And it’s been a while since it was not Team Jamaica dominating on the international Athletics stage, and obviously, with Team USA eclipsed for many seasons, they and their public, were desperate to return to winning ways.
Well, enter Noah Lyles and Sha’ Carri Richardson, who took the 100-Meters Gold medals in the World Championships, currently underway in Budapest, Hungary.
The Wins, by the Americans, have American commentators and fans hitting the hyperbolic overdrive in celebration. Particularly, the win of Richardson, over Jamaican rivals Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Sherika Jackson. So much so, that some American Commentators and fans have now dubbed Sha’Carri Richardson, “The Fastest Woman Alive”. The only problem, with that categorization, is that Jamaican Fans are pushing back as that title belongs to Ace Jamaican Sprinter, Elaine Thompson-Herah, who clocked her dominant winning time, of 10.57, in Eugene, Oregon, in the USA, in 2021.
And there’s that other problem, of the sub-text to the narrative surrounding American Athletes, as by and large, the Jamaican Audience suspects most American Athletes of using performance-enhancing booster drugs, during championships, giving them an unfair advantage over the yam and bananas diets of the Jamaicans.
The end result is that most Jamaicans are duly suspicious of American Athletes, and never consider a race over, until the scientific analysis of the ‘winning athletes Samples, come in later. And sometimes it takes years…So whilst America celebrates, and Jamaicans offer grudging congratulations, they do so with a healthy dose of suspicion, as they never think the race is completed on the Track.
One major point of disappointment is the fact that Sha’ Carri Richardson and Noah Lyles the Victors in the 100-Meters finals, are trash-talking artists, full of braggadocio and crowned with a graceless attitude on the track, that has not earned them the respect of Jamaicans.
Meanwhile, while disappointed that Jamaicans did not Jaminate, they are still shelling out maximum love for Sprint Queen Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Sprint Princees-Royal, Sherika Jackson. And 100-Meter 4th place finisher and Successor-in-waiting, to the Bolt throne, Sprint Prince, Oblique Seville,
With the disappointment in the traditional sprints being managed, fans are now waking up to the talent that abounds in Team Jamaica, with the focus now on the other events, where a number of Jamaican athletes have been shining, and are expected to be on the medal podium, before long. And so, hope springs eternal.
