Dr Orville Taylor, Contributor
It happened in almost world-record time, so you would have missed it if your attention strayed for more than 9.76 seconds. The performance of Usain Bolt eight days ago at the National Stadium temporarily shifted the focus from Asafa, just like the minister wanting us to shift to another type of edible starch. Starched stiff or not, there is no reason to believe that his name will be changed to 'Cassava Powell', although he is deeply rooted.
All the tongues are wagging and Bolt's coach, Glen Mills, has a real world beater, much better than Raymond Stewart, who has some of the most impressive second- and third-to-last places ever. Even Stephen Francis, Powell's coach, must have inhaled so deeply that his paunch disappeared momentarily, giving him a rare and fleeting glimpse of his feet.
Yet, the message is not whether Bolt can run faster than Powell in the 100 metres or is less frightened of the one person who demonstrates that we are not anti-Gay. What matters is that the two fastest men in the world are born and bred, local, country Jamaican boys, who can't even speak with the 'Jamerican' twang used by 'soumuch of owa farrin-base' aethletes.'
More significantly, it was run in the Independence Park complex, where the Jamaica Manufacturers' Association and the Jamaica Exporters' Association (JMA/JEA) expo was being held. What symbolism!
Impressive quality
More than 1,500 products were on display and most of them were of impressive quality. My Jamaican pride went into overdrive, lifting me to cloud 9.9 because our talent, creativity, genius and workmanship are world-class. What the Chinese have over us is lower labour standards. Imagine, with a population of 1.3 billion compared to our 2.7 million, they can't put together a 4x100 metres team that can beat St Jago High much less the Mysteriously Vanished Personnel (MVP) Track Club.
Doubtless, MVP has something special, having produced the fastest 100 metres times for both men and women over the past four years. Since the Athens Olympics, no one has run as fast as Sherone Simpson's 10.82 in 2006, and Powell's world record 9.74 set last year, is still intact.
World humiliated
Nonetheless, while MVP's success is without question, the earlier performances of our locals have not been insignificant. At the junior level, Jamaicans have humiliated the world and have consistently made the Penn Relays a black, green and multiple gold affair. Still, some of our local seniors have reached the world stage with no foreign training and some did so straight out of high school.
Few will recall that the very first time that a Jamaican runner broke 45 seconds for the 400 metres here, was when locally trained GC Foster College student, Danny McFarlane, ran 44.90 in 1995. Similarly, policeman Roxbert Martin, prior to setting the national record of 44.49 in 1997, did 44.74 at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, and home-grown Michael McDonald, clocked 44.64, also in 1996.
Back to the short sprint. In 1989, when our top high-school graduates were routinely creamed off by American colleges, the Bolts of Lightning, based at the College of Arts Sciences and Technology (CAST), now University of Technology (UTech), became the first domestic relay team to run under 40 seconds for the 4x100. Clad in my favourite colour, the quartet, including John Mair and Wayne Watson, sped to 39.69. Mair had set his own personal record of 10.18 here while coached by Dennis Johnson.
Take your pick, whether it is genetics or environment, to explain this incredible coincidence. Of the 10-fastest legal male 100 metres times ever, three are by Jamaican-born runners. Add to them Olu Fasuba, the Nigerian 'half-spring' of Donald Quarrie's cousin, and the genes have it.
Not legally Jamaican
To the myriad speedsters with Jamaican roots we can add the disgraced Americans Kelli White, Jerome Young, Briton Linford Christie, clean Canadian Donovan Bailey and 'druggist' Ben Johnson, who ran fast on Thursdays. Indeed, Sanya Richards, the 400 metres diva even competed in local school competitions. However, they are not legally Jamaican and are thus ineligible to run for us.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has clear rules regarding citizenship. Persons may hold dual nationalities, but if they want to shift allegiance, they can only do so after three years, or earlier, if there is consensus among all concerned. This is designed to prevent persons from prostituting themselves to the peril of their nations. Such a rule has kept many world beaters out of the Olympics and World Championships. One notable casualty of this ordinance is Kenyan Stephen Cherono, who sold his nationality to the Qatari and even took on a name that he probably can't pronounce. Try it! Saif Saaeed Shaheen.
Seat of civic authority
In this regard, it is repugnant that the president of the Jamaica Employers' Federation (JEF), herself an American citizen, like many of our parliamentarians, could not recognise that serving one's country as a 'civilian' is not the same as occupying a seat of civic authority. The story was carried last week in a lesser (read) newspaper so you might not have observed it. Interestingly, the JEF has consistently opposed the increases in the national minimum wage even though studies show that there is a relationship between the crime wave and the decadent labour policies since the early 1990s. Of course, if you are a citizen of another country but a local legislator, you could always make a mess of this society and run away from the consequences.
If the IAAF understands the danger of having a key athletic resource falling into the wrong hands or having divided loyalties, should not the standards relating to governance be higher? Our products are for sale but governance isn't.
Dr Orville Taylor is senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at UWI, Mona. He may be reached at orville.taylor@uwimona.edu.jm
