Of this record-setting four, Michael Frater (second right) could find himself outside looking in next season

Nesta Carter is now number seven all time in the men’s 100-metre dash. When he ran 9.85s in Brussels on Friday, he put himself not far away from the elite-three Bolt, Gay and Powell, but he also now finds himself .01 seconds behind Donovan Bailey, who not that long ago – set a world record of 9.84s in Olympics finals in 1996. You know you are among the big guns when you start easing past world records set in the last 20 years.
However, despite his achievements over the past few weeks – 9.86s in Lucerne on August 8 and 9.85s in Brussels, there has been little fanfare. Maybe because we have been spoiled by Powell and Bolt who together have run below 9.80 14 times between them, we have come to expect the sensational from our other sprinters.
Whatever it is though, Carter joining the ranks of the world fastest ever men augurs well for Jamaica in the 2011 season.
Only six men have run faster than 9.90 seconds so far this season and four of them are Jamaican. If everyone can stay healthy and perhaps improve upon their performances come 2011, Jamaica is going to be truly awesome by the time the world championships come around next summer.
Beginning at the National Championships next June, the finals of the men’s 100 metres is going to be stacked. Bolt (9.58); Powell (9.72); Carter (9.85); and Blake (9.89) should all be vying for a spot to represent Jamaica in the men’s 100 metres. Bolt, as defending champion, gets an automatic bye, so those other three, plus Michael Frater (9.97), Steve Mullings (10.01); Marvin Anderson, Lerone Clarke (9.99); Mario Forsythe (10.09); plus a few others will all be contending.
But going forward to the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, defending 4×100 metre champions could be going in with perhaps one of the deepest relay quads in history and could push their own world record of 37.10s to perhaps 36.6, or 36.7, perhaps even faster depending how how fast they can get that stick around.
That, as well as possibly having four men in the finals of the men’s 100 metres. Barring injury or other unforseen circumstances, Bolt and Powell should make the finals, and based on what we have seen from the likes of Carter and Blake, they could be joining their more celebrated countrymen there as well. This leaves spots for perhaps two Americans, Tyson Gay and Walter Dix (if he can overcome his demons), perhaps Richard Thompson from Trinidad and a healthy Donovan Bailey from Antigua. The latter two have both failed to run faster than 10 seconds this season but based on their pedigree, I expect them to be back to full speed by next season.
Based on the aforementioned field, Jamaica could have four men in the top 5 spots following the completion of that final. Here are my picks based on current form Gold – Usain Bolt; Silver Tyson Gay; Bronze Asafa Powell, fourth Nesta Carter/Yohan Blake; fifth Yohan Blake/Nesta Carter.
I cant wait.

Usain Bolt just inked a deal with PUMA that the shoe and apparel company claims makes him the highest paid track and field history.
Most media reports suggest that the deal amounts to about US$10 million a year or about J$850 million – good money by any standard.
Bolt’s manager Norman Peart confirmed on my show – Sportsnation Live on Nationwide 90fm – this week that there is a licensing component to the deal, that my sources tell me could earn the fastest man in history more than US$100 million. That’s a lot of cheese.
Here is how I come to this conclusion.
Puma is about to launch another line of apparel with the Bolt logo and for this Bolt gets a percentage of the sales of those apparel. Puma is also going to launch a new line of shoes for Bolt as well. If you recall after Bolt broke the world record in the 100-metre sprint in Beijing, China at the 28th Olympiad, Puma experienced a significant spike in shoe sales. There is also a fragrance coming out with Bolt’s name attached.
According to Forbes Magazine Puma intends to grow its revenues from about US$2.5 billion to about US$4 billion. I would suspect that the sale of Bolt apparel would contribute significantly to those projected earnings.
If we assume that Bolt commands 10-15 percent of the licensing on those products that have his name attached, the athlete stands to earn quite significantly if Puma achieves its objectives.
Bolt is already one of the most popular athletes in the world. His exploits over the last two years setting five world records in the last two major meets – the Olympics and the World Championships – have made him one of the most influential athletes in the world of sport. His media market value was estimated at more than $350 million. It’s safe to say then that should Bolt surpass his own records next year in Daegu, South Korea, Bolt could easily become as big a global star as Michael Jordan or a Tiger Woods. Puma could ride his coat-tails to unprecedented levels of success and make Bolt even richer than he is now. This would be especially true if Bolt can set the world alight on the biggest of stages at the Olympics in London in 2012.
He is already extremely popular in the UK so success in London could conceivably make Bolt as rich as any sport star in any sport in history. It seems no matter where you turn Bolt’s greatness cannot be denied.

