Usain ‘Lightning’ Bolt and Jamaican Men’s 4x100M Relay Team Win, Set World Record

Beijing and the world has been struck by lightning–Usain “Lightning” Bolt. This time he had company– Dwight Thomas, Michael Frater, Nesta Carter and Asafa Powell. They demolished the competition and set a new world record. With Usain Bolt running third and Asafa Powell as the anchor, their time of 37.10 seconds broke the previous world record of 37.40.

The Jamaican quartet eclipsed the old 400 relay mark of 37.40 set by the United States at the Barcelona Olympics in the 1992 and tied by the U.S. at the world championships a year later. Bolt added that to the records he set in winning the 100m (9.69) and 200m (19.30) in Beijing.The Jamaicans were nearly a full second faster than relay silver medalists Trinidad and Tobago, which finished in 38.06. Japan took the bronze in 38.15.

“Lightning” Bolt raced to his third gold medal and third world record, essentially cementing his name in the annals of the Olympics as one of the greatest sprinters of all time. He, along with Michael Phelps, are the dominant athletes in the Beijing Olympics. Bolt has stolen the show in the second week of the Games with his dazzling victories in the 100 and 200 meters and his theatrical celebrations. Yes, many have said that his celebrating was over the top, but let me remind people of the great Cassius Clay, Ali, who boasted that he “floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee!” Ali went on to make history on so many levels. So, let’s leave the trash-talking about Usain Bolt along the way. The guy, like Phelps, is a phenomenon! Nice mon, nice. Yes mi frien’ a fi wi time now mon! Big up Jamaica and big the women’s 4x100m relay team. Ah suh it go sometimes! Ooonu did good, mon. Real good. Ah proud a oonu suh till!

Filed under: Asafa Powell, Dwight Thomas, Michael Frater, Nesta Carter, Usain Bolt

Jamaican Sprinters Subject to Excessive Drug Testing at Beijing Games

Track and field is one of the greatest symbols of pride to Jamaicans and it is rather bothersome to entertain the notion that it seems as though the Jamaican delegation is being subjected to excessive anti-doping tests. Apparently, top Jamaican Olympic team official, Don Anderson, has complained that unusually frequent anti-doping tests are upsetting preparations by his nation’s sprinters ahead of Friday’s opening races.

“We have never seen this level of testing,” Don Anderson, Jamaica’s delegation head, said in a telephone interview one day after men’s 100-meter gold medal contender Asafa Powell complained he has been excessively tested. “It could affect the performance of our athletes.” What is worrisome to me is that over the past seven days the Jamaicans have been tested 32 times. Somehow, it seems as though they are being profiled, but which country has a history of cheating in recent Olympics in track and field? Isn’t is the Americans? So why has Tyson Gay, according to news reports, been tested once?

Asafa Powell, who is part of a voluntary anti-doping program, said that the number of tests upset him.”They took blood – a lot of blood,” said Powell, adding he has been tested four times.
The IAAF has dismissed such complaints, arguing it’s only logical that medal contenders undergo a lot of tests. But is the same level of testing being done to all athletes?

Qualifying for the men’s 100 begins Friday; the final is Saturday. With Powell and world record-holder Usain Bolt, Jamaica has a shot at a one-two finish, though Tyson Gay of the United States is a strong contender. Bolt alone could haul in more gold medals than the whole Jamaican team brought home four years ago, when it won two races and five overall. He’s favoured to win the 200 and is in line for a golden triple if the strong sprint squad holds off the United States in the 4×100 relay.

In a conversation with a small group of U.S. reporters, IAAF president Lamine Diack praised the anti-drug work of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, including a voluntary testing program that has attracted several top athletes.

“You see your boy Tyson Gay saying ‘OK, I want to be a clean athlete. I’ll give you blood. I’m ready to do that to prove that we are clean,”‘ Diack said. Your boy? Is that how an official is supposed to speak, as though he was hanging with his homeboys?

The International Olympic Committee has made a point of going after dopers at the Beijing Games, increasing the number of tests to about 4,500 – up from 3,600 in Athens. More than 50 athletes already are missing these Olympics because of doping accusations.

The bulk of the drug-testing done from the weeks leading up to the Olympics, through the games and for a few weeks afterward is conducted by the IOC. However, the IOC gave the IAAF permission to continue its own blood-testing program through the Olympics, IAAF secretary general Pierre Weiss said Wednesday.

I don’t have a problem with the testing, because there has been too much incidents of doping by many athletes, notably, Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, Andruw Pettigrew, among others. The bottom line is that the same level of scrutiny needs to be meted out to all the athletes and there should not be any allegations of profiling in the Olympics.

Filed under: Anti-doping, Asafa Powell, Marion Jones, Tyson Gay, Usain Bolt

Jamaica’s Usain Bolt Sets New World Record in Men’s 100-Meter Dash

I generally stay away from writing about sports, but as a Jamaican by birth, I must give much respect to Usain “Thunderbolt” Bolt for setting a new record in the men’s 100-meter dash at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York. He enjoyed prime conditions for racing, including a tailwind of 1.7 meters per second. Fellow Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell had set the record of 9.74 seconds about eight months ago.

According to the BBC, Bolt first attracted attention at the 2002 IAAF World Junior Field and Track Championships in Jamaica, winning the 200 meters and finishing second in the 400 meters and 1,600-meter relays. The runner was aiming to win the 200meters, and reportedly used the 100 meters as speed training for the 200 meters.

Bolt first broke the 20-second barrier in the 200 meters in 2004, finishing with a time of 19.93 seconds. He broke last year a Jamaican record that had stood for 36 years with a time of 19.75 seconds. Last year, he ran as an adult and finished second to Tyson Gay of the United States in the 200-meter dash in the Osaka world championships.

He then won the 100-meter dash in an invitational competition in Jamaica last month in 9.76 seconds. Sprinter Gay said, “He ran a perfect race. I`ve got to take my hat off to him.” At 6-feet-5, Bolt is taller than the six-foot Gay. The eye-popping new record has Bolt setting his sights on the Beijing Summer Olympics. He could pull off a sprint double, or two gold medals in two sprint events. Few runners have done so in the Olympics, including Jesse Owens in 1936 and Carl Lewis in 1984.

In September last year, Powell was the first to break 9.75 seconds, which had been thought to be unreachable. Armanin Hary of West Germany was the first to break the ten-second benchmark in 1960. Eight years later, Jim Hines of the United States lowered the mark to 9.95 seconds. Fifteen years later, fellow American Calvin Smith set the figure at 9.93. Runners, however, have gotten faster with the development of science and training methods.

So, I would like to congratulate Usain Bolt for a race well done and for setting a new world record. I expect great things from the Jamaican Track & Field team at the upcoming Olympics in China. The Jamaican team has always been formidable in every track and field meet in which they perform and they will continue to shine in this arena for years to come.

Filed under: Asafa Powell, Jamaica, track and field, Usain Bolt