Leighton Levy, Contributor

Jermaine Gonzales ... looking forward to overcoming a persistent hamstring injury. - File

Five years ago two of Jamaica's most talented junior athletes got down in their blocks to start what was a highly anticipated Class II 400-metre final at the Boys' and Girls' Athletics Championships at the National Stadium. One finished the race, the other didn't.

Over the next five years, Usain Bolt, the athlete who finished the race in a new class record, has signed lucrative endorsement contracts, broken the 100 metres world record and set new national records over the 200 metres. For Jermaine Gonzales, who didn't finish, those years have been a nightmare.

Gonzales hurt his right hamstring in that infamous race. It cost him a chance then to beat Bolt, his best friend, but it is a left hamstring tear he suffered at the national trials in 2005, that has cost him so much more.

Frustration

He has now missed trips to two World Championships - 2005, 2007 - and this year's Olympic Games. He has also been robbed of the opportunity to earn big money on the lucrative European circuit.

"It's been very, very frustrating. For me, track and field is not only a sport, it's my job," says the 23-year-old Gonzales, who in 2006 ran a personal best 44.85 seconds in Rome and won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Australia. "And then I know within myself that I am probably one of the best in the world and that fact makes it very difficult to just sit and watch. The hardest thing for me is my fans asking how they are not seeing me and I have to tell them about my injury, that's the hardest part."

Gonzales has seen world leading injury expert Dr Hans Wilhelm Muller-Wolfarht in Germany, who discovered the massive internal tear in his hamstring after local doctors failed to diagnose the severity of the injury. He has also been to almost a dozen doctors both here and abroad who conclude that he now has a significant build up of scar tissue that needs to be removed if the muscle is to fully recover.

Muscle contract

When he runs now there is no pain, but a constant contracting of the muscle that prevents him from accelerating partly out of fear that he might tear it once more.

Last season, 2007, was truncated by yet another injury to his troubled hamstring, but it pales in comparison to what was to come.

"This year was the worst, in terms of running, training," he reveals. "Early season I was troubled with back pain because the long runs and hills caused my back to keep tightening up."

And, of course, the ever-present contracting hamstring. The injuries caused him not to even make it to the national trials this year. He also finally decided to move on from Fitz Coleman, his coach of the last four years. It is something that Bolt, his sponsor, Puma, and members of his family have been urging him to do for some time.

Changed coach

"Usain has always been telling me that I need to change coach, but Mr Coleman is someone I respect so much. He not only helped me as an athlete, but also as a person. He taught me how to be a man," Gonzales said. "It's just that it was not working out and when it's not working out you have to try something new."

He informed Coleman of his decision about a week before the national trials at the end of June. "There are no hard feelings," he said.

Now working with Glen Mills, Gonzales has renewed hope.

Mills, Gonzales said, has suggested that the tender hamstring needs to be strengthened before he can improve. So, while Mills and Bolt are off to conquer the world, Gonzales remains here working on a programme to strengthen his weakened hamstring so he will be ready to start training come September.

The outlook for the future is still bright says Gonzales, who, had he been a lesser man, might have quit in the face of so much adversity. "Quitting has crossed my mind but this is my job so quitting is not an option right now, especially being just 23 years old. It's one of the reasons why I am still positive," he said adding that he is inspired by national 400-metre hurdles champion and Olympic silver medallist Danny McFarlane and World Championships 200-metre silver medallist Christopher Williams, who are still performing at a high standard well into their 30s.

Mulling career in football

He does admit that he is quietly mulling a career in football if his career in track sputters to a halt, but such a decision is at least two years away, he says.

He hopes to win medals at the Olympics and World Championships, as well as break Roxbert Martin's national 400-metre record 44.49 set in Kingston in 1997 before his career comes to an end.

Meantime, he plans on watching his best friend go for gold in Beijing. It won't be easy, but it is something he must do.

"It's always difficult but I love the sport so much I have to watch," he said. "My best friend is also there competing and has a good chance at three gold medals so I will be watching to see him, but it is going to be difficult."