Posted by Yardie Luke on September 8, 2010 under Jamaica Sports | Comments are off for this article
Jamaican Olympic and World Champion Shelly-Ann Fraser has escaped a mandatory two-year ban after the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) agreed with the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association’s (JAAA) authorities that circumstances around her case were exceptional and did not merit such a punishment.
The 23-year-old, tested positive for a non- performance enhancement prohibitive substance, Oxycodone, at a Diamond League meet in Shanghai, China.
The JAAA tribunal will now meet to determine what sanctions are to be handed down to Fraser.
Fraser in May, gave her account of the events which led to her positive test at a three-member JAAA disciplinary panel hearing headed by former chief justice, Lensley Wolfe.
Fraser, in media reports prior to the hearing, said she took a painkiller for a tooth condition prior to the meet. However, as per procedure, she failed to report it on the meet’s drug testing form. The painkiller, according to reports, was Oxycodone.
While not a performance-enhancing drug or masking agent, as per IAAF rules, the drug is on the World Anti-Doping Agency list of drugs which must be declared by an athlete prior to competition.
In the meanwhile Bobby Gaye Wilkins received a two year ban for a banned substance. SOURCE
Posted by Yardie Luke on September 7, 2010 under Jamaica Sports | Comments are off for this article
Eight days … … three gold medals … … three world records … one amazing reputation firmly established. Usain Bolt’s life – and the world of sport – would never be quite the same again.
16 August 2008 … Beijing, China … the Bird’s Nest stadium … 91,000 spectators and an unimaginably huge global television audience … the final of the men’s 100 metres at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. The crack of the starter’s pistol triggers thousands of camera flash bulbs … and precisely 9.69 seconds later a young Jamaican streaks across the finishing line to claim the gold medal and his destiny.
Four days later Bolt claims the 200 metres gold, setting a new world record of 19.30 into the bargain, the night before his 22nd birthday. Then on 22nd August he leads the Jamaican team to more glory in the 4 x 100 metres relay final, in yet another world record time.
Since those heady days of the Beijing Olympics in August 2008, Usain Bolt has lowered both the 100 metres and 200 metres world records once again – to a barely believable 9.58 and 19.19 seconds respectively – as the World Championships in Berlin brought two more gold medals and yet more superlatives. At a stroke the Jamaican has become the greatest sports star in the world.
9.58 is Usain Bolt’s story so far, in his own words, beautifully illustrated with dozens of specially commissioned photographs. It’s about a skinny kid from the parish of Trelawny, where they harvest the best yams in the world.
It’s about growing up playing cricket and football in the warm Jamaican sun, then discovering that he could run fast, very fast.
It’s about family, friends and the laid-back Jamaican culture.
It’s about Auntie Lillian’s pork and dumplings and Dad’s grocery store in the sleepy village of Sherwood Content.
It’s about what makes him tick, where he gets his motivation and where he takes his inspiration.
It’s about the highs and the lows, the dedication and sacrifices required to get to the top.
It’s about fast food, partying, dancehall music, fast cars and that lightning bolt pose.
Posted by Yardie Luke on August 27, 2010 under Jamaica Sports | Comments are off for this article
Tyson Gay has won the Diamond League trophy for the season’s top performer in the 100 meters, finishing in 9.79 seconds to beat Jamaican Nesta Carter by 0.06 seconds.
Gay was looking to beat his personal best of 9.69, the time he shares with Usain Bolt as the second fastest ever, but the weather at the King Baudouin was too damp and unseasonably cold for a top time.
Gay was slow out of the blocks and had to work hard most of the race to get ahead of Carter, whose 9.85 was a personal best.
Another Jamaican, Yohan Blake, was third in 9.91.
Gay’s time of 9.79 was just 0.01 seconds short of his world leading time of 9.78. SOURCE
Posted by Yardie Luke on August 26, 2010 under Jamaica Sports | Comments are off for this article
Usain Bolt, who is taking the remainder of this year off to rest because of tightness in his lower back, has renewed his contract with Puma until the end of 2013 in a deal said to be the biggest ever given to a track and field athlete.