Jermaine Gonzales would have come into the 2009/2010 track season wanting to have a confidence-building run at getting to a place where he really belongs – among the best 400 metre runners in the world.
Now, after seven straight sub-45 clockings in the 400 metres – 44.79, 44.72, 44.63, 44.40 (new national record), 44.51, 44.80 and 44.90, Gonz, as he is called, should be going into next season feeling that a lot of the hard work is behind him but a lot is still ahead.
Gonzales’ season best 44.40 is currently the second fastest time run this season behind Jeremy Wariner’s 44.13s. Wariner’s time, though is where Gonzales will be looking if he is to challenge for the world title next year in Daegu, South Korea.
To get there he and his coaches – Bert Cameron and Glen Mills – will have a greater appreciation of what it will take to get there – speed.

To get to the rarified air of very low 44s and 43-highs, it will take a significant improvement in speed on the part of Gonzales. He already has the strength but he needs more. He has speed but he needs more. He also needs to work on his speed endurance as being able to maintain higher levels of speed over longer distances is going to be key, but most critical will be his overall speed.
If Gonzales is to have a shot at defeating Wariner and the Americans, he has to be able to get around the first two hundred metres with relative ease and not expend too much energy. This means he has to be able to run fast so that he is able to run faster than he can now without emptying the gas tank.
Gonz is already a strong finisher and with improved speed, he will be even better but he has to have more left in the tank when he gets to the top of the stretch.
That being said, after getting seven straight sub-45s, the foundation has clearly been laid and now its time to build on it.

Usain Bolt fell to a rare defeat on Independence Day. Tyson Gay brought his ‘A’ game and Bolt, who had not lost in two years, was unable to bring his.
If you were paying attention Bolt complained after he won in Paris that when he ran in Paris and won in 9.82 that he had no power coming out of the blocks. It was also clear that he was unable to separate himself from the field that included former world record holder Asafa Powell and the very talented Yohan Blake.
Two weeks later Bolt shows up in Stockholm, the place where he last lost two years ago, not looking his best. In the qualifying heat, he struggled. The effort showed on his face. It was no longer effortless to eke out a 10.10s run over the 100metres. We know that when Bolt is in tip top shape he makes extraordinary times seem ordinary and while 10.10s is not going to win you medals at major championships, Bolt seemed to exert way too much just to be able to get by Trinidad’s Richard Thompson.
Tyson Gay, on the other hand, looked sharp and focussed in his heat. His winning time was a more impressive looking 10.02s.
As they lined up for the finals Bolt was not his usual playful self. He seemed tired, concerned, a little stressed. Two aborted starts didnt help. At the second one, Bolt rolled over onto his back. It seemed like he was being playful but in reality it could be that he just wanted to get this one out of the way so he could go get some sleep.
The last two weeks had been pretty busy for Bolt. Sumfest and Smirnoff Dream Weekend were on his entertainment calendar and from all reports he really enjoyed himself. I suppose somewhere in between he got some training in as well but not too much. This after all, is an ‘off’ season.
2008 and 2009 were stellar years from the sprint phenom, surely he deserves to take 2010 off, especially since 2011 and 2012 – two very important years to the Bolt legacy – loom ever closer.
So, when the race finally started Bolt was probably fighting fatigue as well as his lack of real conditioning. The whole world saw Bolt break poorly from the blocks but was only just behind Gay. But then what happened next might have been unexpected but it was inevitable. Injury and relatively poor conditioning this season came to bear as Bolt tried to ignite the thrusters. His face provided testimony to the effort he made to charge those afterburners but nothing happened. The machinery failed to fire and Bolt lost to Gay who pulled away to win in a new meet record 9.84s. Bolt was second in a relatively pedestrian 9.97s.
There was almost a stunned silence. Superman had found his kryptonite, Bolt had lost.
Fast forward to Tuesday this week when Bolt’s camp announced that he was ending his season after consulting with doctors in Germany.
Since the news broke some claimed Bolt was done, some said Tyson scared him into ending his season early, still others said Bolt parties too much and that is why he lost.
The doctor said Bolt is suffering from a tightness in his lower back which prevents him from generating power in his stride and that continuing on would put his hamstrings and calves at risk of injury.
That is why he pulled out of the season. The World Championships beckon in South Korea next summer and Bolt is aware of how important it is to be ready to defend his 100m and 200m titles there.
Why not take the rest of the season off, get the required treatment, get some rest and then resume his training in a month or two and prepare to cement his legacy as the greatest sprinter ever to walk the earth.
I mean, he lost one race. Once race and people are pushing the panic button, some the ‘hate’ button.
Bolt is looking to a future of great performances which the sport needs. He is also ensuring that his health comes before all else. Injuries are common in sport and sure many of us are disapppointed we wont be seeing Bolt for the remainder of the season, but I am sure we would prefer not to see him for the rest of 2010 once we are assured that we will see more great things from him in the years to come.
I do believe that Bolt is having similar thoughts.

