The Rusheen McDonald conundrum

THE JAMAICA Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) of 2001 to 2004 would have no trouble selecting Rusheen McDonald for the individual 400 metres at the World Athletics Championships.

That’s because that JAAA used a slightly different approach to team selections than those that followed.

The late Patrick Anderson came to power as JAAA president after the 2000 Olympic Games and after the messy selection of Merlene Ottey over Peta-Gaye Dowdie to run the 100 metres in Sydney, Australia. Perhaps to cover all possibilities, the Anderson administration began awarding the first two team slots in accordance with the 1-2 finish at the National Championships while reserving the third space for a discretionary pick by its coaches and selectors.

To use current terminology, this fortified the integrity of the Nationals while leaving some leeway to deal with special cases. McDonald would fit perfectly. Unable to run the 400-metre semi-finals at the Nationals, he broke 45 seconds for the first time in eight years on July 14, with a time of 44.83 seconds, in Italy where he and his MVP Track clubmates reside in the summer. Then he flew to Budapest, Hungary and journeyed 60 kilometres to Székesfehérvár, Hungary where he unleashed his second-fastest time ever - 44.03 seconds - behind Olympic champion Steven Gardiner of the Bahamas, who was away at 43.74.

The 44.03 is the fastest time by a Jamaican this year by some distance, much faster than the 44.43 by Sean Bailey in May.

To complete this display of fitness, he flew off to Zurich and journeyed from there to Lucerne, where he laid down a comfortable 44.80.

Bailey beat Antonio Watson 44.48 to 44.52 at the Nationals, with Intercollegiate champion Zandrion Barnes next in line among those who had surpassed the World Championships qualifier of 45 seconds flat.

REPLACEMENT

With the Anderson process, one could easily submit that, after an injury scare at the Nationals, McDonald proved he was ready in that super week in July. Ergo, the Anderson selectors would replace Barnes without any problems.

However, subsequent JAAA administrators returned to selecting the first three past the post at the Trials.

This method tests tournament readiness at the Trials in an environment made to match the upcoming World Championships and the Olympics, and has withstood a couple of serious challenges. In 2008, with the current World 100-metre champion Veronica Campbell just fourth at the Nationals, the public demanded the removal of runner-up Shelly-Ann Fraser and the insertion of Campbell, a battle-tested warrior. Eight years later, reigning Olympic champion Omar McLeod slipped down the field in the 110-metre hurdles final. An emotional McLeod sought to be selected on the basis that the Nationals result was an anomaly.

History has entrenched this first-past-the-post selection tool twice. Fraser, Kerron Stewart and Sherone Simpson delivered an unprecedented 1-2-2 finish in that memorable Olympic 100 final, and Hansle Parchment and Ronald Levy hurdled to gold and bronze.

The McDonald conundrum is food for thought. Perhaps it might be worth discussing a return of the Anderson selection system to give the JAAA selectors the flexibility to bring an athlete into an Olympic or World event who has shown belatedly that he or she is ready to fly the flag the highest.

Hubert Lawrence has made notes at track side since 1980.