Given the paucity of news, the site of World Athletics is publishing a series on "10 of the greatest athletic moments". The first such series had to do with "triumph over adversity". As expected it was a motley collection of stories, but some, like A. Quirot's comeback after her accident, where she suffered extensive third-degree burns, winning a world title over 800 m, were indeed a triumph over adversity.
Recently WA published a series of "10 of the greatest athletics examples of perseverance".
Again the choice of examples is highly debatable. W. Rudolph's case (she became the "black gazelle" of world sprint after having suffered in her childhood from polio, scarlet fever and pneumonia) should belong to the article of triumph over adversity. E. Moses coming back to win a second olympic medal in 1984 after a first one in 1976, having missed the 1980 Olympics due to the US boycott of the Moscow games, is absolutely not an example of perseverance. Moses did what any professional athlete would have done: pursue his career, all the more so since he was unbeatable in his speciality. To my eyes the example of perseverance is F. Sanchez (since we are talking about 400 m hurdles). He dominated his discipline from 2001 to 2004. And then just after winning the 2004 Olympics he injured himself and while managing a silver medal in the 2007 World's he was considered by everybody as a "has been". Then in 2012 he won his second olympic gold, at 34 years of age, the oldest winner in that event.
But what was most surprising was the item on "Merlene Ottey's long road to gold". The story is a well-known one. In 1993, Ottey, who was 33 years old, had a collection of bronze and silver medals, starting with her olympic bronze in 1980 in Moscow, over her favourite distance, the 200 m. But she had never won a major title. Well, this is not quite true. She was already indoor world champion in 1989 and 1991 over 200 m. (At that time the 200 m was still run indoor). She had won gold medals in the Commonwealth Games in 1982 and 1990 (a double 100-200 m, on the second occasion). She had even an outdoor world title with the jamaican 4x100 m relay obtained in 1991 (where she ran a phenomenal anchor coming from 3rd place to win the race by a huge margin). But an individual world title was eluding her. She had just lost the 100 m title for just one (!) millisecond (and she would loose an olympic one in 1996 in exactly the same way). And then came the 200 m final.
And while she was leading the race up to 190 m, she managed to stumble and she could have missed the best occasion in her life. Finally, she won by just a slight margin. For once Ottey has been lucky. It turned out that this was not the only time. Two years later she lost the 200 m world title to G. Torrence, but the latter was disqualified for a lane violation. So, Ottey managed to keep her title, beating Privalova by mere milliseconds.
I am a great fan of M. Ottey. For me she is the best female sprinter ever. I was planning, since quite some time, to write about her in a blog post and the WA article was an occasion. (That and the fact that, since we are under mandatory lockdown, I have more time to devote to the blog). M. Ottey is not an easy-going personality. In 2000 she found herself in the middle of a controversy. Having finished 4th in the jamaican trials she was qualified only for the 4x100 m relay, following which she asked that she be substituted for another team member. Thus she got to participate in the 100 m where she won bronze, but many members of the jamaican team took offence and protested. Due to this controversy, Ottey decided that after Sydney she was not going to run any more for Jamaica.
She pursued her career, running for Slovenia, her last participation being in the 2012 Europeans as a member of the 4x100 m slovenian relay. She was 52 years old at the time. She holds the master's world records for 100 and 200 m for the age groups of 35, 40, 45 and 50. M. Ottey is an Ambassador at Large of the Jamaican government since 1993. A high school in the Pondside District has been renamed "Merlene Ottey High School" in her honour. Despite the fact that she decided not to run for Jamaica after 2000, the government had honoured her in 2005 by erecting her statue. In the unveiling ceremony the Prime Minister said to Ottey:
“Your life is one of legendary endurance. From Moscow to Sydney, you showed the world that Jamaica is a force to be reckoned with in athletics. We know we can’t take the Jamaican out of you. No matter where you roam this will always be your home".
And the Minister of Sports added:
“Age is just a number. Merlene redefines what a person over 40 can do in sports today. She is one of the greatest Jamaican athletes of all time and undoubtedly the greatest Jamaican female athlete of all time”.
Why was I surprised seeing an article praising M. Ottey on the WA site? The story goes back to 1999. Following a meeting in Switzerland a urine sample of Ottey turned out to be positive. Ottey fought back asserting that she was innocent of knowingly taking steroids. She missed the 1999 World's but in 2000 she was cleared of all charges and the IAAF (that was what WA was called at that time) lifted their ban after the CAS dismissed the case. The IAAF instances did not like the fact that Ottey took them to court and ostentatiously ignored her whenever they invited past champions to medal award ceremonies. Does this article mean that the WA attitude has changed? I do not think so. Most probably, given the bizarre conditions we are currently living in, nobody in the higher-up echelons of WA saw the article before publication and, once published, they knew that any censorship would have provoked a Streisand effect.
