The 100 metre race is and has always been the prime event of the Olympic and athletics World Championships events, there is no doubting that, but there was a time when the race seemed to be losing its fandom and was surrounded by negativity. The 100 metre event had become swarmed in controversy which came to a peak when Justin Gatlin, the 2004 Olympic and 2005 World Champion over the distance, was given an 8 year ban due to doping. The race was in need of a change of face and personality, which was exactly what happened.
The 100 metres had gained a personality of steeliness, a race in which only the toughest man could enter and no emotion could be shown. There were no smiles at the start line, no cheery looks or happy waves to the crowd. A snarl or nod of acknowledgement was the most a camera or crowd could hope for in the lead up to these races. This wasn’t about fun, it was about being the best. The 100 metres was becoming an event which was all about the winning and nothing else, but then came the man with the smile…
Asafa Powell was different to the other guys in his races. When the rest of them stayed stern, the Jamaican smiled and acknowledged the people who had come to support. The world leader at the time, Justin Gatlin, was a stereotypical hard man at the start time, but come June 2005 the life of the men’s 100 metres changed for the best. Powell ran 9.77 seconds and set a new world record, interestingly breaking Tim Montgomery’s record which was wiped from the history books six months later due to admission of drug use. Young sprinters now had a new hero, a man they could truly aspire to be. A man who based his performances around happiness and concentration rather than anger and frustration and who always put others first, including his supporters. He may have never won a world championship or Olympic gold in his career but otherwise for the next two years Asafa ruled the 100 metres, improving his own world record to 9.74 seconds in 2007. The Jamaican dominance over the distance had been started by the master, but the real change in personality of the event was about to be made by the apprentice.
Enter Usain Bolt. Could the much-hyped youngster carry on from what Asafa Powell had started and keep the Jamaicans in the spotlight? More importantly, could he carry on the newfound legacy and personality of the 100 metres created by Powell? The answer to both of those questions was, and still is, a definite yes. Carrying on from Powell was a big ask and many still had their doubts over Bolt as he finished second to Tyson Gay in the 200 metres at the 2007 athletics World Championships. In 2008 though, everything changed. Bolt entered the year wanting to become the best in the world, the best ever, and on the 31st of May he broke Powell’s 100 metre world record, running 9.72 seconds over the distance. The Jamaican dominance was continuing, but would only really be asserted if they brought home the holy grail of the 100 metre gold medal at the Olympics.
The 2008 Beijing Olympics. Reputations were at stake due to the reigning 100 metre Olympic champion serving a drugs ban, therefore someone new had to step up to the plate. The difference this time though was a new atmosphere, with the likes of Bolt and Powell making sure that the event was more ‘one for all’ than ‘all for one’. Bolt wanted to make the event his own and that’s exactly what he did, running a new world record 9.69 seconds in the final in one of the most memorable athletics moments in history, with the ever famous slowing down early and chest slap on crossing the line. The legacy was made certain, Bolt wowed the crowds whilst playing to them too, giving them an involvement when so many athletes in the past has ignored them. Not just the paying crowd either, but those at home watching on television as well. The best thing of all was that he was completely clean, his times were run on pure talent and training without the needs for drugs, giving hope to everyone.
Over the last 3 years the Jamaican dominance over the 100 metres on the world stage has continued to thrive with Bolt taking the world championship crown in 2009 with a huge world record of 9.58, Yohan Blake stealing the same crown in 2011 after Bolt’s disqualification and then with Bolt defending his Olympic title in London last year under pressure from Blake. The women too have been dominant on the world stage with the same ethics and stage performances as the men, for longer if anything! Veronica Campbell-Brown became world champion over the distance in 2007 and Shelley-Ann Fraser Price took the Olympic 100 metre titles at the Beijing Olympics on 2008, the 2009 World Championships and the London 2012 Olympics. In fact the only time the Olympic or World 100 metre gold wasn’t taken by a Jamaican since 2008 was when the American Carmelita Jeter took the prize in the women’s 100 metres at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu.
What also must be remembered is that it isn’t just the Jamaican sprinters’ track exploits which have set them apart from everyone else in creating this new era and atmosphere, it’s their interactions elsewhere too. Always seeming happy to give interviews, talk about anything and for any length of time. Another big part is their actions on Twitter, where they take their time to respond to tweets and messages from fans, from ‘good luck’ to ‘how are you?’, trust me I know, I’ve had a few responses myself! This constant openness to their fanbase and followers gives the public a much more insightful look into their lives and the athletes never seem to disappoint.
The 100 metre event is no longer the drugs hell hole it looked as if it was becoming, it has resumed its position at the top many people’s athletics agenda for all the right reasons. The new found personality and era of the event is brilliant and loved by the majority, and it’s mostly down to those boys and girls from the land of Reggae.
If you’ve got this far, thanks very much for reading my blog on how the Jamaicans have brought the 100 metres back to life, it means a lot! If you have anything to say or have feedback then please feel free to comment or tweet me @N_Marshy93 as I m still very new to this blogging business, everything helps!
P.S apologies of you are from the countries where ‘metres’ is spelt as ‘meters’, this is just how it’s spelt in the UK!
Writings of a sports fan 