Life in the fast lane for Sportsworld in Kingston
|12:37 UK time, Friday, 26 March 2010
It was a real treat being invited to watch Asafa Powell, Shelly-Ann Fraser and the MVP track and field club completing their early morning training here in Jamaica the other day.
Coach Stephen Francis took them under his wing when they were full of promise, but not necessarily at the very top of their age group, and has helped turn them into gold medalists and world record holders.
When I made my way into their training camp at Kingston's University of Technology, I was astonished by what I saw. There - in the shadow of the Blue Mountains and at the bottom of a hill which boasts a former residence of Bob Marley - was Asafa Powell sprinting full tilt towards me on a dusty grass track. Shelly-Ann Fraser admitted to me afterwards that injuries are not uncommon as they are put through their paces on a track which most sporting super powers would turn their noses up at.
It makes Jamaica's success all the more remarkable. It was fascinating chatting to coach Francis afterwards about his training philosophy, and hearing Shelly-Ann Fraser admit that her main motivation for running fast as a child was so that she could escape her mother when she thought she was in for a beating.
Clearly bags of national talent, high quality coaching and real desire contribute to making Jamaicans run so fast. But could there also be genetic reasons, and is is true that the yam produced in Usain Bolt's parish of Trelawny is more nutritious than anywhere else?
We'll explore all these subjects in Sportsworld, which comes live from Kingston on the 100th anniversary of Champs - the fiercely competitive High School athletics meet which I was blogging about last time.
And if you have a theory as to why Jamaicans can outsprint the rest of us, then I look forward to speaking to your from 1730 GMT on Sportsworld Have Your Say.
Comment number 1.
At 18:10 26th Mar 2010, noelc wrote:Hey Russell welcome to Jamaica, trust you'll have a fantastic time. Will be joining you inside the stadium on Friday and Saturday I know it will be a great experience for you and your team. If only we here could have some of the facilities you have in the UK, then for sure we'd be even a greater world sprinting force. Cheers and have a blast..
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Comment number 2.
At 13:20 7th May 2010, Patrick McKenzie wrote:Hi Sir Fuller,
I just manage to do this, but it's not late at all. I was indeed very happy to hear learn that you were in Jamaican for Champs 100. From the sound of your comments, you no doubt enjoyed yourself. I wished for a long time for foreigners to visit our games and moreso from BBC.
I look forward to seeing you again and again and I hope that you will be able to bring along with you the entire BBC team, Oh yea, that'll be good. Jamaicans love to listen to you. You are a number One both for the rest of the world and Jamaica. Have a nice day.
Patrick
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