Usain Bolt: Did what was in his best interest which is also in the best interest of the sport

When Jeremy Wariner won the 400-metre sprint at the Paris Diamond League meet last Friday, he set a world leading 44.49 seconds. The time was also equal to Jamaica’s national record that was set by Roxbert Martin 12 years ago. It’s a record that not many Jamaicans have gone close to since then, save for Ricardo Chambers who clocked 44.62 in Atlanta, Georgia in 2007.
Jermaine Gonzales had shown promise from early in his career as an athlete that he was capable of running fast 400-metre races but injury to both hamstrings reduced him to watching from the sidelines since that day in 2006 when he clocked a smart 44.85s in Rome.
2010 though has been a breakout year for Gonz as he is called by his friends. The year before was the first time he was running injury free for several seasons but his times were not impressive as he tried to make it through the season and remain healthy, something that had eluded him for four long seasons.
He had become so disillusioned that he had even begun to consider other events. Some pundits suggested he take up the 800 metres, some the 400 metre hurdles. Gonz has admitted that he gave much thought to the 400 metre hurdles as an option, just so he could resume his career that really had not got off the ground even though he copped a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2006. That was the last year he competed for the better part of any season since his high school days when injury threw him down during a marquee match-up with his friend and training partner Usain Bolt at the Boys and Girls Championships on a rainy afternoon just under a decade ago.
Early in the season Gonz produced from mediocre times over the distance further cementing in people’s minds that perhaps we were never again going to see anything great from Jermaine Gonzales. That was until May 1, when he produced his fastest time in years, a 45.22 while finishing second to Tyson Gay at the Jamaica Invitational. Gay had run an astonishing 44.89s a couple weeks before in Florida but Gonzales closed on the the speedy Gay with every stride and just failed to catch up at the line.
That performance obviously gave the lanky runner a lot of confidence going forward because each time he stepped on the track after that he went faster and faster. He lauded his coach Bert Cameron for pushing him, motivating him. Cameron’s work was definitely paying off.
Next was a stop in Morocco when Gonz dropped his time to 45.06 at a meet in Rabat on June 6. He said that that his aim was to break the 45-second barrier and so he did. After almost being decapitated by a television camera in Rome and didnt finish, G0nzales showed up at small meet in Sotteville, France and dropped his time to 44.79s, a personal best for a win over the much respected American Angelo Taylor, who ran a fast 44.74s to finish second to Wariner (44.73) at the meet in Rome. That was on June 12.
On July 8, in Lausanne, Gonzales finished third, again behind Wariner in a new personal best 44.72s. And just this past Friday in Paris 44.63s another personal best while coming second to Wariner whom he pushed to the world leading time.
In just about three weeks in three races, Gonzales has produced three personal bests and looks set to go even faster by the time the season ends. He now ranks as the third fastest 400metre runner in the world for 2010 with only Greg Nixon’s 44.61s and Wariner’s 44.51s and 44.49s faster.
Gonzales finished a stride and a half behind Wariner last Friday, it should give him great perspective on how close he is to breaking Martin’s national record and how close he is to being a contender for a medal in Daegu, South Korea come 2011.
All Jamaica prays he remains healthy.

