Let’s get proper facilities

Aug 17, 2008 Editorial

The performance of Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt so stunned the world that already people are of the view that no person would touch his record in the near future except Bolt himself.

People are also wondering what might have been had he not slowed down so far from the finish and still shatter his own world record.

What makes Bolt’s performance even more shocking and incredible is that he is homegrown—did all his running in his native Jamaica, unlike so many who attended American universities and made use of some of the people considered the best athletic coaches in the developed world.

That apart, some of the sprinters who clocked very fast times on the track proved to be tainted. They used performance enhancing drugs.

The first of them, Ben Johnson, won the sprint in 1988. He clocked a fast time of 9.89 seconds to beat Carl Lewis. He then went to the World Championships and clocked an unbelievable 9.83 seconds, and the world was stunned.

Today, the world record is a breathtaking 9.69 seconds, done under conditions that many never experienced—no tail wind. Bolt simply burst upon the scene, and now he is unbeatable.

The best in the world were no closer than five metres behind him and that was after he had shut down and had begun to celebrate his victory some fifteen metres before the finish line.

At 21, he is far from his peak, and one can only imagine what will happen in the years ahead. Lindford Christie, at 35, and 14 years older than Bolt, won Olympic gold.

So, for the records, all the major islands, three of the countries that were once the leaders in the region—Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago—have won a sprint medal. Jamaica’s first Olympic short sprint gold was won yesterday.

Jamaica had won gold in the 200 metres at a previous Olympics. Trinidad won its gold in 1976, and Barbados won its medal through a man of Guyanese parentage.

Guyana is still to get more than a bronze medal, which it won through Michael Parris in boxing. But it is the track on which Guyana needs to make its mark.

This might have been done in 1976 had the political leader Forbes Burnham not boycotted those games. The medal candidate was a man who had been running in the United States, James Wren-Gilkes.

Since then, a lot has changed. Those countries have stadiums with world class tracks. Guyana has not moved. Its athletic facilities are as backward as it ever was, and at least 50 years behind those of the other countries in the region.

We in Guyana still run on grass. Way back in 1974, the world class Jamaican sprinter Don Quarrie came here and complained that it had been years since he had run on grass, and that running on grass was dangerous.

Guyana should at least have had a synthetic track of some sort. Thirty years ago, an athletic coach, the late Ed Hartley, set about acquiring one, but he never got anywhere because there was political wrangling.

There is still no synthetic track, and we are certain that some countries would think nothing of sending one for little or nothing.

We do not have an Olympic-size swimming pool, but to our credit one is being constructed. But what about the track? There are more runners than swimmers. Having no money can no longer be an excuse.

Courtesy of the Lotto Funds, there was some $2 billion in the kitty. Of course, this money has been drastically reduced because of expenditures on certain things that the authorities felt were necessary for the country.

Today, is it not necessary for this country to pour some money into sports? It has long been proven that sports represent one of the best means of keeping young people from a life of crime. It fashions healthy minds and bodies and forces a certain discipline.

The performance of Usain Bolt may spark a new trend in Guyana in the same way victorious West Indies cricket teams sparked a revival in local cricket; in the same way Bobby Fischer sparked a massive chess revival in the world and in Guyana; and in the same way wins by Brazil spark a mass movement towards football.

The time may be right to install a proper track and propel Guyana towards an Olympic medal on the track.

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