It is not often in life that one gets to witness a special performance like the one we saw from Usain Bolt at the Gibson Relays on Saturday.

That special performance was not the easy 9-second anchor leg ‘jog’ put down by the triple world and Olympic Champion as his Racer’s track club won the Clubs and Institutions 400-metre relay in a world-leading 38.08seconds. No, that mind-boggling piece of work came in a losing effort in the 4×400 metre relay.

Bolt, running for the Racers Lions, a team that included Yohan Blake, and Alonzo Barrett, found himself far behind on the anchor leg and proceeded to show the stuff we all know champions are made of. He uncorked a 43.6s anchor leg that dropped the jaws of all who saw it.

 His team finished second but that was secondary to the recognition now that Bolt – if he so chooses – can be a world beater at the 400 metres as well.

We all know he has the potential. Those of us who have been following his career saw his 45.35 at Champs, we have also seen the ease at which he produces 45-second runs to start each season.

A few weeks ago during the unveiling of his piece of the Berlin wall, a memento of his amazing exploits at the world championships in Berlin, Bolt revealed that he has not done any work with regards to the 400 metres this off season. That revelation made his performance on Saturday even more remarkable.

The 43-second relay split is equivalent to between a 44.2 and 44.5 over the flat 400 metres. This, without any 400 metre work. Incredible. The flat times are already good enough to challenge World Champion Leshawn Merritt, who says he would welcome Bolt stepping up to his event.  Based on what we have seen Merritt should be careful what he wishes for.
There has been debate about how fast Bolt can run a 400 metres if he actually trains for it. Many, including many-time champion Maurice Greene feel that 41 seconds is not out of the question, given the ease at which Bolt can produce 20-second runs for the 200m.

Based on what we saw on Saturday, we have now come to understand that such an accomplishment will come. It is only a matter of time.

There is no one reason why over the past two years more and more kids are turning out for track training. It could be that they were inspired by the success of Asafa Powell, Sherone Simpson, Brigette Foster, Veronica Campbell Brown and others on the Grand Prix circuit. It could also be the incredible success of Usain Bolt and company at the Beijing Olympics, and last year’s World Championships, Jamaica’s best global performance ever.
Whatever the reason, this country is witnessing a remarkable rate of turnout of kids wanting to become the next track star, but are we equipped to deal with it?
Going through the high school system is challenging enough but many of our kids will now want to stay here in Jamaica to pursue their academic and athletic careers.
Will Jamaica be able to support this? There are many local coaches who are now qualified to take our athletes to the next level but only a handful have that established reputation that will attract potential stars to their already overburdened clubs.
Stephen Francis and Glen Mills are easily among the best coaches in the world but they wont be around forever. The time has come for the governing bodies to start improving on the coaching talent available, whether that means making available more advanced courses to the current crop of coaches or hand-picking a few of the more outstanding coaches and helping them hone their specific skills, is up to the authorities but there has to be more options available to the growing number of athletes who want to be trained by home-grown talent.
The University of Technology, for example, may end up putting another campus in Trelawny, surely they dont expect Stephen Francis to be at two places at the same time.
Clearly there needs to be other high quality coaches available to help develop the available talent out west.
We cant wait, we have to start acting now. Improving the quality of our track and field coaching can also have the effect of attracting athletes from overseas to come here to train – sports tourism.
If we dont act fast we can easily lose claim to being the sprint factory of the world in less than a decade from now when we run the risk of returning to the days when we were producing one or two world-beating athletes every four years or so. We have long gone past that stage and its now time to build onto greater things.

I was watching a video on TrackAlerts.com this week of former world record holder Asafa Powell being interviewed. Among other things, he was asked what he thought of Justin Gatlin’s comments that he is returning from his drug ban ready to challenge the top three sprinters of all time – Powell, Gay and Bolt.
Powell responded to the question by saying Gatlin wont be able to cut it when he returns and he said it with venom. I like that.
Asafa has always been meek. It’s one of the traits many people like about him. He is humble and never usually has a bad word to say about anyone.
The only trouble is Asafa is a sprinter and that requires a certain amount of bravado. Many people might not have liked Maurice Greene’s antics, or Ato Boldon’s cockiness, or Donovan Bailey’s arrogance, but these guys were successful not only because of the talent they possessed but also because they got under the skins of their opponents by being brazen.
Intimidation is a critical tool that successful athletes use to get to the top and Asafa, as one of the three fastest men of all time, needs to add it to his arsenal. He has the speed and he has the times but he lacks the venom.
We saw him relax a bit more during the last World Championships in Berlin and he ran his best race in a final despite suffering from an ankle injury.
He has tried to do it the ‘nice’ way and I hope he now sees that his way is not necessary the best way.
The ankle is about 80 percent better he said in the interview, so we suspect that by the time the Diamond League starts in May, he will be ready to rumble with Gay and Bolt, men who have surpassed him over the past three years.
That fire that he exhibited, if he can maintain it from now on, should serve him well because they are many sprinters gunning for his number three slot. If he is to keep them at bay and possibly return to the top he has to show more of it. He has to unleash the beast within because for all his passive upbringing Asafa needs to remember that there is a reason they say nice guys finish last.

