Usain Bolt may have been the person to save track and field in the face of a number of doping scandals, as well as to highlight the merits of the junior school system.
That’s according to International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) president, Lamine Diack.
“I think it was the thing that was needed in our sport to see one athlete like him (Bolt) coming from the school system,” Diack told the Observer.
Diack has previously touted the benefits of the school system, using Jamaica as model, saying that this is where the future of the global sport rests.
“They have to look to you (Jamaica),” the Senegalese. “You give the possibility to youngsters to do track and field and this is the right way and we have to learn this from your system.”….The Jamaica Observer Reports
but of course as an ardent track fan who had followed track from the seventies i can remember a time when there was a lull in my interest and i stopped following as closely i think i lost interest about the time that ottey decided to run for slovenia but truth be told there were emergence of other stars so it was other factors which contributed to this new interest this i have stated time and time again im not a broken record but those who correspond with me know exactly what they are (a part of that factor is the fact that the playing feild is level now). bolt just enhance the thing but i dont think he is a sole factor just a part of the sum
I really like Mr Diack. I was not old enough to know his athletic career but I became an instant fan when he defended Bolt against Jacque Rogge’s attack at the Olympics.
However, while I am happy that he is giving credit where it is due, is there any one who doesn’t know this? Certainly the American colleges are well acquainted with it as their agents and scouts descend like vultures on a carcas on every Champs trying to lure the best runners away from the island and to their schools, so they are very well aware, but I think they believe it’s cheaper to just recruit the end results rather than implement the same system. After all, why fix what has worked so well.
Minnie, Stacy….lot of track and field fan lost interest because of the doping scandals that came out of US, China, and other major countries. The problem was they told the IAAF that was how is was played in the US. So when you see US athletes after athletes failing one drug test after another, people just lost interest. I have always contend that US athletes don’t have the natural ability to compete in most world sports. So they resort to illegal substance and the USOC does nothing. If you read some reports that a major load mouth former US athlete is alway calling for the testing of Jamaica athletes, himself never passed a drug test,. Yet was allowed to represent the US year after year, until he got ran over by Donovan Bailey and Linford Christie and co.
that’s right BunnyG…the whole US track & field thing is riddled with steroid…which brings me right back to why i cannot forgive that traitor, who jump ship when we weren’t doing so good….and how she got ” THIS AMAZING OPPORTUNITY” to represent another country….as if representing JAMAICA is not an amazing opportunity…..and knowing how they destroyed some of our athletes future by defeating them unfair….she herself was apart of some of those relay teams….u now wa….mek mi dun chat bout it…caa it jus a bwile mi up….a-mean…can you believe the nerve that this girl have…a come posed up and giggle up with us…after she already stab us in the back,,, DAM BACK STABBER.
Daddy Roots, I feel your pain.
But I don’t put all the blame on the athletes. A lot of it goes to the JAAA. They ahve no management skills. You saw it splashed all over the worldwide news at the WC, when Aris want to suspend the world most celebrated track and field athletes. It was Mr Diack who stepped in and say you can’t do that. JAAA is dirty and stupid. And as an athlete after training, the last thing you want to do is argue with a bunch of old farts at JAAA. So they may not want to run any other country. But when you have to deal with these farts, they just pack their bags and move.
But Daddy Roots, if you notice the same athlete in order to get some repect and recognition, she has to claim her heritage, and so doing she is caught between a rock and hard place. Because how do wave the flag of the outcast and claim your heritage. It is a dilema she finds herself in. But her parents are Hortical Jamaicans. Cut her some slack.
Whoa Bunny, I could not disagree with you more. There was a rule. Attendance at the camp was mandatory. Not if I feel like attending…MANDATORY. I don’t blame the athletes. I blame Stephen Francis. He decided that his athletes were too good to attend the MANDATORY camp.
I’ll tell you something, if Usain and Veronica could humble themselves and show up, there was no reason that Francis’ people couldn’t do the same. He thinks the rules do not apply to him and I think it was wrong for the IAAF to have stepped in. What it said to them was that if you are a big enough star, you don’t have to follow the rules. Francis is the same one saying his athletes shouldn’t have to pay income taxes because Jamaica has done nothing for them. In which other country would this sort of behavior be acceptable? Now that the IAAF had stepped in, in any dispute in the future, Francis will feel that he can do and say anything without recourse or accountability. Do you know how many other countries impose this same mandatory camp prior to a championship event. I have yet to hear of any other coach pulicly deciding that his athletes are too special to attend with repurcussions.
