I Love Her, But Her Story is Strange

[Historian]

Historian: Most impressive of the USA women at the 2012 Olympics was their starter, Tianna Madison, who gave our "pocket Rocket" fits!

Thanks, Karl, for giving me the idea for this thread. I hope you don’t mind me taking your quote up here.

You are absolutely correct, boss, that Tianna Madison outran Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce on that first leg of the 4x100-m relay at the London Olympics. In fact, as far as I’m concerned the USA women had won that relay by the time of that first baton handoff. The other three ladies (Allyson Felix, Bianca Knight and Carmelita Jeter) simply completed Tianna’s fantastic start. Result? World record obliterated!

Let me also add here that I genuinely like long jumper/sprinter Tianna very much. In fact, based on the purely physical, if I were forced to marry any US athlete, I suspect she would be my first choice. I am very serious!

But the talented, beautiful Tianna’s life story makes fascinating study! Consider, for example, the following:

1. She is being sued for libel and slander by her own mother and father ($50,000);

2. She (27 years old) married a two-time divorcee who is almost twice her age (Florida businessman John Bartoletta).

3. She is, without question, one of the least accessible athletes, and often refuses to show up at press conferences and rarely gives interviews.

4. Tianna disappears completely from the world of track and field and then reappears. For example, where was she between 2006 and 2011? We’re talking here about a highly talented woman who at around 19 years old won the long jump gold medal at the 2005 IAAF World Championships in Helsinki.

5. She looks set to disappear again as she makes a career move to bobsled.

[Historian]

Video: Women's 4x100 (London)

Thanks for posting this excellent video in the thread below, Karl.

[MdmeX]

Tianna is living her life by her own rules and probably don't give a damn about what john public thinks.

[Historian]

I Understand and Agree

Tianna is living her life by her own rules and probably don't give a damn about what john public thinks.

I fully agree with you, MdmeX, but as a prominent sports figure (a celebrity if you will) Tianna had better get used to people commenting on her life. Her life WILL be discussed, and that is the inevitable price of fame. Add to her track and field success the fact that her own parents are suing her for defamation, and we have a powerful human-interest news story here (I mean, how many parents sue their own child?!).

Tianna is by no means a bad person. I have no reason to think that she is anything but a decent young lady (her effort at assisting deprived youths is really admirable and commendable), and as I said above, I like her very much. But her story makes quite fascinating reading albeit not in a bad way (like some other athletes who I won’t name).

[Gamma]

If "forced to" you would "choose"?!!

A bit of a non sequitur don't you think?

[MdmeX]

...and BTW the parents dropped that lawsuit!!

[Historian]

No, It Is Not!

If "forced to" you would "choose"?!!

A bit of a non sequitur don't you think?

No, Gamma, my statement is entirely logical throughout. Here’s what I wrote:

“If I were forced to marry ANY US athlete, I suspect she would be my first choice.”

The key element you’re missing is my use of the word “any”! So, if, say, a gun was held to my head and the antagonist says, “Historian, marry an American female athlete,” then I would “choose” because I cannot marry all of them, and I likewise was not being forced to marry one selected by the gunslinger.

I hope my explanation assists you.

When I started this thread, it was with the hope that there would be a robust track and field discussion. So far this has not materialized. Maybe this is not the best message board for track and field?

[Historian]

Not Arguing

...and BTW the parents dropped that lawsuit!!

Whether or not they dropped it, there should not have been a lawsuit in the first place!! Like I asked above, how often do we find parents suing their own child for character defamation? What kind of mom and dad does so anyway?! Was it that they wanted her to shut up and not air their dirty laundry in public?

Dropping the lawsuit makes sense, but the damage is, to some extent, already done. Hopefully, there will now be reconciliation between Tianna and John on the one hand (he was included in that ill-advised lawsuit) and her family on the other.

[Karl]

Over confidence?
...believes she can tackle and handle any and all tasks?

...just so self-assured that it borders on arrogance? Persons like this rarely do any one task justice.

...back to her opening leg: I was completely blown away when I watched that race 'live'. I replayed that leg over and over and over...fast and slow-mo focused on Shelly-Ann's progress and Tiianna's - replayed the hand-over again and again to see who got 'reach' (hand stretched back by outgoing running) first and who completed the 'hand-over' first. Could not accept what I was then seeking...I saw.

