Jamaicans sweep women's 100 at Olympics

Monday 18th August, 02:39 AM JST

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15 Comments

Triple888 at 09:09 AM JST - 18th August

I'm so glad Jamaicans are acting as the antidote for USA track and field domination.
Badsey at 10:41 AM JST - 18th August

The World's Fastest Women (and man).
Altria at 01:40 PM JST - 18th August

The relays are going to be epic. For once the Americans will be the underdogs.
Weasel at 02:49 PM JST - 18th August

Well, maybe next year for Japan.
pathat at 03:14 PM JST - 18th August

"I'm so glad Jamaicans are acting as the antidote for USA track and field domination."

There is no "antidote" that has led them to success over the Americans. The key ingredients are masking agents and/or PEDs that are undetectable at present.

The fastest people in the world have been getting caught for cheating for a number of years now: Jones, Gatlin, Greene, Montgomery and other Americans, Brits like Christie and Chambers, Greeks like Kenteris and Thanou, among others.

It is just a matter of time for the Jamaicans.

Are people really so naive as to believe it is any different this time? Usain Bolt shows a Ben Johnson year-on-year type of improvement in his sprint times and we should just attribute to some unique physical factors never before seen in this world?

The Jamaican female 100m champ runs a Marion Jonesesque-time and we should merely accept it as legitimate? If she comes closer to the Flo Juice Joyner times of the 1980s, will people take a head-in-the-sand approach and believe the Jamaicanssecret to success is jokingly, "Reggae Power." More like, "Roid Power."
sappquest at 03:21 PM JST - 18th August

Pathat's comments are truly pathetic. Solid home-grown coaching in natural environments are showing up as being more rewarding than going on track scholarships to the US. I was waiting for similar comments about Phelps but instead Pathat said that "Phelps is the greatest olympic champion". It's lame to be selective in who one accuses. Phelps has more opportunity to access undetectable agents than the boys and girls of the Caribbean but if Phelps is clean, then I'd say he is the greatest swimmer of all time. Why doesn't Pathat readily acknowledge track talent in this way? Is it because the US isn't winning?
pathat at 03:38 PM JST - 18th August

sappguest:

I criticized the U.S. and all the other countries who have had champs in the sprints for many years due to the fact that so many of them have been nailed for using PEDs sooner or later.

I really do not care who wins the sprints because I am highly suspicious of whether their efforts are clean or not, and history has proven my suspicions to be correct time and again.

You call my comments "pathetic," yet you base your criticism of me on the simplistic assumption that the Jamaicans are using "solid home-grown coaching in natural environments" that is "more rewarding than going on track scholarships to the US" as the key factor in the Jamaicans` current run of success. Additionally, you contend that Americans would undoubtedly have greater access to PEDs than "the boys and girls of the Caribbean."

Track and Field is one of the few sports that Jamaica competes in at the Olympic level-and this is no criticism of the nation of 3 million people-but they have as much or more pressure to succeed as anyone else in the world at what they do.

It is simply a matter of time til they are caught, sappquest.
sappquest at 03:47 PM JST - 18th August

Pathat, I agree...you did criticize the US and other countries' athletes who have been caught taking steroids but why not acknowledge that now it may be a case of those who have taken "roids" having been rooted out and now those who are "natural" having their time to shine? There has been lots of testing on jamaican sprinters over the past weeks by IOC, WADA, etc...even leading Asafa Powell to complain about the amount of blood being taken just before his event. By the way, what is your issue with track and field that doesn't apply to swimming?
sappquest at 03:50 PM JST - 18th August

Track and Field is one of the few sports that Jamaica competes in at the Olympic level-and this is no criticism of the nation of 3 million people-but they have as much or more pressure to succeed as anyone else in the world at what they do.

By the way, if you knew jamaicans the way I do, you would realize that they love their sprinters when they do well and they love them even when they don't do well. Already people are saying they're disappointed with Asafa for not medalling but they believe he can come back and prove himself.
pathat at 04:14 PM JST - 18th August

"Why not acknowledge that now it may be a case of those who have taken "roids" having been rooted out and now those who are "natural" having their time to shine?"

It took PEDs for those who shined so often in the past to burn brightly, so why would you think that the Jamaicans can now run times at a same level without using any PEDs?

I do not trust the accomplishments of any and all of the top runners in the world in the 100, 200 and 400 meter sprints and hurdles, regardless of ethnicity and nationality. Cheating to find an advantage has been the name of the game for a very long time.

History has so often repeated itself in this regard, sappquest, and you have said nothing to persuade me otherwise.
sappquest at 04:20 PM JST - 18th August

I do not trust the accomplishments of any and all of the top runners in the world in the 100, 200 and 400 meter sprints and hurdles, regardless of ethnicity and nationality. Cheating to find an advantage has been the name of the game for a very long time

You haven't anwered the question to say why swimming should be considered any differently from track and field. Also, in your opinion, what is the "best" time that the top runners in the world are allowed to have without cheating...since you seem to doubt the performances of "all of the top runners in the world in the 100, 200 and 400m sprints and hurdles"?
sappquest at 04:24 PM JST - 18th August

My point has always been and continues to be that regardless of the sport, if someone is performing without cheating and gets good times, they should be acknowledged. If they are found at some point in the future to have cheated, shame and disgrace will naturally follow...and rightfully so. But whether or not you want to believe it, there are those who don't cheat and yet they perform well. In the corporate world, there are many who succeed without stepping on other people and they should be set as examples for others to follow. We shouldn't tear down their names because we "believe" that they have hidden skeletons in the closet that they are trying to hide? I know this is off the main topic of this article but I strongly believe that the same principle applies.
pathat at 05:48 PM JST - 18th August

sappquest: A few final comments.

Cheating in swimming and the corporate world have nothing to do with this thread, so I am not going to get into the discussion.

"But whether or not you want to believe it, there are those who don't cheat and yet they perform well."

Well, of course this is true. But I have pointed out that the accomplishments of the Jamaicans are eerily reminiscent of the same things we have seen repeatedly through the years from other countries` sprinters, and you can only give me that they are practicing naturally at home instead of going to college in the U.S. as the main justification for the explosive difference being put up in the times of the Jamaicans as opposed to the rest of the world.

Are you saying "the boys and girls of the Caribbean" have some combination of superior coaching, training, and facilities now which enable them to blow away the rest of the world in Ben Johnson/Flo Jo fashion?

Sorry, we have seen it too many times before, and I am not buying it.

Thanks for the discussion, sappquest.
rajakumar at 06:27 PM JST - 18th August

Way to go team jamaica. Keep making more Usain Bolt type wins.
VOR at 06:37 AM JST - 19th August

It doesn't matter if you are talking about horses or human beings, in this day and age it would be naive to think what separates the fastest on the track is their physical conditioning and will to win.

Maybe in rare cases there are those that accomplish their great speed naturally, but today, there is way too much money at stake to think otherwise.

In the end these ladies will probably be found out and dubbed the fastest of the cheaters.