The fast and the famous five
Event has welcomed some of sport’s greatest stars over the years
The Vancouver Sun Harry Jerome Track Classic goes Wednesday at Percy Perry Stadium in Coquitlam, with Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse headlining.
De Grasse, who used the Jerome last year to get ready for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, is the latest marquee competitor to have taken part in the meet.
Here are five others:
Mary Slaney
The summer after her controversial collision with Zola Budd during the 3,000 metres at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics, the then-26-yearold Slaney won 1985 Jerome women’s mile at Swangard Stadium in 4:22.30, setting a meet record that still stands. She would set a world record in the event later that year.
She would win the 1,500 metres at the 1991 and 1996 Jerome as well.
Ben Johnson
The then-26-year-old hadn’t become a mainstream name just yet when he appeared at the 1986 meet at Swangard, evidenced by the fact that stories about that meet led with Toronto’s Mark McCoy beating American rival Tonie Campbell in the 110-metre hurdles. Johnson’s triumph in the 100 metres in 10.12 was mentioned further down, along with the fact that American Calvin Smith, then the world record holder in the event, was slated to take part but was a mysterious no-show.
Johnson would break Smith’s world record at the 1987 world championships in Rome, and then established a new mark at the Seoul 1988 Olympics. Tests in Seoul would later confirm that he was using performance-enhancing drugs and he would be stripped of both the records and the medals.
Lynn Kanuka-Williams
The Jerome has had several hometown mainstays through the years, and Kanuka-Williams was among the best.
Then 27 years old and calling Vancouver home, she won the women’s 1,500 metres at the 1988 Jerome before a crowd of about 3,000 at Swangard in 4:04.25, which was the fastest time in the world that season at that point. Before a crowd of about 2,000 at the 1989 meet at Swangard, she won the 1,500 metres in 4:04.86, a mark that was also the fastest time in the world that season at that juncture.
Oddly enough, Jessica Williams, the daughter of Kanuka-Williams and fellow Canadian Olympic runner Paul Williams, won the women’s 300 metres and 600 metres at the 2016 Jerome Indoor Games. The Semiahmoo product is slated to run track and play soccer at UBC in the fall.
Carl Lewis
An eight-time Olympic gold medallist at the time, the then-31-yearold Lewis was part of a Santa Monica Club foursome attracted to the 1993 Jerome at Percy Perry (then known as Coquitlam Town Centre), in large part by a $50,000 payday from meet organizers if they could break 4x100-metre world record.
Unfortunately for the quartet, Jerome officials and the 3,700 fans who showed up at the Coquitlam venue, Mother Nature wasn’t on board, offering up rainy, sloppy conditions. Lewis, Leroy Burrell, Mike Marsh and Floyd Heard clocked a 38.59, a mark that still stands as the Jerome meet record.
It was shy of the then-world record of 37.40, set by Lewis, Burrell and Dennis Mitchell at the Barcelona 1992 Olympics.
“You can be ready, you can have everything perfect, and then you have conditions like this,” Lewis told reporters afterward. “So it’s hard to predict a world record. So many variables have to be there.
“It’s always interesting to come to a place you’ve never been before. I’ve gone my entire career never having come up here and run. It was exciting and I was happy to have competed. Of course we all hoped for better weather, but life doesn’t always afford you that.
“We believe we have the ability to break the world record under ideal conditions.”
The meet committee purchased $8,000 worth of insurance, and it would have paid out the $50,000 to Lewis and Co. if they broke the mark.
Donovan Bailey
Bailey won the 100 metres at 1996 Jerome at Rotary Stadium before about 3,000 fans in a wind-aided 9.97 seconds. It was part of his preparation for the Atlanta 1996 Olympics, where he would win gold in the 100 and the 4x100-metre relay.
“I just wanted to come out here and get a race in front of the home crowd,” Bailey, then 28, told reporters later in Abbotsford that day. “It definitely gives you a boost of confidence when you’re going for the tape. It was very satisfying here today.”
Bailey was the headliner again for the 1997 Jerome at Swangard, and 6,000 fans were on hand to watch him run a 9.99. That was part of preparation for his 150-metre race with American Michael Johnson in Toronto.
Bailey was at the 1998 Jerome at Swangard, but pulled out of the 100 metres.
He did anchor his 4x100-metre relay team. The crowd was down from the year before, with 2,500 or so watching.
Bailey was reportedly nursing injuries at the time, but also said that meet organizers needed to raise more money for appearance fees.
“Sometimes, meet organizers or meet directors always look back to years ago, when the sport was very amateur,” he said.
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