“Usain Bolt has been a revelation,” said Jochen Zeitz, the chairman of Puma AG. “He has shined a global spotlight on the sport; his winning personality and phenomenal physical prowess are a unique combination. Usain has been a tremendous force for the Puma brand.”
Bolt said: “Puma’s been by my side since the beginning, before anyone knew what I was capable of achieving. They saw potential in me and they took a chance, supporting me all the way, especially when things weren’t easy for me due to injuries I suffered in my teens.
“We’ve been partners in the truest sense of the word since day one, and so it’s an easy decision to re-sign with them. They take the business of running seriously, but we also know how to have fun, to be spontaneous. We both bring a lot of personality to the sport.” SOURCE
Posted by Yardie Luke on August 13, 2010 under Jamaica Sports | Comments are off for this article
The way Tyson Gay is reacting to the recent win over Usain Bolt you’d think he just won the Olympic 100m sprint. He has been so elated that his comments have struck me as comical.
Gay did 9.84 seconds to beat Bolt by 0.13 sec and record his first ever win over the World and Olympic champion over 100m.
After the race Gay said, “It feels great to beat Usain but deep down inside I know he is not 100%. I look forward to beating him when he is 100%.”
In an interview with BBC Sports Gay made the comical statement that his beating Bolt was good for the sport and that he was delighted that his fans now have a reason to be happy. “I got to see other people happy. It was a good day for the sport.”
I wonder if there was no Usain Bolt and if Gay was winning ALL the 100m and 200m races if he would think that would be bad for the sport. I also wonder if he would consider slowing in one of his races to give a competitor a chance to win since one person dominating the race is bad for the sport.
Gay should realize that he spends most of his time worrying about beating Bolt. In that “I must beat Bolt” mode he put undue stress on his body and possibly suffered for it.
Usain Bolt did the fastest time in a 100m race when he clocked 9.58 sec at the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics Berlin. Gay’s personal best time in the 100m is 9.69 sec in Shanghai. In winning the recent 100m race in a time of 9.84 sec he has proved nothing. Usain Bolt was obviously not near his best.
This is only a mild consolation for Gay. However it sets up a highly anticipated duel in 2011 when the two will compete again.
(Congratulations to Tyson Gay for winning the Diamond League meeting at London’s Crystal Palace in a time of 9.78 sec. Very soon Gay will also be worrying about the second place finisher Yohan Blake. Blake is only 20 years old. )
Posted by Yardie Luke on July 16, 2010 under Jamaica Sports | Comments are off for this article
Olympic and World champion Usain Bolt won the 100 meters at the Paris Diamond League meet in 9.84 seconds Friday, despite a poor start.
Bolt set a new meet record and beat fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell, who finished second in 9.91 sec and fellow Jamaican Yohan Blake who finished third in 9.95 sec.
“It wasn’t the best race I’ve ever had in my life,” said Bolt. “My first part was awful. At the 50 meters, I thought he had me. I had to work a little bit harder to get back in the race.”
The 100m and 200m world record holder had to wait ’till the final meters to pull away from Powell to remain unbeaten at 100m for 14 consecutive finals.
“It’s all about determination,” he said. “I want to be the best, to stay on top. When you run against the best, it always pushes you to do your best all the time. I’m happy, I escaped injuries and I won the race.”
Powell is the last man to have beaten Bolt in the 100m, two years ago in Stockholm.
Posted by Yardie Luke on June 23, 2010 under Jamaica Sports | Comments are off for this article
Dustin Brown is the best player to emerge from Jamaica in decades but, spurned in his homeland, he plans to represent Britain at the Davis Cup
Dustin Brown is the most exciting and controversial tennis player to emerge from the Caribbean in a long time, a distinction in a restricted category, perhaps – but interest is heightened somewhat when he says he wants to play in the Davis Cup for Britain. The first West Indian since Richard Russell 42 years ago to play at Wimbledon, the 25-year-old Brown has roared up the ATP rankings over the past year and turned a few Pimms-happy heads in Buckinghamshire ealier this week when he beat the world No 9 Fernando Verdasco in three sets in the Boodles Challenge at Stoke Park, losing in the final to Gaël Monfils yesterday. He has drawn the 16th seed, the Austrian Jürgen Melzer, in the first round at Wimbledon.
