Sport

Well done, Jamaica

( L - R ) Trecia Smith and Usain Bolt - file photos

THE 10TH IAAF World Championships is now history and Jamaicans continue to sing the praises of the team which left Helsinki with a record eight medals.

Jamaica performed with distinction in several events, none more so than in the women's triple jump where Trecia Smith gave the island its first gold medal in a field event at the World Championships.

To those in the know, Smith's victory was not a great surprise. She had been rated number two in the world for 2005 and when the big pre-meet favourite, Tatyana Lebedeva of Russia, pulled out at the last minute, the gold was Smith's if she could come up with the big performance.

Gaining glory

That big performance certainly came as not even an injury after her second attempt could stop the determined Mannings High past student from gaining glory and a US$60,000 pay day.

On the same day, Michael Frater emerged from the shadow of world record holder Asafa Powell with a surprise silver in the men's 100m. Even without Powell, there was always the feeling that Jamaica could be among the medals in the 100m but it was felt that former national champion Dwight Thomas would have been the one on the podium. Thomas had been looking good all season and he was a training partner of the Olympic champion Justin Gatlin.

Frater, however, cruised through his first two rounds on opening day and really ran well in the semi-finals and final the following evening.

Veronica Campbell in the women's 100m and hurdlers Delloreen Ennis-London and Brigitte Foster-Hylton were also outstanding.

Campbell missed the 100m gold by a whisker and her subsequent performances which have seen her run below 10.90 seconds twice, including a personal best 10.85, suggest she was very unlucky.

Campbell's tactics in the 200m were all wrong, however, and she ended up a disappointing fourth. It would have taken an outstanding run for the Olympic 200m champion to beat her main rivals coming out of lane seven. Champions must dictate the pace throughout all the rounds in their respective events.

In Helsinki, Campbell gave up the psychological advantage to American Allyson Felix and paid the price. It is very unlikely that she will repeat those tactics in the future.

The female sprint hurdlers, especially Ennis-London, were brilliant. Ennis-London got just reward for her great pre-meet preparation. She had constantly trained in weather similar to the atrocious conditions she encountered at the World Championships and was thus able to perform at a high level throughout.

The Usain Bolt saga continues to drag on. I think he did very well to reach the final after a traumatic Olympics a year earlier. In the Helsinki final he did not give up, he was simply outclassed. He met some very torrid sprinters who pulled him too fast for the first 100 metres. He did well to be in contention at the top of the straight but by then he had used up everything and had nothing for the second half of the race.

Bolt needs to gain more experience on the grand prix circuit running against the best in the world. Only then will be be able to reach his full potential.