WHO AMONG THEM WILL RISE.

Jamaica can boast to being home to two of the three fastest men of all time – Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell. Bolt, the Olympic and World champion in both the 100 metres and 200 metres, will most likely go down as the greatest sprinter of all time. His times of 9.58s in the 100 metres and 19.19s for the 200 metres are – in the minds of many – still difficult to comprehend.

Asafa Powell, who not so long ago, was the fastest man in history setting incredible world record times -  9.77, which he equalled three times, and 9.74, the time that Bolt broke to become the world record holder.
Since then Powell has lowered his personal best to 9.72s and he promises to run even faster.

Bolt is 23, Powell, 27, so we can expect them to remain among the best for at least the next four years. After that Bolt is expected to continue on for perhaps another four years, by which time he is expected to cement his place as the greatest icon in the sport.

Who stands ready to replace Bolt and Powell? Both men are extremely talented but does Jamaica have more of that talent coming up ready to fill the breach when Powell decides to walk away in three or four more years as he has said he will?

The immediate answer would seem to be yes.

Yohan Blake, the former St. Jago High athlete, who for the last year has been training with Glen Mills, is only 20 years old and he has already clocked 9.93s, a time which makes him the third fastest Jamaican ever. We can assume that Blake will go even faster in the coming years. His training partner, Bolt, has spoken publicly about his hard Blake works and once he manages to overcome to stage fright, will become a legitimate contender to becoming one of the fastest men of all time.
We await with some eagerness, the 2010 season and the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea in 2011, to see if Blake can develop into a world class medal contender. He, Powell and Bolt, should also form a relay team that will go even faster than the 37.10s that was set in Beijing in 2008.
Dexter Lee, formerly of Herbert Morrison is currently training with ‘mystery’ coach Anthony Carpenter in Atlanta, Georgia alongside countrywoman Veronica Campbell Brown, the two-time Olympic 200 metre champion. Lee, a world junior champion, promises much, so we will see what he produces on the track come next season. Perhaps we might get a glimpse of what is to come. Will he be a revelation or a bust? That is the question that awaits an answer.

Similarly, Nickel Ashmeade, who has been inconsistent having braved injury and adversity in recent times.
He trains with Campbell Brown’s former coach Lance Brauman in Florida, alongside his former high school rival, the talented Ramone Mckenzie.  Ashmeade has shown great promise as a junior but there are still too many unknowns where he is concerned. I eagerly await 2010/2011 to see what he produces.

Jazeel Murphy is only 14 years old but he seems to possess talent similar to those of Usain Bolt. 10.4x over the 100m without the benefit of proper fundamentals suggests that he can go much, much faster, as he continues to develop his talent.

So, on the surface, it would seem that Jamaicans are standing by to fill whatever breaches are created when our current world beaters step aside. We can only hope that they  fulfill the wonderful promise they currently have on display.