Whether the 6ft 5in, rocket-serving Brown, ranked 105 in the world and not long ago at No99, can realise his long-shot plan to play for a country he hardly knows rests on his ability to establish the existence of an English grandmother, and he also needs a UK passport and two years’ continuous residency. But he hopes his rising form will persuade the Lawn Tennis Association and the Great Britain Davis Cup captain Leon Smith he is at least worth talking to.
“We have had no contact with him yet,” an LTA spokesman said. “But, if he satisfies the International Tennis Federation regulations, we will be happy to do so.”
Brown says: “I looked into what criteria applies. I have been told last week at Queen’s that I might be able to play. Definitely I would be interested. The British connection is on my father’s side of the family; it’s my grandmother – although I’m not that sure where she was from. We’re still checking into it. But it’s a real possibility. If it turns out to be a positive situation then I definitely will look more into it. I haven’t had any contact with Leon Smith yet but I’m going to be in Wimbledon so I’m pretty sure when I get there I am going to be in contact with those people sooner or later.”
On the evidence of his ranking (55 places ahead of Great Britain’s No2, Alex Bogdanovic) and his vibrant game, Brown would be a catch for Smith, who has been deprived of Andy Murray’s services, at least for the tie against Turkey in July, as well as the reluctant Bogdanovic.
John Lloyd, the previous captain, became aware of Brown and his desire to play for Britain but he had never seen him play and dismissed the notion – although it is known he was tempted. If he were to qualify, Brown would have to wait six months before he could play.
What Brown brings is a ready-made fairytale: a handsome, dreadlocked rebel with a booming serve (his first serve percentage for the year stood at one point at a remarkable 87%) and a curious slice on a viciously whipped forehand, weapons that were too much for Verdasco and seriously inconvenienced Denis Istomin at Queen’s Club.
He is the son of a Jamaican father and German mother who bought him a camper van to slog around the backblocks of the lower-level European circuit for four years. At times his journey was so grim he survived on complimentary sandwiches at obscure tournaments, on all continents. He played everywhere and anywhere, from Chennai to Johannesburg. Brown struggled in anonymity, just another battling pro. Except he kept going.
“I was born in Germany in 1984,” he says. “Lived there until 1986. Then I moved back to Jamaica. I went to school there and started playing junior tournaments there. I also played Davis Cup for Jamaica. In 2004, I moved back to Europe, and that’s when my parents got me the camper van, so I started playing tournaments here. Continue
Posted by Yardie Luke on June 2, 2010 under Jamaica Sports | Comments are off for this article
“My friends I want to announce the launch of the wild and free singles. It’s hard not to make music and since I happen to be in the studio I thought why not make some songs in between albums.
“So I decided to record a collection of singles which means one song at a time and call it the wild and free singles because they are just that, wild and free.
“Here is the first song, it’s called africa land. I wrote it cause of the world cup in Africa as a way of cheering on Africa as one team and celebrating a new day in African history. My brother Stephen and my good friend Angelique joined me for this celebration.” Check it out here
Posted by Yardie Luke on under Jamaica Sports | Comments are off for this article
Usain Bolt will not be competing with Tyson Gay on June 12. The world’s fastest sprinter and his “subordinate” were scheduled to meet in a 100 metre dash at the New York Diamond League meeting.
Usain Bolt has pulled out of the scheduled race due to injury. On the recommendation of his doctor Bolt is taking precationary measures for his stiff Achilles tendon. “I have been advised to take a break to avoid risking further damage,” said Bolt.
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so far, in his own words, beautifully illustrated with dozens of specially commissioned photographs. It’s about a skinny kid from the parish of Trelawny, where they harvest the best yams in the world.