U.S. sprinters seek payback on the track against Jamaica
LONDON — Allyson Felix was asked if the sprint rivalry between the United States and Jamaica is real or if it’s a product of the fourth estate’s over-active imagination.
“Well, if it wasn’t, you guys would make it that way,” said the American track star.
You know us too well, Allyson. Still, some things don’t need assistance from the scriptwriters and the Jamaica-U.S. feud is one of them. Prior to Beijing, American sprinters tended to regard Olympic gold as their birthright. But at the 2008 Games, they watched as the tiny Caribbean country carted off gold in five of the six sprint events (100, 200, 4x100 relay), obliterating the proud Americans along the way.
Andrew Valmon, the coach of the American men’s team, now says Beijing was a wake-up call and the U.S. will be ready in London when the athletics competition gets underway Friday.
“I think it’s a testament to the team the way they’ve stepped up,” Valmon said at a lively USOC news conference on Tuesday. “It’s not just about one person. You’ll find that every event has stepped up because we needed to. I mean, there was a challenge put forth.”
That fact is not lost on Felix. At the last two Olympics, the 26-year-old southern Californian has finished second to Veronica Campbell-Brown from you-know-where in her specialty, the 200 metres.
In London, Felix will be running the 100, 200 and, potentially, the 4x100 relay, but her showdown with Campbell-Brown in the 200 sets up as one of the marquee matchups on the track.
In 2008, Felix was part of an American team that was steamrollered by the islanders. Leading the way, of course, was the transcendent Usain Bolt, who won the men’s 100- and 200-metre races and anchored the 4x100 gold medallists. The Jamaican women, meanwhile, swept all three medals in the 100-metre race — with Shelly-Ann Fraser winning gold — and took gold and bronze in the 200.
Felix’s silver, in fact, was the only non- Jamaican medal in the two women’s sprints.
“To think people aren’t expecting me to win a gold and finally get the job done would be crazy,” she said. “But I think I’ve managed myself a lot better than 2008. I feel a lot more comfortable this time. It’s a good feeling, having all those things under control.”
It’s also a good feeling to enter the Olympics just a month removed from a personal best. At the U.S. Olympic trials, Felix posted a 21.69, the fastest women’s 200 time in 14 years.
She also holds a 6-4 edge over Campbell-Brown in their head-to-head meetings and has bested her twice at the world championships.
She just hasn’t done it on the game’s biggest stage.
Still, this might tell you something about Felix’s focus heading into London.
At those same U.S. trials, Felix finished in a dead heat with Jeneba Tarmoh for the third and final spot in the 100.
The spot was scheduled to be decided in a run-off the day after the race and many felt Felix would give Tarmoh her spot and concentrate on the 200 in London.
They thought wrong and Tarmoh backed out of the run-off.
“This is the Olympics,” said Felix. “This is hard.”