Mills makes his mark: Jamaica claims a coach of internationa

[Sir X]

Mills makes his mark: Jamaica claims a coach of international repute for the second time

Published: Saturday | July 18, 2009


Leighton Levy, Gleaner Writer

Glen Mills is rapidly establishing himself as one of, if not the best, coaches in the world, following yesterday's one-two-three finish for his Racers' Club in the men's 100 metres in Paris, France.

In the men's 100 metres, triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt, the man many expect to become world champion in Berlin in just under a month's time, won in 9.79 seconds in rainy conditions and into a slight headwind of -0.2m/s.

Behind Bolt were Antigua's Daniel Bailey, who set a new Antiguan national record of 9.91 seconds, and 19-year-old Yohan Blake, formerly of St Jago High School, who clocked a personal best 9.93 seconds for third. It was only a week ago that Blake recorded a personal best of 9.96 seconds, again finishing third behind defending world 100-metre champion, American Tyson Gay (9.77), and Asafa Powell (9.88) in Rome.

Following yesterday's race, Mills now trains three of the four fastest men in the Caribbean and the world. Only Asafa Powell, who is coached by MVP's Stephen Francis, has run faster than Bailey or Blake this season. Tyson Gay has the fastest time so far this year.

Mills trained former national record holder Raymond Stewart when he became the youngest-ever sprinter to make an Olympic 100-metre final back in 1988; but it is with Bolt that Mills has shown his true mettle as a coach.

In four years, he has transformed Bolt from a lanky but incredibly talented teen into perhaps the best sprinter of all time. Bolt set world records in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 4x100 metres relay at the Beijing Olympics in China last year.

Blake, who holds the national junior record of 10.11 seconds, joined Mills' Racers' Club in late 2008, foregoing his final year at St Jago High. In less than one calendar year, under Mills' guidance, he has shaved almost .20 seconds off his personal best, and is seemingly ready to go even faster this season.

Also under Mills' guidance, Bailey, who represented Antigua at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games in Athens and, respectively, and at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, has steadily improved from a 10.24 sprinter to now achieving the fifth-fastest time in the world this season. Only three others, Bolt, Gay and Powell, have run faster. Blake's 9.93 seconds clocking makes him the sixth fastest.

[Historian]

Be careful with that lead

Glen Mills is rapidly establishing himself as one of, if not the best, coaches in the world, following yesterday's one-two-three finish for his Racers' Club in the men's 100 metres in Paris, France.

Some of these young journalists (and I have no reason to believe that the writer is very experienced in the field of journalism) sometimes need to be careful about this matter of objectivity, and in particular here, about the use of superlatives!

This brief sports feature lists, in prose form, the achievements of one of the world’s greatest sprint coaches, and there is no doubt about the excellent achievements of our icon Glen Mills!! On the other hand, the writer should always be cognizant of the fact that there is another very great, world class coach residing on our tiny 145x50-mile piece of rock!

Superlatives are often good, but equally important are the times when they can/should be used. As an adjective, for example, the superlative “Best” (as in “….one of, if not the best, coaches in the world….” in the lead above) actually means “surpassing all others in quality.”

In other words, that lead (first paragraph) could have been more tastefully written, as we already have enough tensions in our fragile, developing sprint camps without careless journalism to spur those tensions on. Thankfully, the editor, through his/her thoughtfully prepared headline, has probably reduced/removed any potential problems.