World Championship 2011 100m: Opportunity from chaos
Published:Sunday | June 26, 2022 | 12:08 AMDaniel Wheeler - Staff Reporter
IN THE words of Chinese general and philosopher Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War, “In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity”.
The 2011 World Championships provided the chaos of a false start in the men’s 100m final, incredibly from the Olympic and defending World 100-metre champion, Usain Bolt.
However, Jamaica would still taste gold in the event, with Yohan Blake making history of his own and for his country.
Bolt was untouchable during the 2011 season before the World Championships, winning all three races and clocking a season’s best of 9.88 seconds. Notwithstanding, his exploits at the 2008 Olympics and the 2009 World Championships, where he swept the events and set world records in back-to-back championships, had already made him the best sprinter in the world, with the foundation laid to enter the realm of ‘greatest of all time’. Blake, his training partner at the time, had put together a stronger 2011 season in which he finished no lower than second before the World Championships, with a season’s best of 9.95.
This was Blake’s second World Championship team, but his first as an individual competitor at the 100m. His first outing two years prior was one to forget, as he, along with other members of the national team, tested positive for the stimulant 4-methyl-2-hexamine. Although he was initially cleared by the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission because the drug was not on the World Anti-Doping Agency banned list, the Jamaica Athletic Administrative Association withdrew him from the 2009 Berlin team while the appeal was pending, avoiding the scenario of a relay medal being stripped if the appeal went against Blake. He would serve a three-month ban from competition.
In 2011, while Bolt was the heavy favourite, Blake was giving himself every chance to cause an upset.
“I plan to come out, be aggressive, try to make a smooth transition and we’ll see what happens,” Blake said
“I definitely think my chances are as good as any in that race and, as I said, it’s going to come down to execution on the day and who runs the best race at that time. You’ll never know what will happen on the day but that‘s my approach.”
Blake was right.
Both Bolt and Blake advanced to the finals after comfortable performances in the heats and semi-finals.
MAJOR SHOCKER
Nobody could have predicted what unfolded in the final in Daegu, South Korea. Before that year’s championships, World Athletics had amended the false-start rule, no longer granting a reprieve. One false start meant instant disqualification. It would claim its first casualty at the championship in the form of the defending World champion.
Bolt, who had been getting good starts, jumped inexplicably before the gun, to his horror and the world’s disbelief. With his jersey over his head in anguish, the reigning and defending World champion and world record holder was out.
In the midst of the shock, there was still a final to be decided, and the opportunity knocked for Blake.
After the field returned to the blocks and the gun sounded, former World Champion Kim Collins of St Kitts and Nevis got off to a great start, leading for the first 50m. But Blake closed in the latter part of the race, storming past Collins to ensure that the men’s 100m title would remained in Jamaican hands in a season’s best 9.92 seconds.
At 21 years and 245 days, he became the youngest World 100m champion in history, a landmark moment in his career.
“I’m feeling over the moon right now. I can hardly find words to talk about it, but to win the gold medal at 21 is a great feeling,” Blake told The Gleaner in 2011 after winning the title.
Blake’s victory was not just for himself but for Bolt as well, ensuring he fulfilled the potential his training partner said he had.
“Knowing that he is my close friend and training partner, I just had to go out there and get the job done because I know that’s what he would have wanted me to do,” said Blake.
Blake would finish the year with two more 100m victories, both times clocking 9.82, a season’s best. He would also threaten Bolt’s 200m world record of 19.19 when he clocked a personal best of 19.26 at the Diamond League meet in Brussels. It would set up the duel that would follow the next year at the 2012 Olympics in London.