Michael Abrahams | Now, about that men’s 100m final

The men’s 100m final at the recently concluded Paris Olympics was fascinating. All eyes were on world champion American Noah Lyles as he sought to add Olympic 100m champion to his many accolades. Here in Jamaica, we were awaiting the clash between him and our athletes Oblique Seville and Kishane Thompson, the former beating Lyles earlier this year at our National Stadium and the latter posting a time of 9.77 seconds this year to win the event at our National Championships, a time faster than Lyles has ever run.

Both Lyles and Thompson crossed the finish line 9.79 seconds after the starter’s pistol went off, However, the title was awarded to Lyles after an examination of the photo finish revealed that the American had won by a slim margin of 0.005 seconds. It was indeed a tight race. The gap of 0.12 seconds between the first and eighth-place athletes was reported to be the smallest ever in a global men’s 100m final. The flurry of comments by Jamaicans online in the aftermath of the race saddened me as it laid bare the ignorance regarding the rules of the sport, the power of the Internet to disseminate misinformation, and the ugliness of cyberbullying.

There was a widespread narrative that the race was stolen from Thompson. But it was not. One argument is that the photographs clearly showed that one of Thompson’s feet crossed the finish line before Lyles’ did. Ironically, although the race is run by feet, it is not the foot crossing the line that determines the winner, but rather the torso, and this is clearly stated in the rules. Another argument that, unfortunately, went viral in a social media post is that rounding times off to the nearest thousandth of a second “is only applicable to advance athletes to the next round of competition or for lane assignments” but that “for the purpose of awarding medals, the rules categorically state that times are rounded to the nearest hundredth of a second”. That statement is rubbish. Not only is it false, but Jamaica has benefited from the application of that rule on more than one occasion.

In 2007, at the World Athletics Championships in Osaka, Japan, Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell won the gold medal with a time of 11.01 seconds. In second place was the USA’s Lauryn Williams, who also ran 11.01 seconds. Why was Campbell awarded the gold medal? Because the times were rounded off to the nearest thousandth and Campbell was marginally ahead.

SIMILAR SITUATION

A similar situation arose in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce and Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josée Ta Lou both ran a time of 10.86 seconds, behind Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson (10.71) and the USA’s Tori Bowie (10.83). However, after rounding off to the nearest thousandth of a second, it was discovered that Fraser Pryce was slightly ahead at the finish line. Hence, she was awarded the bronze medal and To Lou given fourth place.

Also, in that historic Jamaican sweep in the women’s 100m final at the Olympics in Beijing, China, in 2008, where Fraser Pryce won in a time of 10.78 seconds, her teammates, Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart, shared the silver medal because not only did they both post an identical time of 10.98 seconds, but when the times were rounded off to the nearest thousandth of a second, they were still indistinguishable at 10.979 seconds, hence the literal sharing of the silverware.

Think about it. If Thompson was indeed deserving of the gold medal, wouldn’t the Jamaica Athletics Association (JAAA), the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA), and Thompson’s coach, Steven Francis, have protested vociferously? They did not.

To win the gold medal in the 100m final at the Olympics is a sprinter’s dream, and celebrating it excitedly is a given. Lyles has been in a relationship with Jamaican 400m runner Junelle Bromfield since 2022. Some Jamaicans have expressed discomfort with Lyles’ comments during a television interview that Bromfield has shared stories with him about discord in the Jamaican camp, and his title as “the fastest man in the world” has also irked some of us as our own Usain Bolt, who is still alive, owns the world record for the 100m after running a blistering 9.58 seconds in Berlin in 2009. In all fairness, it is common for people to share stories about their fellow employees and colleagues with their spouses, and the title of the world’s fastest man or woman is often given to the Olympic or World Athletics Championship 100m winner.

But the disapproval of the Jamaicans intensified after Lyles won the race because in addition to some being mistakenly convinced that Thompson had been robbed, Bromfield openly embraced and congratulated Lyles. Yes, she is Jamaican and represents her country. But if her spouse is victorious at such a stellar event, what do you expect? Should she stand with a poker face and refrain from congratulating him? I see no reason to question her loyalty. Lyles’ mother had the Jamaican flag painted on some of her fingernails while she cheered on her son, too. She is supportive of her son and Junelle. Nevertheless, the unwarranted and nasty online attacks on Bromfield continued unabated. She was branded a traitor, with some expressing a desire for her to fail in her upcoming events. Barbs were even thrown at her for her appearance and complexion. As a Jamaican, I was embarrassed.

Noah Lyles is the new Olympic men’s 100m champion, and I salute him. I also salute Kishane Thompson. This was his first Olympics, and he shone like the star he is. That is just how sports is. You win some, and you lose some. In the meantime, I am looking forward to seeing Lyles, Thompson, and Seville on the track again soon.

Special thanks to World Athletics technical official Bruce James, who assisted me with my research.

Michael Abrahams is an obstetrician and gynaecologist, social commentator and human-rights advocate. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and michabe_1999@hotmail.com, or follow him on X , formerly Twitter, @mikeyabrahams.