Editorial | Field events and Thompson

There is an understandable lament over Jamaica’s, by its own standards, relative underperformance in track events at the ongoing Olympic games in Paris, which end on Sunday.

So far, only Kishane Thompson, with a silver in the epic men’s 100 metres dash (which he lost by five one thousandths of a second) and Rasheed Broadbell with a bronze in men’s 110-metre hurdles have won medals on the track. It is not impossible that Jamaica will garner a few more, but it won’t be the haul that many people expected and Jamaicans have become accustomed to. There will be time after the games for a forensic analysis of what may have gone wrong in Paris, as well as the pre-game cock-ups of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA), the domestic sport’s governing body.

For in the midst of the groans and contemplations of what might have been, it is easy to miss a monumental aspect of Jamaica’s achievements in Paris. These games are likely to be seen in the future as marking the island’s transition from a powerhouse in track athletics to also being a big player in the field events, rather than merely being competitive. In other words, Jamaica is now a genuine track and field country.

Indeed, four of the five medals won by Jamaicans up to Wednesday were in field events. And those include the only gold, produced by Roje Stona, in the discus throw, with an Olympics record of 70 metres.

This was Jamaica’s first medal in the discus throw at a global games, which is, of itself, a notable fact. He is also the first non-European to win the event at the Olympic games.

SOMETHING OF SIGNIFICANCE

But there is also something else of significance about the discus throw in Paris: Roje Stona wasn’t the only Jamaican in the final of the event. There were three, including Ralford Mullings and Traves Smikle, who finished, who placed ninth and 10th, respectively. Before them Fedrick Dacres, like Smikle, has been competitive on the international stage.

Also in the throws at these games, Rajindra Campbell won silver in the shot put for Jamaica’s first medal in the event at the Olympics. This, however, hasn’t come out of the blue, although the greater prowess, prior to now, has been on the female side. In Doha, for example, Danielle Thomas-Dodd, a consistent performer at major events, won silver at the World Championships.

At these games, too, Wayne Pinnock won the silver in the long jump, with a distance of 8.36 metres. This follows Tajay Gayle’s historic gold in the event (8.96 metres) at the World Championships in Doha in 2019.

Before Gayle in Doha, Jamaica’s prior global medal in long jump was James Beckford’s silver at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

In the triple jump, Shanieka Ricketts has been a consistent major performer. In Paris she won a silver to go with those she gained at the World Championships in Doha and at Eugene in 2022.

Unfortunately, Jamaica’s athletes in the field events haven’t received the attention as the island’s track stars. And neither have their sport received anywhere the same corporate support.

That, hopefully, as Roje Stona implored, will change and that Jamaica relearns any lessons it may have forgotten from the strides being made in the field events.

The growth in track athletics didn’t just happen. It was the outgrowth of a systematic and highly organised, and generally well-managed process, that includes the annual Boys and Girls Athletics Championships, the training of coaches at the G.C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sport and the growth of professional athletics clubs. Jamaica is now a training centre for elite athletes because of the presence of several world class coaches.

STARTS WITH A VISION

The message therefrom is applicable across all sectors of the society, whether in business, corporate management or the education sector. Excellence just doesn’t happen. It starts with a vision that is underpinned planning and sustained hard work to tease the best out of raw talent.

There is another significant lesson to be learnt from the Olympics in Kishane Thompson’s response to being pipped for the gold medal, despite sharing the same time as Noah Lyles. It’s about the art of taking responsibility.

Despite his personal disappointment of the outcome, within minutes of the race Thompson had dissected his performance, was clear on what he did wrong and gently rebuffed a Jamaican reporter’s effort to be consoler or grief counsellor. He knew what was to be fixed.

Later on, whether the gold medal should have been shared between himself and Lyles, Thompson said: “I think the sport is too competitive, no offence to any other sport. It’s too competitive for us to share a gold medal.”

This newspaper’s conclusion, bar injury, the future of Jamaica’s male sprinting is in a good and thoughtful pair of legs. That should be worrisome for Noah Lyles.