Gonzales sets three personal bests in last three races

(Daily Telegraph photo) Shelly Ann Fraser tarnished by a series of poor decsions.

It’s sad that Olympic and World 100 metre champion Shelly Ann Fraser now faces sanctions after the prohibited painkiller Oxycodone was found in her test sample following her performance in the Shanghai Diamond League this past May.
What is even sadder are the circumstances under which the drug ended up in her system in the first place.
For those who dont know the details of this case here is a brief synopsis: Shelly Ann underwent a dental procedure in May. Immediately thereafter she flew to Shanghai to participate in the Diamond League meet there.
The travelling caused her sore gums to become inflamed and she was in a world of pain by the time she arrived in China.
There she was treated by IAAF doctors. They gave her pain medication which didnt have any effect at all on her level of discomfort.
Two hours before she was to race, she goes to her coach and tells him that the pain was too much to bear. He then gives her some medication -Oxycodone – that doctors had prescribed for him.
Following the race in which Fraser finishes down the track in a slow 11.29s she forgets to pass on information that she had been given the pain medication before the race.
Thus, she returns a positive sample.
And I feel for her because she has been an inspiration to many and has been doing a great job as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador but here is where I have to acknowledge that a series of bad decisions may have tarnished her reputation forever.
1) The fact that she would have undergone the dental procedure so close to the meet, why not sit the meet out and give herself a chance to recover sufficiently so that she would have been able to participate without the pain?

In the meantime she could have obtained a Therapuetic Use Exemption (TUE) that would have allowed her to take the most effective of painkillers without having to worry about turning up a positive on any random test that she may have had to take during that period.
Having gone to the meet and in pain, why didnt she just withdraw? Or, seeing that the painkillers the doctors had given her, were not doing an adequate job, seek a TUE there and got some real potent medication that would have alleviated the discomfort.
The worst of those choices, however, was to accept the medication offered by her coach Stephen Francis.
Look, he certainly went well, but being a non-medical officer administering a drug to a world class athlete, was as poor a decision as he ever could make.
A hearing comes up soon and the MVP club will make their case and we all hope that there will be room for empathy and common sense when the JAAA disciplinary panel sits down to hear the case.
And in the event that she receives only a reprimand, I also hope that WADA will accept any penalty handed down by the JAAAA and not take the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
That way, Shelly Ann would not pay too high a price for the series of bad decisions that has led her to this situation.
The only trouble is, she may have already paid the ultimate price – her reputation.

The last man to beat Bolt (above) was Powell back in July 2008.

After the World Championships in Osaka in 2007 I stopped expecting anything great from Asafa Powell. Having been favored to win the men’s 100 metres, Powell panicked and lost for the very first time to Tyson Gay. He has not beat Gay since.
However, this year Powell came out in what could be the best shape of his life. He is lighter and stronger and ran amazing well during the first part of the season and capped it off with a fast 9.82-second run in the 100 metres in Rome. Usain Bolt tied that season best in Lausanne just over a week ago.
But Powell, last Saturday in Gateshead, London took on a less than 100 percent Tyson Gay in the 100 metres. Gay, who is suffering from a tight hamstring was beaten Walter Dix at the Prefontaine Diamond League in Eugene and even though he ran a fast 19.76s for second, revealed that he was rusty and would need a few races to get sharp.
Gateshead was Gay’s first race after his defeat at the hands of Dix and he was racing against a man who everybody acknowledged was the man to beat this season.
Powell got off to a blazing start and opened up a good lead on Gay going into the last 20 metres of the race before Gay surged and nipped him at the line. The times 9.94 and 9.96 for Gay and Powell respectively hardly matter since they were running into a strong headwind of -1.7 metres per second. What does matter is that Powell seemed to choke again.
Sure, we know he says he forgot that Gay was in the race and he wont make that mistake again but look at the race again. When he began to feel Gay’s pressure Powell noticeably tightened up and started high-stepping to the line. As one observer noted it almost seemed as if he was willing the finish line to come to him.
I believe its time for Asafa to come clean, he panicked yet again. The newfound confidence he has been exhibiting since the start of the season is nothing but a facade as underneath he is still a poor competitor.
Maurice Greene said it best; Asafa is the greatest sprinter in the world when there is nobody who can challenge him in the race but put someone in there who can beat him and he goes to pieces.
If I am wrong, his race against Bolt in Paris this weekend will give you an indicator. Like Gay, Bolt is not 100 percent but he has promised that he is aiming for a fast time, perhaps 9.70s, a time that used to be almost exclusive territory to Asafa.
This weekend I will be looking for two things – the time Asafa produces and whether or not he again breaks under the stress of competing against someone he knows has not lost a race in two years.
And it doesnt matter that Asafa was the last person to beat Bolt. Since that last loss Bolt doesnt seem to know how to lose, nor does he fear losing so he runs free.
I think the time has long come for Powell to start doing the same.