Yet going by today's performances - those we see as all the runners have been showing us at this late period relatively poor running times - the 4 x 100M relay could be close if all changes by both teams are 'perfect' and my thinking is, a time closer to 42.00secs would win.

[Historian]

Interesting Points, Karl

I don’t know much about Tianna Madison outside of track and field, and so I cannot comment on arrogance in her personal life or anything of the sort. What I do know is that she does not like giving interviews, showing that she cherishes her privacy. In fact even her marriage was very private; very few people knew about it.

With regard to your first query regarding over-confidence, if she is in fact over-confident then this is understandable. She won the IAAF World Championships long jump before she was 20 years old, then she re-invented herself and came back as a good sprinter, placing second behind Jeter in the 100-meter dash at last year’s USA championships.

Here is Tianna’s 100-meter progression, so she has a right to be confident:

2012: 10.85
2011: 11.29
2010: 11.20
2009: 11.05
2006: 11.52
2005: 11.41

As far as the relay is concerned, Karl, if Veronica and Sherone hadn’t gotten into this mess, we could possibly have been looking at a 4x100-meter relay gold medal. Although we’re depending too much on these four older athletes, nevertheless the chemistry that would have developed between these four ladies (Sherone, Kerron, VCB and Shelly-Ann) as a result of having worked together for so long might have paid off in the baton exchanges.

This matter of chemistry, by the way, helped the Bahamas’ Golden Girls to reach the pinnacle of world relay sprinting (silver in 1996, gold in 1999, 2000 and 2002), as the same five ladies worked together from 1995 to 2000.

Looking at 2013 and Moscow, Tianna Madison has once again disappeared, Carmelita Jeter is not the Jeter of last year, Lauryn Williams has retired, and I have no idea what Bianca Knight is up to. The US this year, I suspect, will be depending a lot on the youngster English Gardener, along with Jeneba Tarmoh, Allyson Felix and whichever others.

Over confidence?
...believes she can tackle and handle any and all tasks?

...just so self-assured that it borders on arrogance? Persons like this rarely do any one task justice.

...back to her opening leg: I was completely blown away when I watched that race 'live'. I replayed that leg over and over and over...fast and slow-mo focused on Shelly-Ann's progress and Tiianna's - replayed the hand-over again and again to see who got 'reach' (hand stretched back by outgoing running) first and who completed the 'hand-over' first. Could not accept what I was then seeking...I saw.

Yet going by today's performances - those we see as all the runners have been showing us at this late period relatively poor running times - the 4 x 100M relay could be close if all changes by both teams are 'perfect' and my thinking is, a time closer to 42.00secs would win.

[Gamma]

You may have point there.

A football forum may not be the best forum to expect a serious track and field debate though, maybe?

[Historian]

I'm a Bit Confused

You may have point there.

A football forum may not be the best forum to expect a serious track and field debate though, maybe?

As far as I’m aware, and I strongly suspect I’m not wrong here, the title of this forum is “Other Sports Forum.” The adjective “other” suggests sports topics other than football. In fact, the first forum is entitled “Reggae Boyz SC” and is solely dedicated to the discussion of football.

Am I correct?

But taking your logic a step further, maybe only things impacting Jamaica should be discussed on the second forum above, “The Everything Jamaica”? If this is so, then discussions of celebrity news, international matters should be immediately deleted?

The fact is that even if the track and field debate is not a “serious” one, that is no problem (although I have seen countless “serious” track and field comments on this forum), but all I am concerned about is keeping whatever discussion in focus.

If I sound a bit confused, I can assure you that I am!

[Mosiah]

If she's not careful, she could end up selling bag juice at the corner of Church and Utica!

[Historian]

Not Her (lol)

If she's not careful, she could end up selling bag juice at the corner of Church and Utica!

No man, not likely to happen. Her husband is a wealthy Florida businessman. (Her husband is the man in the cap and shades who she ran to and hugged tightly immediately after the 4x100-meter relay last year in London.)

[Mosiah]

Yuh mean the man yuh trying to knock off? Him same one?