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Sportsmanship alive and well
Published: Sunday | August 23, 2009
Tony Becca, Contributor
The World Athletics Championships come to an end in Berlin today, and as happened in Beijing at the Olympic Games one year ago, Jamaica's greatness in the sprint events, in the 100 metres and the 200 metres events, male and female, has again been underlined.
Congratulations once again to Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser, who led the way, to Kerron Stewart and Veronica Campbell-Brown and this time, also to Asafa Powell.
With Jamaica having four finalists in the women's 100 metres, plus two in the men's 100 metres, three in the women's 200 metres and two in the men's 200 metres, congratulations also to sprinters Aleen Bailey, Steve Mullings, Anneisha McLaughlin and Simone Facey, for helping Jamaica to retain the title as the sprint capital of the world.
Congratulations
In fact, with Jamaica, courtesy of Brigitte Foster-Hylton, winning the gold medal in the women's 100 metres hurdles and Delloreen Ennis-London the bronze, with Melaine Walker winning the gold in the women's 400 hurdles, with Shericka Williams finishing second in the women's 400 metres, and with Jamaicans, so far, doing quite well in every event to date, or almost every event, congratulations to every member of the Jamaica team.
With 12 medals, including seven gold, with the women's 4x100m relay to go, it was another great outing for Jamaica and especially so by Bolt - the man who, based on his speed, his world records and his dominance - is fast becoming a legend and must be, with due respect to Jesse Owens, the greatest sprinter of all time.
"That boy is not human at all," said Fraser in a text message to a friend after Bolt's amazing run in the 100 metres final.
And shortly after that run, Michael Johnson, wide-eyed and astonished, said: "We've never seen anything like him and I am not sure we'll ever see anything like him again."
Coming from fellow champion Fraser, coming from the man who, before Bolt, held the 200 metres world record at a fantastic, unbelievable at the time 19.32 seconds, those utterances are like gospel and totally believable.
As great as Bolt and Fraser were over the past week in Berlin, however, as one who loves sport, not only for cheering winners and more so those from "my" team, but also because of the great and magnificent things about sport, my lasting memory of Berlin will be the camaraderie - the enjoyment, the sportsmanship and the appreciation of each other's efforts by the athletes, and more so the attitude, the reaction of Powell before and after the 100 metres, of Tyson Gay and of Stewart after their second-place finishes.
The skills involved in playing sport, all sports, at a high level is one of the attractions of sport.
There are many others, however, and they include the cultivation of good discipline, dedication and commitment, equal opportunity for all regardless of class, race, or creed, the coming together of all regardless of which side of the track they are from, the satisfaction and the enjoyment it affords everyone, competitors and fans alike, the brotherhood it fosters among fellow travellers, teammates or competitors, and the graciousness, the sportsmanship it breeds, or should breed, among many if not all sportsmen and sportswomen.
Based on his behaviour before and after finishing behind Bolt and Gay in the 100, Powell seemed to have enjoyed himself this time around. Before the race, he was seen 'fooling' around with Bolt and after the race, he congratulated Bolt, he joined Bolt in dancing on the track, and he was all smiles.
I will long remember Sanya Richards of the USA and Williams of Jamaica hugging each other after finishing one-two in the women's 400. Among many others, I will always remember Olympic gold medallist Barbora Spotakova of the Czech Republic and Olympic silver medallist Maria Abakumova of Russia standing on the podium and cheering veteran Steffi Nerius of Germany for her achievement in finally winning a gold medal in the javelin.
Celebration
I will also never forget, not only the celebration of teammates and training partners, Foster-Hylton and Ennis-London, after they realised that Foster-Hylton had won the gold medal in the 100 metres hurdles but also, and more so, the spontaneous celebration between Foster-Hylton and Priscilla Lopes-Schliep of Canada.
That is what sport is all about or should be all about, and that was great.
To me, however, the greatness of sport came out through the words of runners-up Gay and Stewart.
Minutes after he was blown away by Bolt's lightning speed, even though he said he knew he could run faster, Gay, like a true sportsman, said: "That's the fastest I could go. I am disappointed to have lost the race but I ran my fastest time. I cannot complain. Bolt ran a great race. I did my best, but it was not good enough."
And listen to Stewart, one of the favourites for the women 100 metres, who, after a late burst and losing a close contest and after hugging Fraser and sharing a Jamaica flag with the winner, said in celebration:
"If I am going to run 10.75 and still get beaten, that just shows the quality of the field. It shows that Jamaica is taking track and field to a new level. This was a great race with an amazing time for Shelly-Ann and me."
That is class, sheer class.
Even in this age of professionalism when winning and money mean so much, when nationalism is so important, that is what sport is all about, or should be all about.
