Not bad for an off year
IF TRACK and field athletics was set for a fall in the first season without the incomparable Usain Bolt, no one told the competitors he left behind.
Broken-hearted Bolt fans might not have been watching as the first season without the ‘Tall Man’ produced world records in no less than 14 events. That included one by a Jamaican nobody would recognise if he did the Gully Creeper, the Nuh Linga and the Sweep in Half-Way Tree on New Year’s Day.
Tell your friend that Damion Thomas set a world under-20 record in the 110 metres hurdles in Kingston at the National Championships, and you’ll get the Jamaican query, ‘A who ‘im!’. Thomas, a Florida-bred Jamaican at Louisiana State University, zipped 12.99 seconds to became the fastest junior of all-time in the event. A month later, he proved he was no ‘buck-up’ by leading compatriot Orlando Bennett in a one-two finish at the World Under-20 Championships in Tampere, Finland.
On the last day of the season, World decathlon champion Kevin Mayer and Kenyan marathoner Eliud Kipchoge turned September 16 into a super Sunday. Mayer finished two days of running, jumping and throwing with 9,126 points.
Kipchoge, a Kenyan running machine, bolted through Berlin in two minutes 01.39 seconds. Olympic champion in Rio, Kipchoge has marathon mavens dreaming more often of the twohour barrier.
Beatrice Chepkoech recovered from a loss to Jamaica’s Aisha Praught-Leer at the Commonwealth Games to crown her dominance of the 3000 metres steeplechase with a record time of eight minutes 44.32 seconds. That was stunning.
WORLD RECORDS
A couple of the world records set in 2018 came in rarely run indoor relays. However, the men’s indoor 4x400m took two hits, with Poland bashing it at the World Indoor Championships only for a even faster time to established by a mixed nation team from the University of Southern California soon after.
The truth is that 2018 was a great season. With some switched off a little because Bolt is gone, and with the focus on the FIFA World Cup, you might have missed it. The switch gets flipped back on now as the 2019 World Championships, the 2020 Olympics and the 2021 Worlds approach. As Buju Banton said, my cup is full to the brim.
That cup might overflow if 2019 brings conceivable world records in the women’s 100 metres hurdles and the men’s 400 metres hurdles. The ladies’ sprint hurdlers includes a trio with personal bests under 12.30 with the record holder Kendra Harrison of the United States leading the way at 12.21 seconds from Brianna Neal and Sally Pearson. Even if Pearson begins to find time turning against her at 32 going 33, Harrison, Neal and perhaps 2015 World Champion Danielle Williams can make records possible.
Kevin Young’s monumental 46.78 seconds winner has topped the 400 hurdles chart since the 1992 Olympics. This year, Antiguan Rai Benjamin and Qatari Abderrahman Samba have brought Young back into view with times of 47.02 and 46.98 seconds, respectively.
2019 HEADLINES
Those disciplines, the women’s 400 hurdles, the men’s long and triple jumps, both discus throws and flat 400 metres could be in the 2019 headlines. Shaunae Miller-Uibo may even be the sport’s next superstar. The tall Bahamian has designs of adding the 200m to her kingdom in the 400 metres, where she is Olympic champion. Though there is strong Jamaican representation in those races, fans with a regional outlook will probably find themselves urging her on in 2019.
If this year is anything to go by, track and field in 2019 will be worth a watch.
‘The truth is that 2018 was a great season. With some switched off a little because Bolt is gone, and with the focus on the FIFA World Cup, you might have missed it.’