Hunting in packs

Hubert Lawrence, Gleaner Writer

Those with a sense of history know that top sprinters tend to hunt in packs. These days, top sprinters congregate in Kingston, and Clermont, Florida, where Tyson Gay trains. In days gone by, they worked together in San Jose, Houston, and Los Angeles.

If you're worried that the rise of Yohan Blake will affect his working relationship with Usain Bolt, take a trip down memory lane. Bud Winter had a formidable group at San Jose State University in the late 1960s. Together, Tommie Smith and John Carlos set new standards in the 200, culminating in Smith's world-record run of 19.83 seconds for the 1968 Olympic gold.

Despite the loss, Carlos joined Smith in a famous black-gloved salute on the podium.

Carl Lewis, the Santa Monica Track Club ace, took two Olympic and two World titles each in the 100 metres in the 1980s. He didn't reach his peak until the arrival in Houston of Leroy Burrell. Burrell pushed him off the top of the 100-metre world rankings and cut the world record to 9.90 in the 1991 US Championships.

Record reclaimed

Lewis took the record back at the Tokyo World Championships later that year. He finished fast to win in 9.86, with Burrell at 9.88. The sequence didn't stop in Tokyo, as Burrell went on to cut the mark to 9.85 seconds.

Their coach Tom Tellez also had two Olympic 200-metre champions in his stable - Joe DeLoach, the 1988 winner, and Mike Marsh, the victor in 1992.

Later in that decade, American Maurice Green and Ato Boldon of Trinidad and Tobago pushed and pulled each other forward. Green won three World titles and the 2000 Olympic gold and lowered the world record to 9.79 seconds. Boldon won the 1997 World 200 title and won two Olympic medals, to add to the pair he won in 1996, the season before Green arrived in Los Angeles.

At times, their coach John Smith also had French star Marie-Jose Perec, John Regis and Jon Drummond in camp as well.

Smith may well be directing Walter Dix, the Daegu double silver medallist, and 2008 Olympic 100 runner-up Richard Thompson this season. Rivals during their college days at Florida State University and LSU, respectively, the American and the Trinidadian are reportedly joining forces in Los Angeles.

Ask any married couple. No matter how long they stay together, little disagreements pop up. Like those unions, those sprint capitals of the past probably had some too, but there are very few reported cases of big quarrels. Instead, if they have experienced coaches like Winter and Tellez, then success is shared.

In fact, Lewis, Burrell, Green and Boldon admit to being pushed forward and pulled along by their brilliant training partners.

Winter and Tellez were fatherly veterans when their sprint groups rose to the top. Glen Mills, coach to both Bolt and Blake, comes across as that type of person too.

Since late 2008 when Blake joined the Racers Track Club, it's been a very productive partnership. Bolt has won three of his five World titles and set two world records since then. Blake has improved immensely from his junior times of 10.11 and 20.62 seconds. Another Racer, the Antigua and Barbuda sprinter Daniel Bailey, a sub-10 man himself, has reached the last two World 100 finals.

The push-pull effect between them could see the 19-second barrier at 200 drawn closer and Blake seems certain to go faster than 9.82 for the 100. To get that fast, he needs a training partner as good as Bolt. For Bolt to retain his Olympic 100 and 200 titles, he is forced to accelerate. Blake is so good that he has to.

Perhaps, the coach's biggest job will be to make sure that they don't push each other too hard in practice. There may even be times when they don't practise together as a means of managing intensity.

No one knows what lies ahead, but when great sprinters are training partners, they often drive each other forward. In the past, the product of these push-pull relationships has been performances that make you marvel.

Hubert Lawrence has covered athletics since 1987.