Orville Taylor | Celebrating Olymancipendence 2021

It wasn’t a nine-day wonder; or maybe it was. However, they were historic. We had track and field in the Olympics, Emancipation Day, and Independence Day capped the period. All three events by themselves have the ability to make a small colour tweak in my wardrobe, with a dash of green and gold. I am Jamaican, black, and Caribbean without apology. My colour black in our flag depicts the strength and creativity of our people.

We are a great nation, but like our fight against COVID-19, our victory is far from complete, and mistakes in judgment or overconfidence can derail all we have achieved. Track and field epitomises our other challenges.

Having been on the bandwagon since the exploits of Don Quarrie and Lennox Miller and caught the tail end of Vilma Charlton, Dennis Johnson, Vinton Powell, and many others, the golden era made me no more Jamaican or even prouder. Rather, it simply gave me bragging rights about us being the sprint capital of the world, among the other things we are great at.

What Quarrie meant to us high-schoolers was that he was the first to have the country’s national anthem played at the Games in 1976. In the days when athletes were barred from earning a living from their exploits, I was star-struck and always considered that the watermark of greatness in the sprints was to beat the Americans. Far from being an anti-American stance, it was simply a matter of wanting to beat the best, and Americans were the gold standard. Yet I always felt that we were intrinsically better and faster and merely needed more possibilities of earning a living from the sport and better training facilities. But of course, if the first came, then the second would be easy.

FIRST-CLASS COACHES

Thus, with the advent of MVP and the endless raw material of first-class coaches from GC Foster College, the rest of it was … sociology, never history. What we demonstrated was that much of the dominance in sport of any sort was due mostly to socio-cultural factors although DNA gave some populations like ours an advantage in sprinting and East Africans in distance running.

Still, greatness is a process, and as much as being the greatest is a source of national pride, one can slip from the pinnacle, especially when the field of play is level. There is a thick line between nationalism and blind patriotism, which prevents one from seeing things from what they are and not what the grand narrative is. The 2004 sweep led by Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Veronica Campbell Brown, and Usain Bolt was the first reality check for the Americans.

With the departure of Bolt, I tried to make it clear that we were not just Bolt. Rather, we were overall better as sprinters. Our locking down of the high-school races at the Penn Relays now finds expression at the higher level, and if America wants to get back to the top, it must first of all accept that they are no longer the best and work on it. It is a lesson we must not forget ourselves. Although we taught the rest of the world that it can be done, we may find ourselves eating yam Alfredo with fettuccine as the Italians lose their awe of us.

In this column and elsewhere, I did predict that no female American sprinter would have won any sprint, including the 100 metres hurdles. In fact, Sha’Carri Richardson would lose to Jamaicans in a weed-smoking contest as well. Running fast times in America, on fast tracks, should not lull them into the delusion of being the USA of the 1980s and 1990s. Truth is, many of the fast times seem to have been detained by Customs as they travelled to other countries.

SPRINT CHAMPS

At the time this column was written, no sprinter caused the Star-Spangled Banner to be played. Of the 24 medals available for the sprints, including the eight golds, we won eight, including three golds. Add the women’s 4x100 gold and the issue is settled. And no, Richardson is not 0.5 seconds faster than anyone on the Jamaica squad. We are still the sprint champs – for now.

Doubtless, I am also proud of the Bahamian 400 double, the Colombian bronze, Santo Dominican silver, and Kirani James’ third successive medal in the one-lap.

No Caribbean winner truly surprised me. Hansle Parchment looked like a winner from the heats. Megan Tapper is fearless. For those who did not medal, I am very proud. Everyone went there to win, including those who lost focus or made rookie mistakes. All Jamaican and Caribbean participants deserve our congratulations. For good measure, the Jamaican men’s 4x100 would still not have medalled had they run as fast as in their semi-final win.

Congratulations, team Jamaica! We have the male and female greatest of all time (GOAT) sprinters. But ‘tickya’. The rest of the world is getting better, too, and the same knife sticking the American sheep can stick the Jamaican GOATs.

- Dr Orville Taylor is head of the Department of Sociology at The University of the West Indies, a radio talk-show host, and author of ‘Broken Promises, Hearts and Pockets’. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and tayloronblackline@hotmail.com.