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The head of USA Track and Field has challenged the Jamaican federation to a home-and-home team competition between American and Jamaican sprinters this spring, trying to build on the rivalry that came to a head with the overwhelming Jamaican success at last summer’s Beijing Olympics.
Doug Logan, the chief executive of USA Track and Field, delivered his idea by letter to Neville McCook of the Jamaican Amateur Athletic Association on Saturday. He proposed a minimeet be held in each country, pitting American and Jamaican runners in the men’s and women’s 100 meters, 200, 400, 400 hurdles, long jump and three sprint relays. They would also compete in the women’s 100 hurdles and the men’s 110 hurdles.
Logan envisioned a matchup featuring the Jamaican stars Usain Bolt, the Olympic gold medalist and world-record holder in the 100 and 200, and Asafa Powell; and United States stars like Tyson Gay and Lauryn Williams.
Bolt led the Jamaicans in the Beijing Olympics with two stunning performances. The United States team, usually dominant in the sprints, took a back seat, with an injury to Gay hurting his medal hopes. The Jamaican women, led by Shelly-Ann Fraser, swept the women’s 100. Both American 4x100-meter relay teams failed to advance out of the semifinals after dropping the baton.
Logan’s proposed format would include two relay teams for each country in the two relays and three or four individuals per country in the other events. Scoring would be cumulative.
“I was among the millions of captivated observers in Beijing who watched as Jamaican short sprinters dominated their events at the Olympic Games,” Logan wrote in the letter. “It was obvious to everyone that with the rise of your country’s great sprinters and hurdlers, a compelling rivalry between Jamaica and the United States had developed.”
www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/sports
Doug Logan, the chief executive of USA Track and Field, delivered his idea by letter to Neville McCook of the Jamaican Amateur Athletic Association on Saturday. He proposed a minimeet be held in each country, pitting American and Jamaican runners in the men’s and women’s 100 meters, 200, 400, 400 hurdles, long jump and three sprint relays. They would also compete in the women’s 100 hurdles and the men’s 110 hurdles.
Logan envisioned a matchup featuring the Jamaican stars Usain Bolt, the Olympic gold medalist and world-record holder in the 100 and 200, and Asafa Powell; and United States stars like Tyson Gay and Lauryn Williams.
Bolt led the Jamaicans in the Beijing Olympics with two stunning performances. The United States team, usually dominant in the sprints, took a back seat, with an injury to Gay hurting his medal hopes. The Jamaican women, led by Shelly-Ann Fraser, swept the women’s 100. Both American 4x100-meter relay teams failed to advance out of the semifinals after dropping the baton.
Logan’s proposed format would include two relay teams for each country in the two relays and three or four individuals per country in the other events. Scoring would be cumulative.
“I was among the millions of captivated observers in Beijing who watched as Jamaican short sprinters dominated their events at the Olympic Games,” Logan wrote in the letter. “It was obvious to everyone that with the rise of your country’s great sprinters and hurdlers, a compelling rivalry between Jamaica and the United States had developed.”
www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/sports
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