Jamaica historical lack of developing 400m runners

[Jangle]

Jamaica historical lack of developing great quarter milers

By Robert Taylor, Contributor | Wednesday, 21 March 2012 19:26

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Jamaicans Jermaine Gonzales (left) and Ricardo Chambers (right)

Since the 1952 Olympics, Jamaica has produced only one 400m champion on the world stage. In the 1948 Olympics, Jamaica won gold and silver in the 400m courtesy of Herb McKinley and Arthur Wint. In 1952 Olympics, George Rhoden and Herb McKinley came up with Gold and silver with Arthur Wint finishing fifth. It was not until the 1983 world championship (WC) that Bertland Cameron won another global 400m gold medal for Jamaica and nothing since. It took another ten years before Jamaica was able to place another finalist and that was Gregory Haughton in the 1993 WC final. In that same year the female did better because Sandie Richards won the bronze with Juliet Campbell coming seventh. In the 1995 WC Gregory Haughton improved his time by over one second (45.63 to 44.56) to win the bronze while in the female race Sandie Richards came in eight. In 1997, Sandie Richards bounce back to win the silver with a personal best of 49.79.

In the 1999 WC, Fenton won the bronze while Haughton came fifth in his race. At the 2001 WC, Fenton ran her season best of 49.88 to come home with the silver and Haughton getting the bronze position on the male side. In 2003 WC, Michael Blackwood won the bronze with Fenton running her season best of 49.43 to take home the silver in the female race. In the 2005 WC, we saw Brandon Simpson coming sixth for Jamaica. In 2007, Novlene Williams won a bronze with many believing her error cost her the gold medal. In both the 2009 WC and 2008 Olympics, Shericka Williams (no relation to Novlene) won the silver in a personal best of 49.32 and 49.69 respectively. The most recent WC (2011) we saw Jermaine Gonzales ending in fourth and the Williams' duo finishing outside the medal positions for the females.

[TDowl]

Whose area of expertise does this development falls under?

[Historian]

Our 400-m Program is a Mess!

Our 400-meter men’s program, in one of those ironic twists of history is now, at the adult level, the worst of the three short distances (100, 200 and 400-meter).It’s ironic when one considers that the men’s 400-meter and the men’s 4x400-meter relay were the vehicle by which Jamaica stamped its authority on the world during our first two Olympic Games appearance (1948 and 1952).

Today, while our men and women’s 4x100-meter relay teams and our women’s 4x400-meter relay teams are each among the top two in the world, our men’s 400 and 4x400-meter relay is little short of a national embarrassment! Think I’m joking? If you do, just watch the men’s 4x400-meter relay finals at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. Trust me, I still cringe at the memory, and I long ago deleted that particular race from my collection.

In fact, since 1997 (the IAAF World Championships in Athens), Jamaica’s 4x400-meter men have experienced a slow decline in quality. Whereas in the mid to late 1990s we had 400-meter giants like Roxbert Martin, Greg Haughton, Michael McDonald, and that awesome anchor-leg man, Davian Clarke, today we have to pin our hopes on our 100/200-meter sprinters Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake.

(Please do not tell me about Bolt as a 400-meter runner; I know his history, and I also know that he detests the quarter-mile event.)

In my mind, the signs of the times were definitely shown at the 2001 IAAF World Championships in Edmonton, Canada. There, the Bahamas men finally emerged to show their dominance on the world stage, and so we saw the Bahamas’ Avard Moncur win the gold in the individual 400-meter race, and their men’s 4x400-meter relay team running down Jamaica on the anchor leg to convincingly win the silver medal behind the USA. (If my memory is correct here, Danny McFarlane was our anchor on that 2001 team.)

After that, it was disappointment after disappointment for the men’s 4x400-meter relay, and those of us who follow track and field closely will no doubt still cringe at the silliness on the track at the 2002 Commonwealth Games (Manchester, England), the 2003 IAAF World Championships in Paris, and the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Michael Blackwood was the sad factor in all those antics in 2002, 2003 and 2004, but we cannot blame him for 2008 and after!

Not even at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, where Jamaica locked down ALL the sprint events, could our 4x400-meter relay men win a medal!

[Baddaz]

the truth is many of the good 400m runners are too busy chasing 100/200m glory... they and their coaches need to just make a commitment to train and run the quarter... it doesn't help when bolt, blake and the announcers constantly harp on how difficult it is to train for the 400m... it pains me to hear them talk about the 400m...

all those 200m runners who languish in the mid 20s for the deuce should be told frankly that there isn't a future for them in the deuce... they should move up to the 400m if they want to have a long career in the sport... some of the 400m guys should try the 400m hurdles like danny mac did and made a long and successful career... it is good to see leford green going to the 400m hurdles, despite being one of our better quarter milers...

[Historian]

I agree with you

the truth is many of the good 400m runners are too busy chasing 100/200m glory... they and their coaches need to just make a commitment to train and run the quarter... it doesn't help when bolt, blake and the announcers constantly harp on how difficult it is to train for the 400m... it pains me to hear them talk about the 400m...

all those 200m runners who languish in the mid 20s for the deuce should be told frankly that there isn't a future for them in the deuce... they should move up to the 400m if they want to have a long career in the sport... some of the 400m guys should try the 400m hurdles like danny mac did and made a long and successful career... it is good to see leford green going to the 400m hurdles, despite being one of our better quarter milers...

Very logical points throughout, Baddaz. This, as far as I’m concerned, the crux of the problem that Jamaica has been facing with its 400-meter men’s program since around the end of the 1990s.

[Willi]

Please call names guys and stop talk in generalities.

I figure that some of these you describe are just not good enuff and would languish in the 400m as well!