World Champs - What You May Have Missed

Photo courtesy of Team Jamaica 

The IAAF World Championships in Athletics is finished. Yes. Done. No more waking up at ungodly hours, no more joining together on social media to cheer on our athletes and (my favourite) not showing up to work/church early to watch a Jamaican run. This has definitely been the most fun I've had watching and discussing the World Champs and as a Jamaican, I'm very proud of our achievements. Some of us may not have analyzed or fully understood some things that were happening in Beijing. Well that's why I'm here. These are some things that you may have missed.


1. Bolt Needs Doubters.

Photo courtesy of PopSugar

Usain Bolt is the fastest man of all time, at least that's what the clock says. He's won medal after medal, broken record after record yet people still doubted him. When the media or fans think that Bolt sarcastically thanks his "haters" after he wins a race, he isn't being sarcastic at all. If Bolt did not have doubters, would he have performed the same way? Would he have put the extra hours in training ? My answer is no. He wants to look in that camera, look into eyes, look into your soul and receive that joy and say, "na na na na na !" The man cares about his haters. They help him to succeed. For those haters out there, keep it up. He's loving it.




2. Jamaica's Seven Gold Medals

A decade ago Jamaica received a whopping 0 gold medals in the track events at 2005 Helsinki Championships. Yes 0. Our only gold medal that year was by Trecia Smith in the TRIPLE JUMP ! A field event was Jamaica's only gold medal (kinda ironic huh?). Let that sink in for a while. Fast forward 10 years and we've been doing much better. Gold in the 100m sprints (male and female), 200 m men, 4 x 100 (male and female) and 4 x 400 women. My favourite medal was Danielle Williams' amazing run to win the 100 m hurdles. Don't take 7 gold medals for granted. This was an exceptional year.


3. Elaine Thompson is FAST !

Photo courtesy of Jamaica Observer

She's obviously fast but you probably underestimated her speed. This was an athlete that finished 5th in the National Championships last year and her season's best was 11.17. More than a year later, she runs the 200 m under orders by the very wise Stephen Francis and murders it. Despite finishing second in the final, Thompson ran 21.66 seconds. She almost broke the National Record and has run faster than the likes of Grace Jackson, Juliet Cuthbert and the queen, Veronica Campbell Brown. This is her first time running the 200m regularly. This is her first World Champs. She's 23. Marion Jones, Daphne Schippers and Merlene Ottey's times may not be the fastest times for long (I didn't even bother to mention Flo Jo and her ridiculous times. However, if Elaine breaks the 21.34 world record, I will donate a significant amount of funds to the Elaine Thompson charity, if she has one). 



4. 400m Men Curse Continues

The 400 m event for men each year is a depressing time for me because I know we won't medal individually and we'd be very fortunate to win a medal in the relays. Having said that, I had some hope this year that at least one of our males would medal and that we'd get a relay medal as well. Rusheen McDonald ran a national record of 43.93, IN THE HEATS. I was pumped. This was our time surely. Surely, I was wrong. How do you break the national record in the heats and don't make it to the final? Javon Francis and Peter Matthews looked promising but didn't make the cut. Not one Jamaican in the final. Our relay team was outdone again. Finishing fourth, just edged out by Great Britain. The men have been improving but it's a long road.




5. Team Spirit 

Finally, I'm not sure about you but this has been the closest knit Jamaica team I've ever seen. There was no drama. None. No Shelly doesn't like Veronica and vice versa debate, no MVP vs Racers, no who'll run this leg and that leg, nothing. All that was portrayed was harmony. Everyone seemed to respect and love each other and much credit should be given to the veteran captains, Asafa Powell and Veronica Campbell-Brown. They were extremely professional and it oozed down to every other athlete. On social media, they were congratulating each athlete, even if they didn't win or make it during their qualification. The guys' 4 x 100 team stopped practicing to watch the women's 4 x 100 and then the women stopped their celebration to cheer on the men. Their unity and organization was absolutely beautiful. I hope this continues in Rio next year. 



If you missed any of these then it's understandable. It's not like you love track and field anyways (shots fired). Seriously though, tell me things that you think I or others have missed. Comment below.

By the way, don't you love my green and gold font? Of course you did.

Jamaicans DON'T Love Track & Field

2008 changed everything for Jamaica. Why ? The Beijing Olympics. It was a championship that no one expected. Usain Bolt, along with his 4 x 100 team were shattering records, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce became the "pocket rocket", Veronica Campbell Brown showed she still had it, Melanie Walker impressed, Shericka Williams, honestly I could go on and on.

Since then, Jamaica has been branded a "track and field nation". The Boys & Girls Championships have been bigger than ever, more athletes have emerged on the scene (Yohan Blake, Kemar Bailey-Cole, Hansle Parchment, Javon Francis, Kimberly Williams, Elaine Thompson, Kaliese Spencer, etc.) and the spotlight when it comes to any world track and field event is usually on Jamaica. Despite all this, Jamaicans don't love track and field, technically.

Jamaicans are very proud of their athletes (except for their wavering love for Asafa Powell). They will stop what they are doing to watch a race on television. Some will spend thousands to go to the stadium  to watch the Jamaica Invitational and Trials. Many will spend to get Boys and Girls Champs tickets (if they aren't sold out). But let's be honest, apart from the sprints and the hurdles do Jamaicans really care?

If the IAAF and the IOC decide to cut out the 100m, 200m, 400m and the respective hurdles events from their championships, Jamaicans would be outraged. However, I don't think Jamaicans would give two flies if the field events and long distance races were cut. If you ask the average Jamaican who runs sprints for Jamaica, whether male or female, Bolt will be the first thing out of their mouth and then start listing out the rest. Ask that same person name two long/high jumpers, throwers or any long distance (800m,1500m), they will either say "ahmmm" or look in the sky and scratch their head like they are trying to remember.

Obviously the reason why they don't is because Jamaica has not produced any spectacular athlete to dominate those events, apart from O'Dayne Richards, James Beckford, Kenia Sinclair or Trecia Smith (names that some of you may Google because you have little to no recollection of who they are). However, if you do "love" the sport of track and field, you would make a huge effort to watch these events. People who love cricket will follow all formats of the game. People who love swimming will follow all the formats. You get my point, hopefully.

This is not to criticize any Jamaican fan who claim they are lovers of the sport. This is just to clarify that you love a selected aspect of the sport and if I am to be fair, you only love when certain athletes run. So let's not make it seem like our hearts yearn for track and field. It does not. It will never.

If you think I'm wrong, you can comment.