong. It’s something they would never forgive. And athletes are aware of that and try to walk the tightrope.”
But Jamaica does not have an independent, out-of-competition testing program for its athletes, nor has it joined the Caribbean Regional Anti-Doping Organization.
Officials from the International Association of Athletics Federations, track and field’s governing body, said they compensated for the country’s lack of testing by flying testers into Jamaica, where the I.A.A.F. conducted more out-of-competition tests than in all but four more populous nations: Russia, Kenya, United States and Greece.
Although no one was accusing Jamaican athletes of doping, many said the country should be doing more to ensure that its premier sport was clean.
“They need a testing program that starts with their juniors if they really want to play,” John Chaplin, the men’s chairman for USA Track & Field, said. “If you test, you will catch.”
Dr. Adrian Lorde, the chairman of the Caribbean antidoping organization, said, “I don’t have any personal suspicions that the athletes in Jamaica are cheating, but if you don’t test, you don’t know.”
The country’s top male sprinters, Bolt and Asafa Powell, said they were drug-tested more than 20 times a year, in and out of competition, by sports federations and the World Anti-Doping Agency. But up-and-coming Jamaican sprinters were rarely tested, Lorde said.
Government officials, top athletes and coaches, and world antidoping administrators said there was no evidence that Jamaican sprinters were using drugs.
Many said their dominance could be explained by strong school programs and the status of the sport here, where sprinting is considered a national pastime alongside soccer and cricket.
“We love to be dubbed drug free,” the former prime minister Portia Simpson-Miller said.
“Sportsmen and sportswomen inspire the nation,” she added. “It is amazing how they can unite the country and pull all the emotions of people to be successful.”
Jamaica’s tradition of world-class sprinting began long before the steroids age. In 1948, Arthur Wint won Jamaica’s first Olympic gold medal, in the 400 meters. Herb McKenley won four medals from 1948 to 1952, and Merlene Ottey won nine from 1980 to 2000.
Bolt, 21, is the current pride of Jamaica. He broke Powell’s 100-meter world record by four-hundredths of second when he ran a 9.72 in May, even though the 200 is Bolt’s best event. Among the women, Jamaicans ran the world’s fastest 100 each of the last three years: Sherone Simpson in 2006, Veronica Campbell-Brown in 2007 and Kerron Stewart in 2008.
At this year’s Olympic trials, Campbell-Brown ran her season-best time but finished fourth. Stewart won in 10.80 seconds, the best time run this year. Campbell-Brown will defend her Olympic gold medal in the 200 after qualifying with this year’s best time of 21.94.
Top sprinters, coaches and others said the Jamaican public demanded that athletes stayed clean.
“The country’s so small, if you take drugs, you would be embarrassed,” said Michael Frater, who qualified in the 100. “In the States, it’s big, so you can move around, but here, you can’t move.”
Of the 51 Jamaican track and field athletes going to Beijing, 39 are sprinters. Racing is encouraged at an early age. Intense school competitions are a prelude to the annual Champs races with more than 2,000 athletes at the National Stadium.
“If that doesn’t motivate you, what would?” said Marvin Anderson, a silver medalist in the world championship 4x100 relay.
Samantha Henry, 19, who runs for Louisiana State, said she began running when she was about 8. “It develops a competitive spirit and gets a girl ready to win at a young age,” she said.
more.. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/20/sp...&ex=1216612800
Countdown to Beijing
Sprinters, Pride of Jamaica, Are in the Spotlight
By DUFF WILSON
Published: July 20, 2008
KINGSTON, Jamaica — For children in Jamaica’s rural villages, running is as much a part of growing up as Little League baseball or Pee Wee football in the United States. Boys and girls enter national races when they are as young as 5, and by the time they are teenagers, top sprinters are competing before a crowd of 30,000 every year at the National Stadium.
Carlos Barria/ReutersUsain Bolt, left, is the fastest man at 100 and 200 meters this year. His coach, Glen Mills, said Jamaicans were proud of their clean drug record.
Related
Officials Deem Hamm Fit for Beijing (July 20, 2008)
Coverage of the 2008 Beijing Games from every angle — the politics, the arts, the culture and the competition.Olympics 2008
Peter Dean Rickards for The New York TimesAthletes in Kingston, Jamaica, succeed despite often-shabby training facilities.
