Cameron, Jamaica's first World Champs star

Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

Jamaica's 400 metres runner, Bertland Cameron, had, arguably, the most impeccable credentials of the just over 1,300 athletes heading to the inaugural World Champion-ships in Athletics in Helsinki, Finland, in 1983.

Cameron is currently a senior coach with the Jamaica team in Daegu, South Korea, but 28 years ago the spotlight was on him as he had been almost unbeatable over 400 metres the previous two years.

His dominance of the event began in 1980 on the United States collegiate circuit where he won the NCAA indoor championship, followed the next year by the outdoor title, for the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP).

1982 also turned out to be a banner year for Cameron, a former St Jago athlete who first competed for Jamaica as a senior three years earlier at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Canada.

That year, he won gold in the 400m at the Central American and Caribbean Games which took place in Havana, Cuba, in August. One month later, he repeated the feat at the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia.

In a 2004 interview with The Gleaner, Cameron credited the professional staff at UTEP for his transformation from promising schoolboy athlete to world beater.

"When I went to college I didn't have to worry about nutrition or simple things like how I would reach training. Being in a professional setting made a lot of difference," he said.

Biggest test

Injury had caused Cameron to miss the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. Helsinki seemed the perfect stage for his biggest test to date.

The Finland capital was the scene of a momentous triumph for Jamaica's heralded 4x400 metres relay team 51 years earlier. Its Olympiastadion - where Arthur Wint, Les Laing, George Rhoden and Herb McKenley had savoured victory - was the site for the first World Championships.

The final was a formality for Cameron who took the gold in 45.05 seconds, beating the Americans Michael Franks (45.22) and Sunder Nix (45.24). Cameron's winning time was a championship record.

Naturally, it sparked comparisons with McKenley, hailed by many experts as the world's greatest quarter-miler and set the stage for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Cameron was also favourite for the 400 metres in Los Angeles. But despite a heroic run in the semi-finals where he qualified for the final with a ruptured hamstring, his injury prevented him from appearing in the medal race.

Bert Cameron remained a force in the 400 metres for the next three years, taking the silver medal at the Central American and Caribbean Games and Pan American Games in 1985 and 1987, respectively.

He was eliminated at the semi-final stage of the second World Championships in Rome in 1987 but was a member of Jamaica's 4x400m team that took the silver medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.