I remember when Veronica Campbell Brown failed to medal in the women’s 100 metres at the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Berlin last year, people were sure that it was the end of the line for her.
Then, when she was blown away in the final of the 200 metres by her American rival Alyson Felix, to those doubters it was the final act in the reign of Veronica Campbell Brown’s reign as the queen of Jamaican track and field.
Ha. Based on what we saw at the Prefontaine Diamond League on Saturday, rumours of VCB’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.
What many people overlooked in 2009 was that Veronica’s toe inflammation was a lot worse than she had let on and going into the world championships she had even foregone a visit to her doctor because of the mandatory pre-games camp set up in Nuremberg for the Jamaican athletes.
It would cost her.
Even after the championships the toe continued to remain a problem but as it healed Veronica had already been hatching her next move.
In November 2009, VCB let the world know that she was going to be coached by a new coach Anthony Carpenter, a mysterious coach based in Marietta, Georgia who runs a youth track club called Titans.
In less than a year, the manifestations of Carpenter’s work are to be seen by all. First, the World Indoor 60 metre title in Doha. Campbell was not even considered a contender. Her horrible start and poor bio-mechanical efficiency caused people to overlook her. Athletes like Laverne Jones Ferrette from the BVI and Carmelita Jeter, the American, were among the favorites going in as they had registered times of 6.97s, a world leading time, and 7.02s respectively going into the championships. Campbell’s personal best was 7.04s but she had not run an indoor 60 metres in six years.
Still, executing her best start ever and an improved technique leaving the blocks, VCB assumed the lead and never let go.
That was in March, five months after she started working with Carpenter.
Here comes June, three months after Veronica’s unexpected triumph at the World Indoors, Veronica after a few trial run where she clocked 11.05s and 22.32s over the 100-metres and 200 metres respectively, Veronica was down to run at the Adidas Grand Prix Diamond League in New York. There she was matched against her rival Felix, who had triumphed over her in Berlin and who had beaten her six of the last eight times they had met. What is most notable is that VCB’s two victories against Felix came in the 200-metres finals at the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008.
It was a close race but VCB, despite suffering cramps, prevailed in an incredible 21.98 seconds. Felix would finished in 22.02s. It was a close race but VCB showed the kind of speed necessary to take her back to the top.
On Saturday, she showed that she was faster than ever.
VCB’s manager Claude Bryan had mentioned in 2009 that the Olympic champion recognized that for her to realize her dream of winning an Olympic 100-metre title she would need to be capable of 10.7s and 10.6s. After Saturday’s performance she seems to be well on her way.