Sprinters are a source of pride in this island nation, which struggles with crime and poverty despite its reputation as a carefree paradise for tourists. Home to 2.8 million people, Jamaica has produced this year’s four fastest women at 200 meters, four of the top six at 100 meters and the fastest man in both events, Usain Bolt. Jamaicans are expected to medal in the showcase sprinting events and relays next month at the Olympic Games in Beijing.
Although drug cheating and suspensions have cast a pall over track and field, no sprinter who trains primarily in Jamaica has tested positive for steroids, according to the records of track and antidoping groups.
Glen Mills, Bolt’s coach, said Jamaicans were proud of their clean record.
“It is something that we guard dearly, and it is something that the country would turn on you,” he said. “They would turn on you so strong. It’s something they would never forgive. And athletes are aware of that and try to walk the tightrope.”
But Jamaica does not have an independent, out-of-competition testing program for its athletes, nor has it joined the Caribbean Regional Anti-Doping Organization.
Officials from the International Association of Athletics Federations, track and field’s governing body, said they compensated for the country’s lack of testing by flying testers into Jamaica, where the I.A.A.F. conducted more out-of-competition tests than in all but four more populous nations: Russia, Kenya, United States and Greece.
Although no one was accusing Jamaican athletes of doping, many said the country should be doing more to ensure that its premier sport was clean.
“They need a testing program that starts with their juniors if they really want to play,” John Chaplin, the men’s chairman for USA Track & Field, said. “If you test, you will catch.”
Dr. Adrian Lorde, the chairman of the Caribbean antidoping organization, said, “I don’t have any personal suspicions that the athletes in Jamaica are cheating, but if you don’t test, you don’t know.”
The country’s top male sprinters, Bolt and Asafa Powell, said they were drug-tested more than 20 times a year, in and out of competition, by sports federations and the World Anti-Doping Agency. But up-and-coming Jamaican sprinters were rarely tested, Lorde said.
Government officials, top athletes and coaches, and world antidoping administrators said there was no evidence that Jamaican sprinters were using drugs.
Many said their dominance could be explained by strong school programs and the status of the sport here, where sprinting is considered a national pastime alongside soccer and cricket.
“We love to be dubbed drug free,” the former prime minister Portia Simpson-Miller said.
“Sportsmen and sportswomen inspire the nation,” she added. “It is amazing how they can unite the country and pull all the emotions of people to be successful.”
Jamaica’s tradition of world-class sprinting began long before the steroids age. In 1948, Arthur Wint won Jamaica’s first Olympic gold medal, in the 400 meters. Herb McKenley won four medals from 1948 to 1952, and Merlene Ottey won nine from 1980 to 2000.
Bolt, 21, is the current pride of Jamaica. He broke Powell’s 100-meter world record by four-hundredths of second when he ran a 9.72 in May, even though the 200 is Bolt’s best event. Among the women, Jamaicans ran the world’s fastest 100 each of the last three years: Sherone Simpson in 2006, Veronica Campbell-Brown in 2007 and Kerron Stewart in 2008.
At this year’s Olympic trials, Campbell-Brown ran her season-best time but finished fourth. Stewart won in 10.80 seconds, the best time run this year. Campbell-Brown will defend her Olympic gold medal in the 200 after qualifying with this year’s best time of 21.94.
Top sprinters, coaches and others said the Jamaican public demanded that athletes stayed clean.
“The country’s so small, if you take drugs, you would be embarrassed,” said Michael Frater, who qualified in the 100. “In the States, it’s big, so you can move around, but here, you can’t move.”
Of the 51 Jamaican track and field athletes going to Beijing, 39 are sprinters. Racing is encouraged at an early age. Intense school competitions are a prelude to the annual Champs races with more than 2,000 athletes at the National Stadium.
“If that doesn’t motivate you, what would?” said Marvin Anderson, a silver medalist in the world championship 4x100 relay.
Samantha Henry, 19, who runs for Louisiana State, said she began running when she was about 8. “It develops a competitive spirit and gets a girl ready to win at a young age,” she said.
more.. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/20/sp...&ex=1216612800
