The Great Jamaican Sprinters

Awestruck I watched the Jamaican men win Olympic gold for the 100m relay a third consecutive time. What impressed me most was their playful jigging and dancing in front of the crowds as they ran the victory lap. 

Jamaica is a small nation of three million people yet they are dominant in one of the most intense sporting events in the world. Their achievements are unique. At present the fastest man and an woman in the world are both are Jamaicans. Nineteen of the twenty six fastest ever times in the 100m were run by Jamaicans. Then there is Usain Bolt, arguably the greatest track and field athlete ever, certainly the most charismatic.  

What makes them such a great nation of sprinters?

Some claim their prowess is due to genetics where their early heritage from West Africa endows them with outstanding fast twitch muscles and the explosive power needed for sprints. This may be part of it but there is more.

Norman Manley was the first internationally distinguished sprinter from Jamaica. Also a Rhodes Scholar and War Hero he became Premier of Jamaica. As country leader he promoted athletics and set important institutional building blocks for the sport to thrive. Jamaica embarked on an extraordinarily successful public health campaign from early in the previous century. Sport participation was actively promoted and running, the least costly, lead the drive.

Watching them run one can sense a unique type of competitiveness. The athletics season in Jamaica culminates every year in the High School Girls and Boys Championships, locally known as The Champs. These meetings see a crowd of many thousands gather to watch young athletes compete over four days. 

A crowd and atmosphere like no other. “Twenty five thousand people who rhythmically clap to the same beat. Yeah man! Shouting and chanting the names of their schools; still clapping ten minutes after the end of the race”. A French coach said of the event: “I have been to seven Olympic Games and I have never experienced an atmosphere like this.”

The Champs is the arena and semblance of how the young Jamaicans hone their ability to compete and concentrate under pressure and at the same time do so in happy exuberance. It is within such a sport culture that a young athlete learns to focus in anticipation and optimism.

There is another reason. Perhaps the most important. It is the Jamaicans extreme confidence and self-reliance. They compete fiercely. Indeed there are legendary stories of the Jamaican diaspora standing up for themselves against injustice and fending for themselves as immigrants. The Jamaican self-reliance and fierce drive belies their gentle smiles on the track. One coach was overheard at the Champs saying to his athletes: “One thing we go out there for, and that’s to win. To win, to win to win".

Perhaps jarring to our ears where often mere participation is good enough and earns you an award. But in the primal heat of pure contest it is this attitude that takes the Jamaicans sprinters to what they are. Their will to compete and drive to win, and doing so in the enjoyment of the moment.

In Jamaica they say is person is “tallawah”, which means he is small but strong. 

In global sprinting, Jamaica as a country is a pure tallawah.

Sources:

M Rowbottom. Usain Bolt. Arcadia Books. London. 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/14/opinion/sunday/the-secret-of-jamaicas-runners.html