Laurie Foster | Focus on your future, Blake

No follower of track and field, avid or not, is likely to forget the Daegu World Championships in 2011.

It remains the only time that the man who won the 100m, Yohan Blake, was able to claim an individual global title. What took some of the gloss from his achievement was that the superstar and the man now regarded as a legend in the sporting arena, Usain Bolt, also coached by the sprint guru, Glen Mills, false-started.

Painfully, for all who deemed it a genuine error of judgment, Bolt was forced to exit the final, paving the way for the 21-year-old Blake to become the youngest world champion ever. Subsequent to that, Bolt had only been beaten by Blake in the Trials for the 2012 Olympics.

These victories whetted the appetite of those close to the sport in eager anticipation of the then bubbling Blake taking the double crown in London. Bolt had accomplished that in Beijing in 2008 in record-breaking times of 9.69 and 19.30 seconds to begin the conversation that he was the best ever.

Now, fast-forward to 2019, and the Tokyo Olympics is but a year away.

Bolt had created a trio of double-sprint titles at the Olympic level, the last coming in Rio in 2016. While his rivals for Olympic glory around the world are engrossed in pre-season preparation, Blake is lamenting his lack of advance since cruel and seemingly endless injury problems have muted what he could legitimately see as his progress between 2013 and 2015.

No one seeks to wish ill on any athlete, and it is most unfortunate that someone who has times of 9.69 and 19.26 seconds in the 100m and 200m, respectively, should have suffered so much downtime during the period of his ailments. Now seems to be the time for him to first, decide where he wants to be coached and make stability and consistency major factors in his build-up to where he wants to be.

Given the limited period left on his clock, he should expend his energy on getting back to where he was when he wore the number two tag in the world. No one should believe that it will be an easy passage, but neither were the bridges he had to cross, tutored by coach Mills, when the former St Jago High School ace sprinter ruled the roost in world sprinting, save for the greatest of all time, Usain Bolt – the same Bolt who is now on a path to success in business, reminiscent of that which he enjoyed on the track.

Foster’s Fairplay is no track and field genius – far from it. What finds favour in this corner of the sport is an athlete who allows hard work and faultless dedication and not a cry-baby attitude to steer his way to the top echelons of the sport. It does not serve any useful purpose to be crossing swords with those who you deem to have halted your progress in the past.

For Blake to be blaming poor handling by the persons he chose to look after his preparation in his earlier years, it is for us a worthless exercise. Judging from what is now in the public domain, Blake is now up in arms for faulty scheduling of his competition as he was not allowed to race Bolt, and in his mind, be able to beat him, something he has never done on the global stage.

Foster’s Fairplay views this failure, if it is one, to be in the province of his agent.

Track and field is big business, and agents are paid to manage that aspect of an athlete’s career. This is not to say that coach Mills should not have a say. He needs to, but it should be a joint decision involving coach and agent together. So should the blame, if the cause for one is real.

Blake has spoken out, and we should take his words seriously. He appears to be emotionally bruised. Looking back, it cannot be, at his age, a satisfying experience. However, all that is in the past, and he should be looking ahead to a brighter future than that which has been his lot in the recent past.

Let all Jamaica wish him well!

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