Tweet
Sprint City, USA to Sprint City, Jamaica
Jamaica's sprinting prowess sprouted from roots in San Jose
SJSU'S KINGSTON CONNECTION
By Elliott Almond Mercury News
Article Launched: 08/14/2008 07:55:33 PM PDT
BEIJING — Go back to the old dirt track at San Jose State. The one where the sprinters ran so fast that the undistinguished oval became know as Speed City.
The legacy will continue today when the green-and-black team from the poor Caribbean country of Jamaica opens the track and field p ortion of the Beijing Games. A country of fewer than 3 million is brimming with optimism as its big horses, Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell, begin their rounds in the prestigious 100 meters. Bolt and Powell, the world's two best sprinters, lead a parade of Jamaican men and women who hope to run away from their American rivals over the next week.
It might not have happened had Dennis Johnson not attended San Jose State almost a half-century ago.
In 1960, Johnson arrived from Bakersfield Junior College to set world records for legendary Coach Bud Winter. The coach was just developing his renowned program at SJSU when Johnson arrived. By 1968, Winter had produced Olympic stars Tommie Smith, John Carlos and Lee Evans. In all, he coached 37 world-record holders and 27 Olympians.
Johnson's two years in San Jose would stay with him. He returned to his native Jamaica after graduating and decided his country needed a U.S.-style college athletic program. He started working out of his car as sporting director of the University of Technology in Kingston, but three decades later, he is enjoying the culmination of his lifelong pursuit.
Call it Speed City, Jamaica.
"He carried the torch for Bud when he left San Jose State,'' said Bert Bonanno, a two-time Olympic track coach from San Jose. "He just transferred everything from San Jose to Jamaica.''
Johnson, 69, passed down Winter's formula like a baton, including to Stephen Francis and Glen Mills, the men handling Powell and Bolt and the rest of the Jamaican track team here. Of the country's 57 Olympians in Beijing, 52 compete in track and field.
"Our sprinters look just like Bud would want them to look,'' Johnson said recently by phone from his home in Kingston. "The country is more or less saturated with the gospel'' of Winter's training style.
Jamaica might not have had the depth of the U.S. track team, but it has produced an impressive number. Of its 42 Olympic medals, all but one has come at the track. It started in 1952 with George Rhoden, the double gold winner who lives in Alameda.
But after high school many scattered, because Jamaica's colleges didn't incorporate sports into the academic curriculum.
Donald Quarrie, the 200-meter gold medalist in 1976, went to USC. Linford Christie, the 1988 silver medalist in the 100, competed for England. Former 100-meter world-record holder Donovan Bailey migrated to Canada, along with disgraced sprinter Ben Johnson. Nine-time Olympic medalist Merlene Ottey attended Nebraska and now competes for Slovenia. Even current Olympians Veronica Campbell-Brown and Kerron Stewart competed in the NCAA.
"You need an education,'' Johnson said. "You need to get help. I received all those things at San Jose.'' Johnson wanted Jamaicans to enjoy the college experience without having to leave the island. So he plugged away, preaching good training techniques along with academics.
When Rae Davis became UTech's president in 1975, he helped Johnson integrate the two.
"We wanted to accommodate the athletes but also seek to ensure they were able to manage the academic program,'' Davis said. "We told them, we could not alter the academic standard.'' Johnson's ideas didn't immediately take hold. Many considered him a little out there. But Bonnano calls him a visionary.
"Everybody went to the States,'' Johnson said. "We don't need to go to the States anymore. We can do it right here. We're doing that as we speak.''
Both Powell and Bolt have stayed in Jamaica using UTech's training center as their home base. They might never have heard of Winter, but Johnson said the sprinters learned his techniques.
Winter's advice, he says, was simple: Relax. "Relax and win,'' Johnson said.
It's difficult to imagine the Jamaicans relaxing as they enter the Bird's Nest today. Johnson won't be there, but he's confident of what will transpire.
"I can tell you this, in this Olympics our sprinters are going to do very well,'' he said.
Johnson, tutored by four-time Olympic medalist Herb McKenley, won the 100-meter national championship, then landed in Bakersfield, where he won the junior college national title.
Then he became part of the Speed City legend. Despite holding four world records, Johnson never competed in the Olympics.
Upon returning to Jamaica, Johnson concluded his passion was coaching. And seeing his compatriots succeed at home — like Powell and Bolt and many more.
"There's a feeling of a mission accomplished,'' Davis said.
