Men’s 4x4 has much in store
McFarlane believes proper management will maximise Jamaica’s performance
Published:Tuesday | August 24, 2021 | 12:06 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
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Former Olympic 400m hurdles silver medallist and World Indoor 400m bronze medallist Danny McFarlane believes that Jamaica is blessed with a very promising crop of quarter-milers. As a matter of fact, he is surprised that the national 4x400m record...
Former Olympic 400m hurdles silver medallist and World Indoor 400m bronze medallist Danny McFarlane believes that Jamaica is blessed with a very promising crop of quarter-milers.
As a matter of fact, he is surprised that the national 4x400m record has not yet been broken.
He said that with the likes of Akeem Bloomfield, Christopher Taylor, Demish Gaye, Nathon Allen, and Sean Bailey and the quality they have shown in recent times, he has high expectations of this group.
He said the Jamaica Olympics 4x400m team that included Gaye, Taylor, Allen, and 400m hurdler Jaheel Hyde that ran 2:58.76 for sixth place at the Tokyo Games had been slowed by injuries.
Bloomfield missed the event, while Gaye had been battling with a foot injury all season and Bailey, the national champion and brother of former Olympics 200m champion, Veronica Campbell-Brown, was also injured earlier in the year.
Nevertheless, McFarlane believes that it is just a matter of time before the national record of 2:56.75 that was set by him, Michael McDonald, Gregory Haughton, and Davian Clarke at the World Championship in Greece in 1997 will be dismantled by this group of quarter-milers.
BREAK THE RECORD
“There is no way on earth our 2:56.00 should still be standing. With Jamaica’s talent and how fast these men are running that record should be gone long time,” he told The Gleaner.
“Hopefully, Akeem Bloomfield will get back to his best. He lost his mom and was injured, and I am sorry for that. He is one of the best. You also have Chris Taylor, Nathon Allen, Demish Gaye, and Sean Bailey. Those five are supposed to break the record,” he insisted.
He said that if this group stays injury free and can reach their best form, they will definitely make a mark on the world stage.
However, how the team is set up will be crucial, and he advised those in charge of organising the team to work with the athletes when putting them together.
“I hope they have good people around them. The people that put the team together and how they transition through the zones play an important part. Sometimes I watch them (relay team) run. I don’t even know what kind of baton change they are doing. Sometimes I see them put the team together I wonder who put the legs together like that,” he observed.