THE ‘BEAST’ HAS EMERGED

‘Objects in your rear-view mirror are a lot closer than they seem.’ It is part advice, part warning for drivers, helping them put things into greater perspective. For the last three years Yohan Blake was always in Usain Bolt’s rear-view mirror but on September 16,2011 Bolt took another peek into that mirror and was shocked at what he saw. Blake was even closer than he believed. Too close.

So as he stood there on the track in Brussels his hand over his mouth in astonishment, Bolt, the man who usually delivers the surprising performances gazed in awe upon the electronic scoreboard at the four numbers there beside Blake’s name – 19.26! Only Bolt’s 19.19 is faster. In his mind he must have been thinking that training will have to start a little earlier next season because pretty soon Blake wont be in that rear-view anymore.

Blake, the Jamaican junior record holder in the 100 metres, joined the Racer’s track club in either late September or early October 2008, just weeks after Bolt won three gold medals all in world record time at the Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Based on media reports, Blake simply packed his bags and left the home of his former coach Danny Hawthorne of St. Jago High, and went to train under the tutelage of Glen Mills, the man who had over the previous three seasons, harnessed and enhanced Bolt’s amazing talents and made him a triple Olympic champion. Mills was also the man who prepared an 18-year-old Camperdown High School student named Raymond Stewart and got him into the Olympic finals in Los Angeles in 1984.

During his years at St. Jago Blake had shown more than just flashes of brilliance – he was the 2006 Junior Central American and Caribbean (CAC) champion, but in the eyes of many he never realized his full potential. He wanted more. That became obvious almost immediately because from the outset Blake set about working hard. He became Bolt’s shadow. Whether he knew it then or not Blake wanted to be like Bolt. He wanted to be a champion, he wanted to be a star. Over the next three years Blake would promise much. In training he would be right there, a step behind Bolt, pushing the Olympic champion, who began to take notice. Shortly after his exploits at the Olympic Games in Beijing Bolt was being interviewed by Simon Crosskill and Neville Bell on Television Jamaica’s Morning Time and he was asked if there were any athletes out there who he saw as a potential threat. Without giving it a moment’s thought Bolt told them to watch out for Yohan Blake. Blake he said worked like a beast and was there with him step for step in training.

The Morning Time hosts heard but they were not listening to what Bolt was saying. Here was the triple Olympic champion, triple world record holder telling all of Jamaica that there is this kid that was pushing HIM in training. The warning had been sounded but nobody really heard. By the the summer of 2009, Blake’s improvement was becoming apparent. He ran a smart 9.93 in Paris that raised eyebrows. The young talent was beginning to show signs of progress. Another sprinter was emerging to join Bolt, Powell, Michael Frater and Nesta Carter, the latter two who were also making steady progress.

As fate would have it Blake did not make the team to Berlin in 2009. He was among five athletes who were suspended after the urine samples they submitted at the National Championships returned Adverse Analytical Findings (AAF) for methylhexamine, a stimulant that was contained in Muscle Speed supplements they innocently took not knowing that it contained a prohibited substance that had only recently made it onto the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) list of banned substances.

After a protracted and dramatic series of hearings convened by the Jamaica Anti-Doping Agency (JADco) Blake and company were suspended for three months each and were forced to watch from the sidelines as Jamaica snared 13 medals seven of them gold in Berlin, Germany. There, Blake’s training partner Bolt delivered his finest work yet. 9.58s and 19.19s shattering his own world records set in Beijing the year before.

Driven by Bolt’s success and his own hunger for the limelight Blake returned in 2010 and it was as if  he was never away. In August that year he stormed to a personal best 9.89 finishing second to American Tyson Gay in London. He became the fourth Jamaican that year to run under 9.90 seconds following Bolt and Powell 9.82 and Nesta Carter who ran a blistering 9.78 in Rieti, Italy. That run came just a couple of weeks after Blake ran a blistering last 100 metres to come within 0.02 seconds of catching Tyson Gay over the 200 metres in Monaco. 19.76 to 19.78. Blake admitted during an interview on Sportsnation Live on Nationwide radio at the end of that season that he doesn’t run the curve well because when he runs the curve he feels like he is going to fall. That explained his tippy toe approach to the curve in that Monaco run and makes his stretch run even more incredible.

Blake, not yet 22,  showed early signs in 2011 that he was going to something special this season. 9.80s with a 2.2m/s wind in May gave the world a glimpse of what was to come. And while he had not been as impressive over the 200 metres (20.33, 20.38 20.39), with Glen Mills in his ear it was just a matter of time before Blake uncorked something special. With the 100 metres world title in his pocket and a couple of fast 9.82s in Zagreb and Berlin Blake travelled to Brussels brimming with confidence. Many of those who had been following his progression all season long expected a fast time – 19.6xs 0r 19.5x – but what Blake delivered stunned all – even him.

Winning at the world championships helped Blake kick down whatever mental barriers was holding him back. Those fast times that followed gave him fuel for the remainder of the season. Blake reportedly remarked to a friend after his run in Zagreb that he was sad the season was winding down just as he was rounding into some real form.

19.26 means Blake ends the 2011 season with a bang. It also means that Bolt’s rear-view is now filled with Blake’s image. London 2012 beckons and one gets the feeling that if Bolt is not careful he could be in Blake’s rear-view come next summer.