Published: Sunday | August 23, 2009
Tony Becca, Contributor
The World Athletics Championships come to an end in Berlin today, and as happened in Beijing at the Olympic Games one year ago, Jamaica's greatness in the sprint events, in the 100 metres and the 200 metres events, male and female, has again been underlined.
Congratulations once again to Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser, who led the way, to Kerron Stewart and Veronica Campbell-Brown and this time, also to Asafa Powell.
With Jamaica having four finalists in the women's 100 metres, plus two in the men's 100 metres, three in the women's 200 metres and two in the men's 200 metres, congratulations also to sprinters Aleen Bailey, Steve Mullings, Anneisha McLaughlin and Simone Facey, for helping Jamaica to retain the title as the sprint capital of the world.
Congratulations
In fact, with Jamaica, courtesy of Brigitte Foster-Hylton, winning the gold medal in the women's 100 metres hurdles and Delloreen Ennis-London the bronze, with Melaine Walker winning the gold in the women's 400 hurdles, with Shericka Williams finishing second in the women's 400 metres, and with Jamaicans, so far, doing quite well in every event to date, or almost every event, congratulations to every member of the Jamaica team.
With 12 medals, including seven gold, with the women's 4x100m relay to go, it was another great outing for Jamaica and especially so by Bolt - the man who, based on his speed, his world records and his dominance - is fast becoming a legend and must be, with due respect to Jesse Owens, the greatest sprinter of all time.
"That boy is not human at all," said Fraser in a text message to a friend after Bolt's amazing run in the 100 metres final.
And shortly after that run, Michael Johnson, wide-eyed and astonished, said: "We've never seen anything like him and I am not sure we'll ever see anything like him again."
Coming from fellow champion Fraser, coming from the man who, before Bolt, held the 200 metres world record at a fantastic, unbelievable at the time 19.32 seconds, those utterances are like gospel and totally believable.
As great as Bolt and Fraser were over the past week in Berlin, however, as one who loves sport, not only for cheering winners and more so those from "my" team, but also because of the great and magnificent things about sport, my lasting memory of Berlin will be the camaraderie - the enjoyment, the sportsmanship and the appreciation of each other's efforts by the athletes, and more so the attitude, the reaction of Powell before and after the 100 metres, of Tyson Gay and of Stewart after their second-place finishes.
The skills involved in playing sport, all sports, at a high level is one of the attractions of sport.
There are many others, however, and they include the cultivation of good discipline, dedication and commitment, equal opportunity for all regardless of class, race, or creed, the coming together of all regardless of which side of the track they are from, the satisfaction and the enjoyment it affords everyone, competitors and fans alike, the brotherhood it fosters among fellow travellers, teammates or competitors, and the graciousness, the sportsmanship it breeds, or should breed, among many if not all sportsmen and sportswomen.
Based on his behaviour before and after finishing behind Bolt and Gay in the 100, Powell seemed to have enjoyed himself this time around. Before the race, he was seen 'fooling' around with Bolt and after the race, he congratulated Bolt, he joined Bolt in dancing on the track, and he was all smiles.
I will long remember Sanya Richards of the USA and Williams of Jamaica hugging each other after finishing one-two in the women's 400. Among many others, I will always remember Olympic gold medallist Barbora Spotakova of the Czech Republic and Olympic silver medallist Maria Abakumova of Russia standing on the podium and cheering veteran Steffi Nerius of Germany for her achievement in finally winning a gold medal in the javelin.
Celebration
I will also never forget, not only the celebration of teammates and training partners, Foster-Hylton and Ennis-London, after they realised that Foster-Hylton had won the gold medal in the 100 metres hurdles but also, and more so, the spontaneous celebration between Foster-Hylton and Priscilla Lopes-Schliep of Canada.
That is what sport is all about or should be all about, and that was great.
To me, however, the greatness of sport came out through the words of runners-up Gay and Stewart.
Minutes after he was blown away by Bolt's lightning speed, even though he said he knew he could run faster, Gay, like a true sportsman, said: "That's the fastest I could go. I am disappointed to have lost the race but I ran my fastest time. I cannot complain. Bolt ran a great race. I did my best, but it was not good enough."
And listen to Stewart, one of the favourites for the women 100 metres, who, after a late burst and losing a close contest and after hugging Fraser and sharing a Jamaica flag with the winner, said in celebration:
"If I am going to run 10.75 and still get beaten, that just shows the quality of the field. It shows that Jamaica is taking track and field to a new level. This was a great race with an amazing time for Shelly-Ann and me."
That is class, sheer class.
Even in this age of professionalism when winning and money mean so much, when nationalism is so important, that is what sport is all about, or should be all about.
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