Dr Orville Taylor, Contributor
"Eternal Father bless our land." Our national anthem played so many times in Beijing, even the non-English speakers know it. If the playful Usain Bolt has his way, they might even know the irreverent 'weevil flour' version that we used to get spanked for as children.
The Olympics flag has five rings: In front, gold to the left and green to the right; in the middle on top is black. If you had any doubt as to the significance of those three colours, then the past week has enlightened you. More intriguing is that the other rings are red and blue on the flanks. These last colours combine with the white background to make a backdrop and contrast. Of course, these colours are found in the flag of America, which President James Monroe in 1822, declared as boss of the region.
In these games we "tek it to di werl," and debunked the myth of American sprinting superiority. It's not the clichéd 'levelling the playing field,' because of more stringent drug testing, since no one, on drugs or otherwise, has ever run as fast as Bolt or Melaine Walker at the Olympics. Furthermore, only one person has run quicker than Veronica Campbell-Brown or Shelly-Ann Fraser in a century of Olympics. Simply put: They are not running slower, we are running faster.
Historically, our high-school sprinters have proven more than equal to the Americans. Check the Penn Relays! We lost ground because they then typically went to American colleges, where they were not always trained to fit Jamaican Olympics objectives.
Eating 'sour grapes', 'sore loser' American Torri Edwards sought a re-run of the 100-metres finals, due to a perceived false start that she might have initiated. Huh? Were it an NCAA meet, with the 'no false-start rule,' she wouldn't even squeak.
Choose your most outstanding moment: Bolt's 100 metres world record 9.69, celebrating with 30 metres to spare; his obliterating of Michael Johnson's 'unbreakable' 19.32 at 200 metres; the women's sweep of medals in the 100 - among others.
Redemption
For us diehard track-and-field fans, who attend every track meet, including those on the remote grass tracks, with 15 spectators, it was Asafa Powell's scintillating anchor to a redemption world record 37.10 in the 4X100 metres relay.
Powell is unfairly misrepresented as a 'choker,' who flops on big occasions. In Athens 2004, the men who beat him were simply faster. His then personal best of 9.91 would have given him fourth. It was not until 2005 that he was able to surpass Justin Gatlin's winning time of 9.85. At last year's World Championships, he admitted to nervousness, but this year, he was just not fit enough to do four rounds.
After surgery in April, and under-raced, he amazingly managed 9.82 in Monaco. Nonetheless, his training perhaps underprepares him to do 9.7s in four rounds. All of the runners, who beat him, in three finals, are routine 200-metres runners, including Bolt, Gatlin, Shawn Crawford, Francis Obikwelu, Maurice Green, Churandy Martina, Tyson Gay and Richard Thompson.
It is not a unique flaw. Sanya Richards failed to make America's team last year, fading just as in these 400-metres finals. Merlene Ottey constantly 'died' in finals, and the body of 800-metres favourite, Abubaker Kaki, couldn't stand up for two rounds.
Nevertheless, Jamaicans are the best! Pussyfoot around the genetic argument if you wish, but creatures of the same species become bigger, smaller, lighter or darker, in order to adapt to different environments. That is why Alaska's Kodiak Island grizzly bears are bigger than their mainland counterparts and Siberian tigers, the largest. Biological sciences call it 'natural selection'.
Furthermore, when two related species or subspecies interbreed, offspring often show 'hybrid vigour,' inheriting the strengths of both parents. Combine West African sprint genes and determination, with the arrogance of the English, who conquered larger nations and made their language the most important in the world. Jamaicans have a genetic advantage.
Drugged-up sprinters
Four Jamaican-born men have passed the post first in the Olympic 100-metres final in the last six games. Competing in a dirty pool of drugged-up sprinters, Ben Johnson, the poster child for drug cheating, ran 9.79 for the 100 metres. British 100 metres Olympic champion, Linford Christie, left Jamaica at age two. Donovan Bailey is Jamaican born but developed in Canada. Americans Inger Miller and Kelli White's parents are Jamaican Olympians, and Richards left here as a pre-teen.
Add to that raw material of vigorous island-bred 'Afro-Saxons' a system of coaches, administrators and supporters who believe in themselves, and not even drug usage can beat us.
Finally! The contribution of pioneers MVP Track Club, GC Foster College and the other locals is being recognised. However, the overloaded bandwagon of 'just-come' supporters,' including corporate Jamaica and the politicians, is at best, disgusting. Many of these athletes train in obscurity, compete in poorly attended meets and were it not for the schools' auxiliary fees and contributions of individual benefactors, would starve to death or fall off their beds into the gullies beside which they live.
Amateurs
After 60 years of Olympic participation, most of those who sweated as amateurs have little or nothing to show, and with the exception of our medallists, are largely unknown, forgotten and destitute. Not even the Jamaica Olympic Association's website lists past Olympians.
The support of the 'Olympocrites' is fleeting. How soon they switched from Asafa, and how quickly the crowd thinned in Half-Way Tree after the girls dropped the baton.
I am happy and pleased with all; from Samantha Albert astride the 'semi-donkey,' to Usain. Still, if you are a true Jamaican, I'll see you at the next grass-track meet at Jamalco or Kirkvine.
Dr Orville Taylor is senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at UWI, Mona. Feedback may be sent to orville.taylor@uwimona.edu.jm.