Contact Elliott Almond at ealmond@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5865.
SJSU'S KINGSTON CONNECTION
By Elliott Almond Mercury News
Article Launched: 08/14/2008 07:55:33 PM PDT
BEIJING — Go back to the old dirt track at San Jose State. The one where the sprinters ran so fast that the undistinguished oval became know as Speed City.
The legacy will continue today when the green-and-black team from the poor Caribbean country of Jamaica opens the track and field p ortion of the Beijing Games. A country of fewer than 3 million is brimming with optimism as its big horses, Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell, begin their rounds in the prestigious 100 meters. Bolt and Powell, the world's two best sprinters, lead a parade of Jamaican men and women who hope to run away from their American rivals over the next week.
It might not have happened had Dennis Johnson not attended San Jose State almost a half-century ago.
In 1960, Johnson arrived from Bakersfield Junior College to set world records for legendary Coach Bud Winter. The coach was just developing his renowned program at SJSU when Johnson arrived. By 1968, Winter had produced Olympic stars Tommie Smith, John Carlos and Lee Evans. In all, he coached 37 world-record holders and 27 Olympians.
Johnson's two years in San Jose would stay with him. He returned to his native Jamaica after graduating and decided his country needed a U.S.-style college athletic program. He started working out of his car as sporting director of the University of Technology in Kingston, but three decades later, he is enjoying the culmination of his lifelong pursuit.
Call it Speed City, Jamaica.
"He carried the torch for Bud when he left San Jose State,'' said Bert Bonanno, a two-time Olympic track coach from San Jose. "He just transferred everything from San Jose to Jamaica.''
Johnson, 69, passed down Winter's formula like a baton, including to Stephen Francis and Glen Mills, the men handling Powell and Bolt and the rest of the Jamaican track team here. Of the country's 57 Olympians in Beijing, 52 compete in track and field.
"Our sprinters look just like Bud would want them to look,'' Johnson said recently by phone from his home in Kingston. "The country is more or less saturated with the gospel'' of Winter's training style.
Jamaica might not have had the depth of the U.S. track team, but it has produced an impressive number. Of its 42 Olympic medals, all but one has come at the track. It started in 1952 with George Rhoden, the double gold winner who lives in Alameda.
But after high school many scattered, because Jamaica's colleges didn't incorporate sports into the academic curriculum.
Donald Quarrie, the 200-meter gold medalist in 1976, went to USC. Linford Christie, the 1988 silver medalist in the 100, competed for England. Former 100-meter world-record holder Donovan Bailey migrated to Canada, along with disgraced sprinter Ben Johnson. Nine-time Olympic medalist Merlene Ottey attended Nebraska and now competes for Slovenia. Even current Olympians Veronica Campbell-Brown and Kerron Stewart competed in the NCAA.
"You need an education,'' Johnson said. "You need to get help. I received all those things at San Jose.'' Johnson wanted Jamaicans to enjoy the college experience without having to leave the island. So he plugged away, preaching good training techniques along with academics.
When Rae Davis became UTech's president in 1975, he helped Johnson integrate the two.
"We wanted to accommodate the athletes but also seek to ensure they were able to manage the academic program,'' Davis said. "We told them, we could not alter the academic standard.'' Johnson's ideas didn't immediately take hold. Many considered him a little out there. But Bonnano calls him a visionary.
"Everybody went to the States,'' Johnson said. "We don't need to go to the States anymore. We can do it right here. We're doing that as we speak.''
Both Powell and Bolt have stayed in Jamaica using UTech's training center as their home base. They might never have heard of Winter, but Johnson said the sprinters learned his techniques.
Winter's advice, he says, was simple: Relax. "Relax and win,'' Johnson said.
It's difficult to imagine the Jamaicans relaxing as they enter the Bird's Nest today. Johnson won't be there, but he's confident of what will transpire.
"I can tell you this, in this Olympics our sprinters are going to do very well,'' he said.
Johnson, tutored by four-time Olympic medalist Herb McKenley, won the 100-meter national championship, then landed in Bakersfield, where he won the junior college national title.
Then he became part of the Speed City legend. Despite holding four world records, Johnson never competed in the Olympics.
Upon returning to Jamaica, Johnson concluded his passion was coaching. And seeing his compatriots succeed at home — like Powell and Bolt and many more.
"There's a feeling of a mission accomplished,'' Davis said.
Contact Elliott Almond at ealmond@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5865.
Comment