Posts by Neil O. Clayton
2021 Track & Field Season Was Probably the Best Ever
The recently concluded 2021 track season was one of the best I ever witnessed. It was probably the best if one were to consider the challenges faced the last two years and the number of records established. However, despite the efforts of the world’s best athletes, one omission from exploits on the track was the…
Read MoreAmid Ravaging Pandemic, What Will Tokyo 2021 Yield?
The pandemic has been a most prohibitive defining moment in many people’s lives. The world anxiously awaits a restart. As the world slowly and cautiously eyes a ‘soft’ reopening, the question is: Will track and field return to its former glory? Within the last 12 to 15 years, enthusiasts of sports, not only track and field…
Read MoreShould Asafa Powell, Other Athletes Get A Statue?
Regarding the Asafa Powell statue controversy, even some ardent fans of track and field disagree with his selection because: what qualifies one for statue consideration? I don’t think that point was defined at all, and therein lies the crux of the problem. In tennis circles, one has to win at least two Grand Slam titles…
Read MoreHow The Jamaicans Exceeded Expectations in Doha
Jamaicans were concerned about their would-be performances in Doha, but as it turned out, it was totally unfounded. At the Jamaican Trials in late June, for example, hurdling revelation Danielle Williams was charged with a false start in the women’s 100m final, and was accordingly thrown out of the race, a la IAAF false start…
Read MoreBolt, Fraser-Pryce Share Stage with 800m Compatriot Prodigy
Urgency of the Jamaican 800m New York – If you are Jamaican, chances are that you are fast: fast talker, fast walker or fast runner. In Jamaica, there is always an immediate need for speed. Herb McKenley, Merlene Ottey, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Sprint King Usain Bolt, Sprint Empress Shelly Ann-Fraser-Pryce and Elaine Thompson, did not come…
Read MoreTale of an MVP Superstar Sprinter and the New ‘It’ Girl
NEW YORK: The more things change, the more they remain the same. Take for example the miscommunication between Coach Stephen Francis and his star, or would-be former star pupil, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. Coach Francis exemplifies the stereotypical “one-woman-man” syndrome, which is frowned upon in a Jamaican male-dominated society. The argument stands by itself and should not…
Read MoreJamaica Trials: Fraser-Pryce Struggles, Campbell-Brown Sizzles
Veteran world track star, Veronica Campbell-Brown (VCB) is set to steal the spotlight in the women’s sprints at this week’s Jamaica Nationals, to select Jamaica’s team to the Rio Olympics later this summer. VCB, 33, has long been Jamaica’s sprint standard-bearer, and has won 45 international medals, making her one of the most important athletes…
Read MoreDon’t Cast Doubt on Who’ve Worked Hard for Their Success
NEW YORK – There have been loud whispers from UK athletic officials regarding expunging the track and field universe of all its current world records so that any new mark might be true and common, free from the scourge of drugs. What UK athletics and its supporters are positing is beyond ridiculous. The suggestion is that…
Read MoreFive to Watch in 2015
NEW YORK –There was a plethora of outstanding performances at the New York Grand Prix, held at the Icahn Stadium, Randall’s Island, on Saturday, 13 June. Indeed, all of the commotion over the East River was punctuated by the only undefeated global champion ever – the incomparable Usain Bolt. However, on this occasion, he got…
Read MoreJamaica Needs an 800m Prodigy
It has been a long, dry, lean season. It has been decades long; but there is no end in sight. Jamaica is truly blessed, but certainly not with the gift of a promising 800m talent. If you are reading this, and you were born in 1977, it was a very good year. It was the…
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