I’ll tell you something else, that too big to fail attitude whether in business or in sports is asking for trouble. I think it’s the reason Carl Lewis was allowed to compete in the Olympics after testing positive and it’s the reason Flo Jo’s WRs still stand. Noone wants to upset the status quo. Rules are in place for a reason. Notoriety, wealth, or titles should not be a reason to circumvent the rules otherwise we would live in a world of total anarchy and chaos.
p.s. I;m with tony. Why should anyone cut Ms Richards any slack? She is of an age now where she could file for her Jamaican citizenship and compete for Jamaica instead of Jamaica’s stiffest competition. Instead she writes blogs with veiled insults against the Jamaican sprinters and gives interviews about how much she loves America and how honored she feels to represent the USA. If she feels so honored to represent another country, why should Jamaicans cut her any slack? Why does she deserve our respect?
my gosh i dont know why when im in a rush me go fast in this site you know. you what is true is addicted me get addicted cheo later yah il take time and read
Bunny General, lets say your right and that JAAA is all the above that you had mention…Dirty & Stupid and that athletes have to put up with lots of crap..now this is were my 150% of undying and undivided love, loyalty, support and above all respect kicks in for these patriots…understand this mi General…the JAAA is not quite Advance and Equipt like the leading big track & field countries..and so they are playing catch up in certain areas..areas like Administration, Organizing, Equipments Facilities and so on… so we are still on the building side of things..but whenever we have athletes that are talented enough to just walk in and represent any of the leading countries track & field team…and don,t even think twice about coming back home to represent {THE LITTLE PIECE OF ROCK} Jamaica, it sets us back….the talented athletes who stayed home and endured through the crap {that you talk about}and the ones who have returned home from overseas….have to be commended in the highest form….because they never made themselves available for any other country…they never allow themselves to be lowered in by any “AMAIZING OPPORTUNITIES”…..they could have jumped ship too…they could have taken the easter rout too…but no…they didn’t…they stayed on-board and weather the storm…the ones who jump ship thought that the ship was about to sink…or would have sunk by now….but the patriotic ones stood there ground…long live the patriots…The Patriotic Jamaican athletes knows that, to represent there country {THE LITTLE PIECE OF ROCK} to take that victory lap, wrapped in that black,green and gold flag to see and hear your countrymen and women crying out for them…crying out there name…and just wanting to touch them….when they step up on that podium and here there {LITTLE PIECE OF ROCK}.. National Anthem echoing through those gigantic stadiums….someone please tell me…how much more amazing can it gets.
Patriotism
by Sir Walter Scott
Breathes there the man with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
‘This is my own, my native land!’
Whose heart hath ne’er within him burn’d
As home his footsteps he hath turn’d
From wandering on a foreign strand?
If such there breathe, go, mark him well;
For him no Minstrel raptures swell;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim;
Despite those titles, power, and pelf,
The wretch, concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonour’d, and unsung.
I Dedicate This Poem To Miss Sanya Richards.
Tony Roots, come on boss, what a low blow! You should be congratulating her on her “Big Day” Today she got married to Aaron Ross and it’s her birthday too. Didn’t remember this poem until you posted it.
Oooh my bad Angie…I never remember a darn thing…..but anyway, she don,t really intrest me that much…or rather, like that {so-to-speak} i used to resite that poem at school Angie….whenever we had a concert…and after so many years….it came in handy…wow… i never know i would find use for it!!!!!
Yeah! i got my fair share of it in school too. This one for me was back in the 70’s so i had completely forgotten it. There are a few other patriotic ones that comes to mind that speaks volume of the place we call ‘home’.
well my teacher make sure that i never forget, remember this one, Silver, By Walter De la mare….slowly silently now the moon walks the night in her silver shoes…oh i used to love that one too…hey Angie, guess what, maybe we could turn this site into a little poetry corner..what you think ?……ok, just kidding….but it feels quite refreshing to change the subject sometimes.
THANKS TONY ROOTS, YOU ARE NOT ONLY AN AUTHORITY ON TRACK AND FIELD, BUT YOU HAVE A CULTURED SIDE. THATS HOW COMPREHENSIVE THE JAMAICAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IS. AS A TEACHER OF ENGLISH LIT I REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR QUOTATION. WAY TO GO!!!!!
thank you so much CVivenne, for making me feel like a scholar.
i knew it cvivenne i figured it out i knew you were a poet of some sorts im still trying 2 figure out roots he seems 2b versatile in some ways but i havent quiet pictured it yet. i sometimes have in my brain a picture of what the person is anyway thats me 4u