Not the 'D' word-Daegu 2011 review
By Kwame Laurence kwame.laurence@trinidadexpress.com
Story Created: Sep 15, 2011 at 12:51 AM ECT
Story Updated: Sep 15, 2011 at 12:51 AM ECT
Disappointing is the word I've been hearing in reference to Trinidad and Tobago's performance at the IAAF World Championships, in Daegu, Korea. Apparently, that's the popular sentiment, and since it's far easier to just go with the flow rather than make a measured assessment, that "D" word continues to roll off the tongues of many.
How can the country's second best performance ever at a World Championship meet be described as disappointing? To those who are shocked at the suggestion that one bronze medal could put the 2011 T&T team in second spot, that rating is based on the placing table and not the medal table.
The placing table puts a value on top-eight finishes, while the medal table focuses on those who make it to the podium. Surely, precious metal is not the only measure of success when competing on a global stage.
Kelly-Ann Baptiste was undoubtedly the star of the Daegu show for T&T, the 24-year-old sprinter earning bronze in the women's 100 metres. Running into a stiff 1.4 metres per second headwind, Baptiste got to the line in 10.98 seconds, missing out on silver by just one-hundredth of a second. A similar wind blowing in the other direction, and Baptiste might well have produced a clocking somewhere in the 10.7s. Among the sprinters she beat to the line was Jamaica's 2008 Olympic gold medallist and defending world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. That third-place finish earned T&T six points.
Baptiste was instrumental in earning five more points for the red, white and black, the Florida-based athlete performing second leg duties for the fourth-placed women's 4x100m team. In the qualifying round, 19-year-old Kai Selvon, Baptiste, Semoy Hackett and another 19-year-old, Michelle-Lee Ahye, bolted round the track in an impressive 42.50 seconds—a new national record.
It's insulting to Baptiste to use the "D" word when she successfully took on the best in the world, and came away with a medal. Not satisfied, the Plymouth, Tobago sprinter then took two teens and a 22-year-old under her wing, steering them oh so close to a podium finish.
That relay run reminded me of the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton, Canada, where a seasoned Ato Boldon teamed up with 16-year-old Darrel Brown, Marc Burns, 18, and Jacey Harper, 21, for third spot in the men's sprint relay. T&T were later upgraded to silver following the disqualification of the United States, on account of the confession of their anchorman Tim Montgomery that he had used performance-enhancing drugs during his track career.
The Edmonton silver laid the foundation for further global success—men's 4x1 silver at the 2005 and 2009 editions of the IAAF World Championships, as well as silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The Daegu experience is likely to have a similar impact, serving as a catalyst for medal-winning performances on the global stage from T&T's sprint relay women.
The men's 4x1 combination of Keston Bledman, Burns, Aaron Armstrong and Richard "Torpedo" Thompson seemed set for a top-three finish in the Daegu final. Their hopes were dashed, however, when American Darvis Patton fell into Armstrong's path. Team T&T finished sixth to earn three points.
The "D" word? Not after Rondel Sorrillo became the second T&T sprinter to reach a World Championship 200m final, his seventh-place finish giving the country an additional two points. Only Boldon, the 1997 gold medallist, had previously competed in a half-lap final at the global meet.
Sorrillo opened with a 20.68 seconds run. He improved to 20.56 in the semis, and in the championship race dropped his time to 20.34.
The four top-eight finishes in Korea gave Team T&T a combined total of 16 points, good enough for 20th spot on the placing table. Think about it. There were 202 countries represented at the World Championships, and T&T finished among the top 20. Beating the likes of Canada, Norway, Brazil and Croatia must count for something.
The only occasion on which T&T had more World Championship finalists, earned more points, and finished higher on the placing table was at the 2009 edition of the meet, in Berlin. We were on fire in the German capital, the seven finalists accumulating 32 points to secure 13th spot on the placing table. And for the first time, T&T earned three medals at the Championships—men's 4x1 silver, Renny Quow's men's 400m bronze and Josanne Lucas' women's 400m hurdles bronze.
We were not as successful in Daegu. But not matching our best ever World Championship performance is certainly no justification for use of the "D" word.
At the 2007 World Championships, in Osaka, Japan, we earned just one point. It was Burns who saved face for T&T, the consistent sprinter finishing eighth in the men's 100m final.
The following year, Thompson earned 100m silver at the Beijing Olympics, and the men's 4x1 team also finished second. And in 2009, we were brilliant in Berlin.
So, there's no need to panic ahead of the 2012 London Olympics. Nor should there be complacency.
Admittedly, there were performances in Daegu that did not meet expectations.
Cleopatra Borel was a good bet for a top-eight finish in the women's shot put. She was seventh in the qualifying round with an 18.95m throw, but was well short of her best in the final, and had to settle for 13th spot.
While Quow had been having an ordinary season, there was optimism following his 44.84 seconds run in the opening round in Daegu. In the semis, though, he could only manage a 45.72 clocking, and finished 13th.
With good reason, Thompson, Bledman and Jehue Gordon were seen as potential finalists.
Gordon finished ninth overall in the semi-final round of the men's 400m hurdles, the 19-year-old missing out on a berth in the final by just one-hundredth of a second. Though still a teenager, much was expected of Gordon following his impressive fourth-place finish in Berlin two years ago.
Bledman was ninth best in the men's 100m semis, a championship race lane eluding him by less than one-hundredth of a second.
And Thompson was tenth overall in the same event. A true patriot, the double Olympic silver medallist was distraught at the end of the semi-final round.
About seven weeks before the 2011 National Championships, Thompson had said that staging the meet in mid-August, just two weeks ahead of Worlds, would put T&T athletes at a disadvantage.
While Baptiste and Borel were allowed to skip the T&T Championships, Thompson and Quow were not granted exemptions, and had to compete to be eligible for World Championship selection. Gordon and Bledman were also among the athletes on show at the local meet.
Thompson emerged as the star of the National Championships, blazing to victory in the 100m final in 9.85 seconds—a new T&T record. The best he could muster in Daegu a fortnight later was 10.20.
After his semi-final run, Thompson said: "I guess coming off the 9.85, jumping on a plane, and flying for about 30 hours total in travel just kind of threw my legs off."
And with a 13-hour time difference between Daegu and Port of Spain, Thompson should have been in the Korean city at least two weeks ahead of competition, ensuring that his body was properly adjusted. That was not possible. A fortnight before Worlds, he was running at the National Championships.
We'll never know for sure if the "Torpedo" left his World Championship performance on the Hasely Crawford Stadium track. What is evident, though, is that one month after the T&T meet, Thompson is regaining his legs. On Sunday, he clocked 10.08 seconds in Germany, and followed up with 10.03 in Croatia on Tuesday.
But what could have been in Daegu is no longer important.
After diving under 10 seconds five times in 2008, Thompson, at the time of writing, has produced a total of three sub-10 runs in the three subsequent seasons. The T&T track star must do a rethink ahead of off-season preparations, and make a decision about the way forward. If a change of coaching personnel is required, then so be it—whatever it takes to steer clear of that "D" word in post-Olympic analyses.