I prayed that the rain stayed away and for the most part it did over the weekend and we got a taste of what is to come later this season as Asafa Powell and Shelly Ann Fraser ran good times to please the small crowd at the National Stadium on Sunday.
Shelly Ann Fraser produced a solid 22.49s to beat a weak 200 metre field and even though she said she was aiming for a faster time, I was happy that she seemed to be back on track to produce some good times this season.
Fraser’s early season preparation was disrupted in part by an ankle injury that had her wearing a protective boot earlier this year. She also had some relatively modest – by her standards – outings with 11.14 and 11.04 over the 100-metre clockings in Europe earlier this season. The 11.04s was run in pretty bad conditions and which suggested she was on her way back to full fitness.
However, on Sunday she showed that if she was not all the way back, she is almost there.
Fraser dominated the curve, making up the stagger on virtually all her rivals and came home comfortably. The time was one of the fastest this year over the 200m and augurs well for her performances in Europe in the Diamond League later this summer.
Powell, who has shyed away from the 200-metres for years now, was even more impressive.
The last time anyone can remember that Powell ran the 200-m competitively was in 2006 when he ran 19.90s. Since that time Usain Bolt reduced those times to the halls of mediocrity, but then Powell, while immensely talented is no Usain Bolt, so his 19.97s run was very impressive.
The former 100-metre world record holder literally cruised the first 90 metres of the race and then exploded down the stretch to win by a margin that we have become accustomed to see Bolt winning by.
He later revealed that his blocks had slipped at the start. We also know that Powell has since 2005 when he hurt his groin running a 200m in Dominica, been skittish about running the curve. This makes his time even more impressive.
He revealed after the race that Coach Stephen Francis has plans for him to run about two more 200-metres this year, no doubt in a bid to get Powell to improve his speed endurance. This was one of the areas in which Powell was exposed in his races with Bolt and American Tyson Gay, who as natural 200m sprinters have a significant edge on Powell with regard to speed endurance.
Powell has been working hard on all aspects of his race and his world leading 100m times are evidence that he is improving. Earlier this season he delivered an impressive 31.6s 300m run in training that was an indicator of the type of season he was going to have.
Powell has been pushed down to number three in the short sprints but I dont think anyone would be surprised if he starts climbing up a slot by the time this season comes to an end.

So, some of the big stars were absent and the crowd was tiny (partly because of the threat of rain and mostly because of the World Cup) but there was still enough entertainment during Day One of the two-day National Senior Championships being held at the National Stadium.
In the absence of 2007 World 100-metre champion Veronica Campbell Brown, Olympic and World 100-metre champion Shelly Ann Fraser, and Olympic and World 100-metre silver medallist Kerron Stewart, the women’s 100-metre finalist was a face-off between 2006 Commonwealth 200-metre champion and 2008 Olympic 100-metre silver medallist Sherone Simpson and former high school prodigy Carrie Russell for the national female sprint title.
And what a race it was. Simpson, who recently recovered from a hamstring cramp and two knee surgeries and Russell engaged in a battle royale for the entire with Simpson managing to hold off the young upstart to win in a season’s best 11.12seconds to Russell’s 11.18seconds, a personal best.
Yes, the times aren’t exciting as many would have hoped and given that we have got used to 10.7s and 10.8s from our girls but considering that there are no major championships this year and that Russell, especially in only her first full season as a senior, the times are quite solid.
Simpson has run faster each time she has stepped on the track this season so this 11.12s shows that she is on her way back to the form that saw her run 10.82s into a 0.7m/s headwind in 2006.
These two ladies leave the island soon for meets in the US and Europe respectively. It will be interesting to see how soon these ladies join Kerron Stewart as the Jamaican women to dip under 11-seconds this season.
Michael Frater (10.13s), Kemmari Roach (10.13) and Lerone Clarke (10.18s), will make Sunday’s 100m final worthwhile, even if there is no Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, or Yohan Blake.
We also got to see signs that Jamaica’s male 400-metre runners might just be making a comeback.
Jermaine Gonzales will not be running, choosing instead to focus on the European circuit this season but Ricardo Chambers with a very easy-looking 45.75, Allodin Fothergill and others are promising to make Sunday’s final quite intriguing. Will we see another Jamaican join Gonzales in running sub-45seconds? We can only hope.
In the women’s version, we can expect a sweet match up between Sherika Williams (50.95) and Novelene Williams-Mills (50.71) in Sunday’s final. Rosemarie Whyte could also be a factor in the finals.
Leford Greene is looking like he will be a world beater over the 400-metre hurdles. His 48.9s was impressive in that he hit a couple of the hurdles down the stretch and slowed noticeably as he approached the line. He is clearly one to watch by perhaps 2012 or 2013.
There was not much else to write home about but Sunday promises to be an even more entertaining day at the National Stadium.