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MELBOURNE, Australia (AP): Jamaica won the men's and women's 4x100 meter relays to sweep all the sprint events for the first time in Commonwealth Games history on Saturday, while two men's events featured drama and tumbles... <font color="blue"> more </font>...
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Re: History making by Jamaicans at the Games
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Re: However, Jamaican coaches commended...
Commonwealth Games: Coaches must share the blame
By Michael Johnson
(Filed: 25/03/2006)
In pics: Melbourne day nine
Commonwealth Games medals table
What we saw in England's performance in the 4 x 100 metres relay was ineptitude but you have to look at the coaches as well as the athletes.
In the first heat, you had two teams who dropped the baton - Trinidad, one of the favourites, and Nigeria, although they suffered when one of their guys pulled up with a hamstring injury.
But it's March - no one's run any relays and so people don't know what condition they are in or what speed their team-mates have.
For the English guys who run in the British team, the relay has been huge over the years. It shouldn't be, but it is.
I think they came here thinking, 'we're a team, we run well together, we know each other and we know what we're doing'.
I think Mark Lewis-Francis put his 'go' mark down on the track where he normally puts it.
But it's March.
The Marlon Devonish who bumped into him at the Olympics and World Championships is not the same Marlon Devonish that came round the bend in the MCG.
I think Mark's marker was back too far. When Marlon came round after not running a particularly good bend, Mark took off and Marlon couldn't catch him.
Mark compounded the mistake by turning around and looking for Marlon.
You have to do that at some point but you need to be closer to the end of the changeover zone.
When an athlete turns around like that, you have major problems that are coming at you very fast.
You end up with two unsteady hands trying to find each other. The point is, you know you're going to have those problems in March.
A lot of other teams probably had those problems but made the adjustments.
<font color="blue"> The Jamaicans, for instance, made very safe changeovers because their coach probably understood the problem of sprinters coming together in a relay team this early in the year.
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A lot of people share the blame for what happened to the English team but, at the end of the day, it is down to the coach to make sure that these guys understand the need for safe handovers.
The state of sprinting in Britain is horrible but it's been that way for a while.
The British system rewards mediocrity. It rewards Britain's best, not the world's best. These athletes have it all, the status, the support, before they have done anything.
But Darren Campbell, finally, is the only one that stood up and said, 'heh, you know what? I think Michael's right. We don't need excuses anymore. We're in crisis'.
I think what happened in Melbourne will be good for these guys. We've talked about Lewis-Francis's problems for a long time but he probably needed to hear it from someone like Darren, the older statesman.
What has happened in the past is that you had these guys supporting one another.
When there was criticism, they would close ranks and support each other.
Darren has broken rank and people will finally understand that British sprinting is in crisis.
After the race, he called for my help. I'm always around to help. If the situation was right, I'd be happy to help.
But the system is the problem with British sprinting because you can't expect an athlete to change himself.
The system has to change and that has to start at the top.Comment
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Re: Commonwealth Games history by Jamaicans
Jamaican track team dominates
Published March 26, 2006
Jamaica was expected to do well at the Commonwealth Games in Australia, but not even the most extreme optimist could have anticipated the dominance of the track team at this event.
Starting with a 100-meters sprint double triumph from the men and women, courtesy of world-record holder Asafa Powell and Sheri-Ann Brooks, the Jamaican squad came up with two more pairs of sprint doubles.
Omar Brown and Sherone Simpson won the 200 meters, and Maurice Wignall and Bridgette Foster won the 110 hurdles.
Saturday, Jamaica won the 400-meter relays. Powell led the men's foursome to victory, and Brooks led the women.
The Jamaicans pocketed an unprecedented 10 gold medals in track and field, 22 medals overall.
Brooks' win in the 100 was unexpected, as was the silver-medal finish for shot-putter Dorian Scott.
Also not well-known are Maurice Smith, silver medalist in the men's decathlon, and Olivia McKoy, who captured a bronze in the women's javelin, behind LaVerne Eve of the Bahamas.
Elsewhere at the Games, Jamaica staged a sensational comeback to tie Australia in the netball championship at 54-54, after trailing by nine points in the closing minutes of the preliminary group game.
It was so impressive a comeback that the Australian coach felt obliged to describe the Sunshine Girlz as "easily one of the world's best teams."
Australia, however, topped the prelim group on goal difference, leaving Jamaica to face world champion New Zealand in one semifinal. The Kiwis won 61-41 on Saturday.
The Trinidad and Tobago men's field hockey team did well to finish 10th.Comment
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