US/Jamaica sprint rivalry blown out of context, says Williams

PORT-OF-SPAIN; Trinidad: Lauryn Williams believes the sprint rivalry between United States and Jamaica has been blown out of context, but says it’s good for the sport of track & field.

“I think some people are trying to make it so big that it creates a lot of tension and I don’t think that’s really the way the athletes see it,” explained Williams, winner of the 2005 Helsinki World Championships 100m event. “We all get along really good.

Everybody is going to train to represent their country to the best of their ability. So, one is not better than the other. They are both very well right now,” continued Williams, who was recently in Trinidad & Tobago where she conducted a seminar for young female athletes.

In the last two years, Jamaica dominated the sprints. In Beijing, the 2008 Olympics, Jamaica finished ahead of USA in all but the 400 metres and sprint hurdles event. Usain Bolt won the 100 and 200 metres in then world record times of 9.69 and 19.30; Shelly-Ann Fraser took the women’s 100m and Veronica Campbell retained her 200m crown. Jamaica also won the 400m hurdles women’s event with Melaine Walker while the men’s 4×100m team collected gold in a world record 37.10. The women’s team failed to make the baton exchange on the third leg.

A year later in Berlin at the World Championships, Bolt again stunned the world with world record breaking runs of 9.58 and 19.19 while Fraser took the 100m; Brigitte Foster-Hylton the 100m hurdles, Walker (400m hurdles), along with both sprint relay teams.

But asked, Jamaica vs the US who do you think have the better sprinters?, Williams, replied: “Hmmm, I don’t see that there is one better than the other,”…But at the end of the day this is one world, one planet, one people. We should walk off the track and it should not be US versus Jamaica,” added Williams who lives and trains in Miami, Florida.

However, she was quick to point out that “I think the rivalry is good for the sport, for the media to cover it.”

Meanwhile, Williams also believes despite Jamaica’s sprint dominance in Berlin, her US team did well.”I think we did well. We had a lot of medalists. Some are saying we didn’t do as well as we did in the past but it is how you look at it. I really felt like they put their best foot forward and got very good results. I am very proud of the US team in Berlin,” she said.

NOTE: Trackalerts.com senior correspondent, Clayton Clarke, conducted the interview with Lauryn Williams

(trackalerts.com)