Chairman of the RJR Group Gary Allen made an eyebrow-raising statement earlier this week that I think sends a message that all is not right in athlete land.
The Chairman revealed that the media group, the primary sponsors of the JAAA’s Sportsman/Sportswoman of the Year Awards, is considering withdrawing its sponsorship from the annual awards that recognise the accomplishments of our local athletes.
He claims this came about following the disrespectful behaviour of some of the island’s top athletes at the most recent awards, and prior to the event, a rumoured boycott by some of the track and field athletes in a mystifying protest of guest speaker 400-metre world champion Sanya Richards, Jamaican by birth but who represents the United States of America.
According to the RJR Chairman the behaviour of the athletes was disappointing in that the group spends millions of dollars staging the event as well as flying in and putting up athletes at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel.
The ‘disrespectful’ behaviour Allen says included the late arrival of recipients of the respective athlete of the year awards.
It also included the hour-late arrival of an athlete booked at the hotel. In one other reported slight against the sponsors, one of our primary athletes, after arriving late at the function, was seen walking around with her shoes in her hand, and when an opportunity arose for her to greet the RJR Chairman, extended her elbow to him.
Such behaviour is not only unbecoming, it is downright rude.
The reality is our athletes are a reflection of society’s deterioration and the disappearance of values, etiquette, and social graces. However, our multi-millionaire athletes have managers; managers who are supposed to help them make the transition from relative poverty and obscurity into the world of fame and fortune; managers, who are also supposed to be aiding the holistic development of the athlete.
I find it quite intriguing that these very same athletes would not exhibit this kind of behaviour when they are invited to international awards ceremonies.
Is it because they have no respect for the local administrators and the people who helped lay the foundation for their success?
We often hear that Jamaica does nothing for its athletes but expects much in return but is this really true or just a myth spouted by the athletes and their management teams to justify their selfish behaviour?
I will just mention the Boys and Girls Athletic Championships without which many of our talented athletes would never have a stage on which to perform enabling them to get scholarships and to be seen by potential sponsors. I’ll stop there.
What is also interesting to note is that Jamaica’s lesser known athletes are not the ones showing the disrespect. They are the ones who are at the award ceremonies on time even though they know that they will not win awards but they do appreciate the fact that they are being recognised for their contribution to sport.
It is these athletes for whom I will grieve if there are no sponsors for the event which will most likely mean that the awards ceremony will disappear from the landscape like so many other events of its kind.
Maybe that is what is needed. After all, if the athletes dont seem to care why should anybody else? Or, maybe its time for the athletes to check themselves and realise that the behaviour they exhibit not only slights the sponsors and the JAAA, it also slights the Jamaican people whom they represent. If they have lost sight of this fact, let me just say this, if it was not for Jamaica they would have no home to represent, no colours to don.
If that happens, who does it hurt the most? Think about it.

In recent times track meet organisers have had to be scrambling trying to find venues to hold development meets in suitable venues.

The Stadium East is under repair, and the national stadium is also due for repair soon. The track at GC Foster College is also in a very bad state. Meanwhile, up in Sligoville, St. Catherine, not that far from GC Foster, a ‘brand new’ facility sits idle overrun by weeds.

The facility, built a few years ago by the Chinese government at a cost of US$3 million, is a perfect example of how myopic our leaders have been. The complex has facilities for basketball, football, and a six-lane running track that could have been used now to host a few development meets this year and in the years to come, but as of right now, it just sits there gathering dust.

Wouldnt such a facility built in a more strategic location be more beneficial to many more people? One would have to ask the Member of Parliament KD Knight since the complex was his idea. I am sure meets could be held there but I doubt if it is even open to the public.
The last time I passed there the gates were chained and padlocked so I doubt anyone could get in except perhaps to steal something.

The thing is we dont even see or hear of any attempts to make use of the facility. Perhaps schools in St Catherine could stage track meets, football matches, and even basketball games there.

Its instances like these that make one understand why more wealthy countries are reluctant to do much to help us.

Why isnt the facility being used? If we did not have a vision for the complex why get the Chinese to build it there as opposed to, say, Manchester. If it was built in a more central location – Kirkvine, for example – it would have been fully operational and athletes, schools and organisations could have made good use of it.
But as it is right now, it’s yet another white elephant on the Jamaica landscape, US$3million down the drain.

What a pity. What a tragedy.

If someone would have told me that in a country where the people are so passionate about sports, there is a sports complex that is on its way to ruin even though its never been used, I would have had a hard time believing.
But, this is Jamaica today – a place where truth is much stranger than fiction.