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How to convince the doubting Thomases
Saturday, August 23, 2008
For Jamaicans, the Olympic-inspired cup of joy is now surely running over. Yesterday, the disappointment of seeing the women's sprint relay team mishandle the baton to miss what seemed a certain Gold medal was soon blown away like chaff before the wind by the fabulous world-record performance of Messrs Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell.
Their 37.10sec run in the men's sprint relay broke the 16-year-old world record and gave Jamaica its sixth Gold and 10th medal in the Beijing Olympics. Readers will remember that in 60 years of participation Jamaica had never before won more than two Gold medals at an Olympic Games.
Jamaica ended yesterday in second place on the medals table behind Russia and ahead of the mighty United States. And that, with the 4x400m relay for men and women to be run today.
Regardless of what happens before the close of what has been a most memorable Games, Jamaica - an island of just over two-and-a-half million people - will end up among the top three in the world on the athletics medal table.
It's a staggering statistic that has a sceptical world wondering. It's a world that over the last 20 years has seen the good name of track and field stained repeatedly by the exposing of drug cheats. We are reminded by the international media that three of the last five male Olympic 100-metre champions have served drug suspensions. And Ms Marion Jones - the undisputed darling of global track and field just a few years ago - is in US Federal prison serving a six-month sentence after lying to authorities about steroid use.
In such circumstances it is inevitable that after the exploits of recent days Jamaica's athletics programme - more than ever before - is under the microscope. Even the news that the leading Jamaican athletes - not least Messrs Bolt and Powell - are among the world's most tested for banned substances both during and outside of competition will not easily satisfy the 'doubting Thomases'.
It's something we will all have to live with.
For our part, this newspaper, like most Jamaicans, believes that our athletes' performances in Beijing reflect the levelling of the playing field. We genuinely believe that the relative success in the fight against drug cheats over recent years has made it easier for athletes from countries like Jamaica to compete and win.
Even while we accept that our squad in Beijing is perhaps the most talented and probably the best prepared to leave these shores for an Olympic Games, we fervently believe that there would have been many more Gold medals down the years, had the playing field been as level as it is today.
Also, the rapid improvement in the standard of coaching over recent years, thanks in large measure to the programmes at the GC Foster College of Physical Education, has made a tremendous difference. Today, high quality athletes are coming forward, not just from a few schools as used to be the case, but from the length and breadth of the country because of the work of numerous trained coaches.
Twinned to that is the dramatic rise in home-grown professional clubs such as Mr Stephen Francis's MVP and Mr Glen Mills's Racers - providing a rich new avenue for athletes who now find they can achieve the highest level without having to leave their homeland.
Of course, Jamaica's powerful track culture began a long time ago. We have said before in this space that it has much to do with the annual high school championships run by the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA). Every big Jamaican track and field name dating back to National Hero the Rt Excellent Norman Washington Manley in 1910/11 cut his or her teeth at the high school championships.
Boys and Girls Champs is the base of Jamaica's power on the track. The doubting Thomases should come and have a look.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
For Jamaicans, the Olympic-inspired cup of joy is now surely running over. Yesterday, the disappointment of seeing the women's sprint relay team mishandle the baton to miss what seemed a certain Gold medal was soon blown away like chaff before the wind by the fabulous world-record performance of Messrs Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell.
Their 37.10sec run in the men's sprint relay broke the 16-year-old world record and gave Jamaica its sixth Gold and 10th medal in the Beijing Olympics. Readers will remember that in 60 years of participation Jamaica had never before won more than two Gold medals at an Olympic Games.
Jamaica ended yesterday in second place on the medals table behind Russia and ahead of the mighty United States. And that, with the 4x400m relay for men and women to be run today.
Regardless of what happens before the close of what has been a most memorable Games, Jamaica - an island of just over two-and-a-half million people - will end up among the top three in the world on the athletics medal table.
It's a staggering statistic that has a sceptical world wondering. It's a world that over the last 20 years has seen the good name of track and field stained repeatedly by the exposing of drug cheats. We are reminded by the international media that three of the last five male Olympic 100-metre champions have served drug suspensions. And Ms Marion Jones - the undisputed darling of global track and field just a few years ago - is in US Federal prison serving a six-month sentence after lying to authorities about steroid use.
In such circumstances it is inevitable that after the exploits of recent days Jamaica's athletics programme - more than ever before - is under the microscope. Even the news that the leading Jamaican athletes - not least Messrs Bolt and Powell - are among the world's most tested for banned substances both during and outside of competition will not easily satisfy the 'doubting Thomases'.
It's something we will all have to live with.
For our part, this newspaper, like most Jamaicans, believes that our athletes' performances in Beijing reflect the levelling of the playing field. We genuinely believe that the relative success in the fight against drug cheats over recent years has made it easier for athletes from countries like Jamaica to compete and win.
Even while we accept that our squad in Beijing is perhaps the most talented and probably the best prepared to leave these shores for an Olympic Games, we fervently believe that there would have been many more Gold medals down the years, had the playing field been as level as it is today.
Also, the rapid improvement in the standard of coaching over recent years, thanks in large measure to the programmes at the GC Foster College of Physical Education, has made a tremendous difference. Today, high quality athletes are coming forward, not just from a few schools as used to be the case, but from the length and breadth of the country because of the work of numerous trained coaches.
Twinned to that is the dramatic rise in home-grown professional clubs such as Mr Stephen Francis's MVP and Mr Glen Mills's Racers - providing a rich new avenue for athletes who now find they can achieve the highest level without having to leave their homeland.
Of course, Jamaica's powerful track culture began a long time ago. We have said before in this space that it has much to do with the annual high school championships run by the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA). Every big Jamaican track and field name dating back to National Hero the Rt Excellent Norman Washington Manley in 1910/11 cut his or her teeth at the high school championships.
Boys and Girls Champs is the base of Jamaica's power on the track. The doubting Thomases should come and have a look.