Sport

World Champs flashback...Cameron mines 400m gold in Helsinki

By ELTON TUCKER, Asst. Sport Editor

( left - right ) Bertland Cameron and Merlene Ottey - file photos

THE Finnish capital, Helsinki, holds fond memories for Jamaican athletes. It was there at the 1952 Olympic Games that the quartet of Arthur Wint, Leslie Laing, Herb McKenley and George Rhoden achieved an amazing world record 3:03.9 to upset the mighty Americans and win the 4x400m gold.

Earlier, Jamaica had repeated the 400m one-two finish they achieved in London in 1948 when Rhoden beat McKenley. Jamaica ended the Games with two gold and three silver medals.

In 1983, the stars for Jamaica at the first IAAF World Championships were Bertland Cameron and Merlene Ottey as Jamaica ended the championships with three medals: gold, silver and bronze.

Cameron arrived in Helsinki as the overwhelming favourite for the men's 400m gold and he did not disappoint. In addition to the Commonwealth title he had won a year earlier, the then 23-year-old Cameron was a three-time American Collegiate champion.

The former St. Jago High athlete eased through his first round heat in 46.11 seconds, then clocked 45.76 in the second-round and 45.48 in the semi-finals.

In the final, he easily disposed of the American pair of Mike Franks (45.22) and Sunder Nix 45.24 to take gold in 45.05.

Very best

Like Cameron, Ottey was a Commonwealth champion. She won the 200m gold after getting silver in the 100m.

The competition in Helsinki was, however, far fiercer. Ottey had to be at her very best and she rose to the occasion in the 200m.

She won her first and second-round heats in 23.23 and 22.38 before placing second in the semi-finals in 22.68 to eventual gold medalist, Marita Koch, of East Germany (22.67).

The final was again close with Koch winning in 22.13 and Ottey earning silver in 22.19.

Grace Jackson who had quietly gone through the rounds winning her first and second-round heats in 23.09 and 23.06 respectively, placed fifth in the final in 22.63.

Earlier, Ottey was fifth in the 100m final in 11.19 as another East German, Marlies Gohr, won in a fantastic 10.97. Juliet Cuthbert and Lilieth Hodges were both eliminated in the second round of the event.

The women gave Jamaica its third and final medal of the championships. Ottey teamed with Hodges, Jacqueline Pusey and Cuthbert to clock 42.73 for third in the sprint relay final. East Germany, led by 100m winner Gohr and 200m gold medallist Koch, won in 41.76 with Great Britain second in 42.71.

Four years later at the second World Championships in Rome, Italy, Jamaica earned four bronze medals.

The disqualification of first-past the-post Ben Johnson over a year later, meant Raymond Stewart's bronze in the 100m was upgraded to a silver.

Johnson had crossed the line in a new world record 9.83 seconds. The following year, he was disqualified from the Seoul Olympics after clocking a then unbelievable 9.79. Tests showed he had taken the banned substance stanozol and was retroactively stripped of his Rome title.

Lewis got the gold in 9.93 with Stewart gaining silver in 10.08 and Linford Christie third in 10.14. It is interesting to note that the three of the first four men to cross the line in the original result (Johnson, Stewart and Christie) were born in Jamaica with only Stewart running in the national colours.

Sprint double

Ottey again ran well in the 100m and 200m to earn bronze medals.

In the 100m the East Germans had a new star in Silke Gladisch, a member of the team which mined gold in the 4x100m four years earlier.

Gladisch completed a fine sprint double in 10.90 and 21.74. Ottey who had won her first and second-round heats in 11.26 and 11.27 clocked a wind-aided 10.89 behind Gladisch's 10.82.

The other women were no match for the East German in the final as her compatriot, Heike Dreshsler, was second in 11.00 and Ottey third in 11.04.

A new American star, Florence Griffith, came to the fore in the 200m semi-finals clocking the fastest time 22.38. Ottey also beat Gladisch in the second semi-final 22.43 to 22.54.

Gladisch blew away her rivals in the first 100m of the final clocking 11.09 and cruised home ahead of Griffith (21.96) and Ottey (22.06). Jamaicans reached two relay finals and won bronze in the men's sprint relay with John Mair, Andrew Smith, Clive Wright and Stewart clocking 38.41 behind the U.S.A.'s 37.90 and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics' (USSR) 38.02.

The women's 4x400m led by teenager Sandie Richards was sixth in the final in 3:27.51. The other members of the team were Cathy Rattray, Sandra Farmer and Illrey Oliver. East Germany took gold in 3:18.63, USSR second in 3:19.50 and the United States third in 3:21.04.

Farmer who later chose to run in United States colours finished a close fourth in the 400m hurdles an event in which Jamaica would later gain medals. Farmer clocked 54.38 as East Germany's Sabine Bush won in 53.62. Australia's Debbie Flintoff-King was the silver medal winner in 54.19 and Busch's team-mate Cornelia Ulrich third in 54.31.