Re: Re:
irondan said:
FoxxyBrown1111 said:
Nice catwalk for the 4x400 race... after practising in the 1st rounds, now it works. I´d say Hastings (USA) won the comp...
Edit: So, so, nowadays a monster race by Felix isnt enough anymore.
Once again the 3 million nation beats the biggest talent pool with the best infrastructure in sports (USA, 300+ mio population). 
Omg!
That's not at all surprising to me considering that all the really fast athletes in the USA play other sports, such as football, basketball, baseball, ect.. The money in pro football has lured away ALL the athletes that could be developed into great track and field athletes. What's left are the ones that can't make it in pro sports in America (Gatlin, ect..). Jamaica isn't competing against the best the US has to offer, not by a longshot.
That is very true although a 40 yard dash for the NFL draft (36,58m) and 100 meters are not interchangeable distances. The same can be seen in soccer and many other ball sports where the stand outs at 100 meters are different as the players who are perceived as 'quick'. 100 metres is often too long for the most explosive athletes.
A 2010 Daily Telegraph story about rejecting opportunities abroad.
"
Fanty is in no doubt that it is the current crop of Jamaican champions that has spurred her on to become a professional athlete. 'I want to be better than them,' she says (the familiar refrain). 'When Jamaican athletes are doing so well, everybody wants to be like them. Usain Bolt is training Jamaica. His presence is an inspiration.'
Fanty's father is unemployed; her mother is a farmer. She appears not to have thought too deeply about what she might do if pro status does not materialise. 'Teaching?' she suggests. What subject? 'Social studies? I'm not sure. I've got my heart set on athletics.'
Historically, the majority of successful Jamaican athletes have come through the US college system, but things have changed dramatically in the past few years. Bolt's iconic status has been cemented by his decision to remain based on the island, despite being offered several American scholarships. Many in Jamaica say that its facilities, as a result of large-scale investment from the government and local businesses, are as good as any in the world (though this has sparked a debate over whether such a poor country can afford to spend so much on sport when education and health care are so basic).
[...]
Bolt lives on a hill overlooking the national stadium; his great rival Asafa Powell, the former 100m record holder, lives next door. They are the stars of the country's two main rival athletics clubs, Racers Track Club and MVP (Maximising Velocity and Power). The latter was set up in 2001 by a local coach, Stephen Francis, who felt that Jamaican athletes were becoming too Americanised as a result of the scholarship programme, and unwilling to return home (
many Jamaican-born athletes
have ended up taking American or Canadian citizenship and representing their adopted countries). There are now about a dozen well-run track clubs in Jamaica. Some young athletes have signed sponsorship deals while still at school.
Natoya Goule, 18, another Holmwood athlete and the winner by a huge margin of the 3,000m in her age group – her 13th Champs gold – already has a deal with Adidas. She explains that she has been offered 'a lot' of sports scholarships, but hasn't made up her mind whether to take one, or which one to choose. 'I just train hard, listen to my coach and put my mind to the race,' she says.
Ray Stewart, an Olympic silver medallist at the 1984 Games, says that Jamaica's training infrastructure is considerably more sophisticated than in his day. Now a sports adviser to Texas Christian University, which gave him a scholarship, he concedes that there is more to keep an athlete in Jamaica than when he left in the 1980s. 'Back then most of us were just thinking about getting the hell out of here,' he says. 'We wanted more than just running, we wanted a life that was a lot better overseas than it was here.'
Stewart believes that because Bolt decided to stay at home, other gifted Jamaican athletes are turning their backs on American scholarships. 'Bolt and Powell's success has encouraged a lot of young Jamaicans to think they can be professionals when they just don't all have what it takes,' he says. 'The Jamaican clubs seem to be encouraging people to stay at home and give up on their education.'
"
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