There is no other track and field athlete with a career more impressive that the one of M. Ottey. She has won nine Olympic medals. (A. Felix has also nine Olympic among which one gold medal, won in 2012 over 200 m). Ottey has participated in seven Olympiads from 1980 to 2004. She has 14 World Championship medals, of which 10 are in individual events. (Felix has done better overall with 16 medals, but 10 of them are with the US relay team).
For me, Merlene Ottey is really the Queen of Sprint.
PS P.-J. Vazel also believes that Merlene Ottey is the Sprint Queen.
She just turned 60.
Recently WA published a series of "10 of the greatest athletics examples of perseverance".
Again the choice of examples is highly debatable. W. Rudolph's case (she became the "black gazelle" of world sprint after having suffered in her childhood from polio, scarlet fever and pneumonia) should belong to the article of triumph over adversity. E. Moses coming back to win a second olympic medal in 1984 after a first one in 1976, having missed the 1980 Olympics due to the US boycott of the Moscow games, is absolutely not an example of perseverance. Moses did what any professional athlete would have done: pursue his career, all the more so since he was unbeatable in his speciality. To my eyes the example of perseverance is F. Sanchez (since we are talking about 400 m hurdles). He dominated his discipline from 2001 to 2004. And then just after winning the 2004 Olympics he injured himself and while managing a silver medal in the 2007 World's he was considered by everybody as a "has been". Then in 2012 he won his second olympic gold, at 34 years of age, the oldest winner in that event.
Merlene Ottey in the 80s
But what was most surprising was the item on "Merlene Ottey's long road to gold". The story is a well-known one. In 1993, Ottey, who was 33 years old, had a collection of bronze and silver medals, starting with her olympic bronze in 1980 in Moscow, over her favourite distance, the 200 m. But she had never won a major title. Well, this is not quite true. She was already indoor world champion in 1989 and 1991 over 200 m. (At that time the 200 m was still run indoor). She had won gold medals in the Commonwealth Games in 1982 and 1990 (a double 100-200 m, on the second occasion). She had even an outdoor world title with the jamaican 4x100 m relay obtained in 1991 (where she ran a phenomenal anchor coming from 3rd place to win the race by a huge margin). But an individual world title was eluding her. She had just lost the 100 m title for just one (!) millisecond (and she would loose an olympic one in 1996 in exactly the same way). And then came the 200 m final.
Merlene Ottey in the 90s
I am a great fan of M. Ottey. For me she is the best female sprinter ever. I was planning, since quite some time, to write about her in a blog post and the WA article was an occasion. (That and the fact that, since we are under mandatory lockdown, I have more time to devote to the blog). M. Ottey is not an easy-going personality. In 2000 she found herself in the middle of a controversy. Having finished 4th in the jamaican trials she was qualified only for the 4x100 m relay, following which she asked that she be substituted for another team member. Thus she got to participate in the 100 m where she won bronze, but many members of the jamaican team took offence and protested. Due to this controversy, Ottey decided that after Sydney she was not going to run any more for Jamaica.
Merlene Ottey running for Slovenia
She pursued her career, running for Slovenia, her last participation being in the 2012 Europeans as a member of the 4x100 m slovenian relay. She was 52 years old at the time. She holds the master's world records for 100 and 200 m for the age groups of 35, 40, 45 and 50. M. Ottey is an Ambassador at Large of the Jamaican government since 1993. A high school in the Pondside District has been renamed "Merlene Ottey High School" in her honour. Despite the fact that she decided not to run for Jamaica after 2000, the government had honoured her in 2005 by erecting her statue. In the unveiling ceremony the Prime Minister said to Ottey:
“Your life is one of legendary endurance. From Moscow to Sydney, you showed the world that Jamaica is a force to be reckoned with in athletics. We know we can’t take the Jamaican out of you. No matter where you roam this will always be your home".
The statue of Merlene Ottey
And the Minister of Sports added:
“Age is just a number. Merlene redefines what a person over 40 can do in sports today. She is one of the greatest Jamaican athletes of all time and undoubtedly the greatest Jamaican female athlete of all time”.
Why was I surprised seeing an article praising M. Ottey on the WA site? The story goes back to 1999. Following a meeting in Switzerland a urine sample of Ottey turned out to be positive. Ottey fought back asserting that she was innocent of knowingly taking steroids. She missed the 1999 World's but in 2000 she was cleared of all charges and the IAAF (that was what WA was called at that time) lifted their ban after the CAS dismissed the case. The IAAF instances did not like the fact that Ottey took them to court and ostentatiously ignored her whenever they invited past champions to medal award ceremonies. Does this article mean that the WA attitude has changed? I do not think so. Most probably, given the bizarre conditions we are currently living in, nobody in the higher-up echelons of WA saw the article before publication and, once published, they knew that any censorship would have provoked a Streisand effect.
M. Ottey and H. ElGuerrouj inducted into
the Van Damme Hall of Fame in 2018
For me, Merlene Ottey is really the Queen of Sprint.
PS P.-J. Vazel also believes that Merlene Ottey is the Sprint Queen.
She just turned 60.
Foverer young, as Vazel says.
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