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Our Young Women in Recent Times
Looking at yesterday’s women’s 100-meter finals, I couldn’t help pondering the irony that whereas at the senior level Jamaica had FOUR women in the finals of the 100-meter race in Berlin in 2009 (and in the process winning the gold and silver medals) and three in the finals of the 100-meter at the 2004 Olympic Games, yesterday there was not a single young lady.
This absence of young women from the Sprint Factory in the 100-meter finals yesterday continues a worrying trend: there was no Jamaican woman in the 100-meter finals at the 2008 and 2010 IAAF World Junior Championships.
We could continue the irony trend of thought by noting that whereas during the early years following this global junior event’s inception in 1986, the girls tended to be the ones to consistently reach the finals, and more often than not bring home the 100-meter medals, since 2006 the men have consistently won 100-meter medals at every junior championships (2006, 2008, 2010, 2012).
Following Simone Facey’s silver medal at the 2002 IAAF World Junior Championships, the only medal we have won in the past decade in an IAAF World Junior Championships women’s 100-meter finals was in 2008 when Carrie Russell won the bronze medal. This is a far cry from the days when Jamaica often had women in the finals.
Much ado about nothing? I do not know. What I know, though, is that this is some food for thought.
This absence of young women from the Sprint Factory in the 100-meter finals yesterday continues a worrying trend: there was no Jamaican woman in the 100-meter finals at the 2008 and 2010 IAAF World Junior Championships.
We could continue the irony trend of thought by noting that whereas during the early years following this global junior event’s inception in 1986, the girls tended to be the ones to consistently reach the finals, and more often than not bring home the 100-meter medals, since 2006 the men have consistently won 100-meter medals at every junior championships (2006, 2008, 2010, 2012).
Following Simone Facey’s silver medal at the 2002 IAAF World Junior Championships, the only medal we have won in the past decade in an IAAF World Junior Championships women’s 100-meter finals was in 2008 when Carrie Russell won the bronze medal. This is a far cry from the days when Jamaica often had women in the finals.
Much ado about nothing? I do not know. What I know, though, is that this is some food for thought.
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