THE EDITOR, Sir:
I WRITE in response to the letter writer accusing Jamaicans of being hard on Usain Bolt for his failure to perform up to expectations at the recently concluded World Athletic Championships.
We keep hearing that Usain is young and we should give him a chance to improve. The trouble is Usain Bolt has not been improving. Just under two years ago Usain Bolt became the fastest junior athlete ever over the 200 metre sprint - 19.93 seconds. Since then he has not run as fast. True, he was unhealthy going into the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004 but since then he has been relatively healthy.
Usain Bolt is 19 years old this week. In a couple of days he will be the same age as an athlete from the United States who just last week became the first teenager to win a gold medal at a World Athletic Championships. Her name is Alyson Felix.
We also need to remember that Mr. Bolt is a professional athlete signed by Puma and does not only represent Jamaica when he steps onto a track. It is his job. That is why he left William Knibb and why he is paid a salary.
The writer also suggested that perhaps Usain and others like him perform at regional meets like the CAC and Pan American Championships as a means of getting better. He forgets or is ignorant of the fact that just prior to the world championships Usain Bolt became the Caribbean and Central American (CAC) champion in Nassau, Bahamas in 20.03 seconds, one hundredth of a second faster than the time that Justin Gatlin ran in the finals in Helsinki.
We need to understand that the mediocre standards that we set for ourselves are not compatible with world standards and this also holds true in the world of athletics. Wallace Spearmon, for example, is just over a year older than Bolt and yet he consistently performs at a higher level.
Excuses are not what Usain Bolt needs now. He needs to get his act together and start achieving the results that his talent so desperately demands.
I am, etc.,
LEIGHTON LEVY
shearer39@Gmail.com
Kingston
