Four months out from the Games, I've just run my first
competitive 400 metres of the year. I clocked 45.92sec. That time is OK,
no better than that. But it's just kind of a relief to get out on the
track. You never really know how your first race of the year is going to
go, or what kind of shape you'll be in when you get out after all the
winter training. So at least I got all those questions out of my head.
I'll be aiming to run something a lot closer to 45 flat in my next 400m.
Before that I'll do a 200m. At this time of year I'm starting to switch
from strength work to speed work, and running a 200m will be part of
that. I haven't done a 200m since 2009, and my personal best is still
only 21sec. I'll be looking to go a lot quicker.
We just had
Prince Harry swing by the Racers Track Club in Kingston. You probably
saw those pictures posing with Usain Bolt, surrounded by journalists. To
be honest, though, the most interesting thing that's been going on
since I last wrote is the Boys and Girls Champs, which were happening
last weekend. People always ask me why Jamaica produces all these great
runners. I tell them that if they want to find out the answer, they have
to get down to the Boys and Girls, which are the national schools
finals.
Track and field is just so big in Jamaica. You can't
really appreciate it until you come and see it. Everybody is involved in
it. If you have a look at one of the big high schools at the start of
the season you'll see they have over 100 athletes trying out for the
team. The coaches have to cut the squad down just to focus on a small
number of people, so right from the start our runners are always
competing against the guys and girls next to them. You're always being
pushed, you know?
The best make it to the Boys and Girls, and the
atmosphere there is just crazy. It is a real big thing, everybody is
into it and everybody is looking forward to it, so there is lots of
pressure and expectation. That means when we get to the Olympics, we're
ready for it, because we grew up under pressure: pressure from the
press, pressure from your school, pressure from the people in the
street, pressure from the guy you're trying to beat.
There was too
much talent at the Boys and Girls this year to name all the athletes
who caught my eye, but I have to tell you about Shauna Helps. Remember
that her name, because one day she could be the next Veronica
Campbell-Brown or Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. Shauna won the sprint double
in the under-15s group, with 24.21sec in the 200m and 11.50sec in the
100m. That beat the record by .16sec. It's not just that she wins the
races, it's the way she wins them. That's what makes her so special.
The
other runner you guys should look out for is Delano Williams. He won
the sprint double in the under-19 group, with a 100m time of 10.37sec
and a 200m time of 21.18sec. Now, the reason I tell you about him is
that Delano could be running for Great Britain at the Olympics this
summer. He's studying at Munro College over in St Elizabeth, but he's
not Jamaican, he's from the Turks and Caicos Islands. He can't represent
them in the Olympics, because they're not recognised by the
International Olympic Committee. But Turks and Caicos are a British
Overseas Territory and he's got a British passport. So he says he is
going to go compete at the British trials in June. He's a good young
sprinter, and he's already got the Olympic A qualifying standard in the
200m. Maybe GB is going to benefit from a little of that Boys and Girls
magic too.
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