8/26/08

I know the greatest athletes in the world are likely to be soccer players.  The reason is because soccer is the universal sport.  It’s cheap, it’s easy to understand, the field can be adjusted to fit an open field or a closed-off street, it’s the most popular sport in most of the countries in the world—it’s universal!  So soccer should attract the best athletes and it probably does.

But as these Olympic Games wrap up, I’m not willing to simply concede that Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympian ever.  Don’t get me wrong, he was amazing.  He is the very definition of a champion.  But when I get to choosing the greatest Olympian, I try to remember the lesson of soccer.  Swimming is widespread, but it is not as universal as running and jumping.  Swimming draws from a smaller pool, if you will, and swimmers often win multiple medals if they win at all.  Track and field is by far more universal, so I believe the greatest Olympian this year was Usain Bolt of Jamaica. 

What he did hasn’t been done, not like this.  Not only did Usain “Lightning” Bolt win gold medals in the 100 and 200 meters, he set new world records in both.  Then he ran on the winning 4X100 meter relay and helped set a third world record.  We’re talking Jesse Owens-style greatness here.  I know Michael Phelps set world records in all of his events too, but not everyone has the opportunity to swim.  By contrast, everyone can run and we all do.  But no one runs as fast as Jamaicans and Lightning is the fastest of them all. 

I marvel at Jamaicans.  I’ve been going there for over 30 years and I love the people.  They have their own music and their own language and their own culture and they are the fastest people on the planet.  Bolt wasn’t the only lightning coming from “the land of wood and water.”  Their women sprinters took gold in the 100 and 200 meters as well.  Even more, they finished 1-2-2 in the women’s 100 meters!  The United States has 100 times as many people as Jamaica, we pride ourselves on our sprinters and they crushed us at our best events! 

I wonder how it will change my little country.  For years Jamaica was in the shadow.  Either their great athletes left the country to find greatness, or they just missed out on the fame which is always colored gold.  Merlene Ottey was a perfect example.  Between 1980 and 1996 she won eight Olympic medals and is one of the greatest athletes of her age.  But because she never won Olympic gold, her name is a trivia question. 

In Jamaica, Merlene Ottey is the immortal symbol of what you can do with nothing but will and confidence.  There isn’t a single all-weather track in the whole of Jamaica.  With unemployment near 30%, they don’t have extra money for tracks or shoes or even many track programs.  But in Jamaica, they race in bare feet in the grass.  Everyone races.  They start as children at school, sprinting.  And now the world has seen what some of us already knew—Jamaica is the cradle of sprinters.  These people are, arguably, the greatest athletes in the world. 

For me, one trait stands out above all others when it comes to Jamaicans.  I believe it has led a country of people racing each other in the grass to being recognized as the fastest people on the planet.  It led them into the spotlight of the sports world.  The trait is easy to spot.  Everywhere you go, young or old, everyone in Jamaica looks you right in the eye.  When I mentioned it once to my Jamaican caddy on the golf course, she asked me, “why you think that is, mon?”  “Confidence,” I said.  These people believe in themselves.  And now, since Beijing, the world knows why.