Time to review selection criteria for Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year titles

Clare Forrester

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

There was a palpable air of disappointment in the ballroom of the Pegasus Hotel last Friday, just before the name of the RJR Sports Foundation Jamaica Sportsman of the Year title was disclosed. The master of ceremonies had just announced that Yohan Blake was selected as the runner-up. Given the remaining nominees on the list, there was no doubt that the overall winner selected would be none other than the great Usain Bolt.

No one at the RJR Foundation's glitzy awards presentation function would deny that 2011 was an impressive year by any standard for Usain Bolt. Certainly, his exploits would have been enough to earn him the title in nearly any other year. However, based on the evidence, 2011 belonged to one athlete, Yohan Blake, dubbed "The Beast" and "Earthquake Blake" for his amazing accomplishments on the global circuit, and the overwhelming majority of those within earshot of the announcement would have been stunned by his non-selection.

The "great man" himself, Usain Bolt, admitted some surprise at being handed the title. "I think it was always a 50-50 chance because Yohan had a great year, so I was slightly surprised, but I am happy and I will continue working hard."

It is difficult to comprehend the criteria by which Bolt was selected over Blake. While to date there is absolutely no evidence of the existence of a feud between the two athletes, if anything, the selection panel may have unwittingly contributed to fanning flames of discord, which both have rubbished.

But the selection of Bolt over Blake for the 2011 title is incomprehensible. The comparison between their performances is easy to make as both are track sprinters and leaves very little doubt about which had a superior year.

Both athletes had comparative seasons with Blake winning the 100-metre title at the World Championships in Daegu to become the youngest ever 100-metre champion in the history of those championships. Bolt, on the other hand, won the 200-metre title, and also set the fastest time of the year for the 100 metres (9.76). However, Bolt's time is no better than several previously established, notably by Asafa Powell, Tyson Gay and others. Thereby this performance by itself could not be assessed as a deciding factor. Blake, on the other hand, ran the second fastest time ever for 200 metres (19.26). Significantly, this was faster than Michael Johnson's world record set in 1976. It is to be recalled that before Bolt's achievement in Beijing, this was regarded by many experts as an impossible record to break. Hence, Blake's victory was clearly a much better achievement than Bolt's, whose fastest time of the year for 200 metres was by comparison a mere 19.40 seconds.

Given that perspective, it is clear that Blake should have been given the award and he (and his fans) had every reason to have expected no less. In addition, the self-acclaimed international "Bible of the Sport" Track and Field News, ranked Blake as number one in the 100 metres.

There have been several years when the foundation's decision regarding winners of either the men's or women's titles have left more questions than answers; the last two (2010 and 2011), however, are the most glaring in the recent history of the awards.

The RJR Sports Foundation selectors made pretty much the same incomprehensible decision last year when they ignored Jermaine Gonzales in selecting the sportsman award or runner-up titles. Chris Gayle was then selected and sprinter Lerone Clarke given the runner-up spot.

Gayle did have some outstanding achievements very late in the year, including a triple century - the second in his career - and scoring six sixes in a single over. While Gayle's selection was controversial, it may have had some merit. Where the selectors went awry was deciding the runner-up title. Clarke did have an outstanding year by mortal standards. But comparing his achievements to Gonzales was like "cheese to chalk".

In achieving the national 400-metre record, Gonzales erased the time set by Roxbert Martin 14 years previously in 1996. This was no mean achievement, given the other big-name 400 sprinters that had donned Jamaica's colours during this period. In addition, Gonzales was almost dominant on the global stage for most of the year. If the selection of the 2011 winner was surprising, the exclusion of Gonzales was stunning.

If the established selection criteria limit the panel in arriving at the best decision, then they should insist that these need to be revised.

But there is an even bigger issue looming behind such criticisms, and that is the difficult question of the criteria used in comparing performances of such diverse sports as track and field athletics, football, cricket, boxing, netball, swimming and others. Undoubtedly, track and field is blessed by being one of the few sports, in which Jamaica features, that three of every four years has a global championship (either World Championships or Olympics), by which the public can make an assessment of top performances.

Although football does have a global contest every four years, this competition - the World Cup - is a team event, unlike T&F which is an individual event, except in the case of the relays. In the case of cricket, the only "official" World Championship is the Cricket World Cup which is for the one-day version of the game. There are systems in place to determine a world champion in Test cricket, but as yet no clear "play for on the field" championship title.

In addition, cricket, like netball, is not regarded by some as a truly global sport, as not all countries participate. Although the number of participating countries continues to expand, it is the same core group that contend for global honours. As a consequence, it is always going to be more difficult for a cricketer or a netballer to produce performances that will elevate them above the level of a T&F, Olympic or World Champion. Similarly, a national footballer has difficulty in standing out from his teammates; especially considering the reality that Jamaica has only once made the big stage (the 1998 World Cup). I recall some amount of grumbling in 1997 when Deon Burton was given the title, having emerged as the star of the Reggae Boys' bid for a place among the elite 32 competing nations for that World Cup in France.

Clearly some athletes are always going to be at a disadvantage. Cricket star Stafanie Taylor can be forgiven if she feels hard done by. Her achievements in 2011 and even before then were impressive, but she is still to earn the national title. In the last three years, she has achieved just about as much as is possible in the sport. She is now the world's number one ranked all-rounder, number two in batting and number seven in bowling. Unfortunately for her and cricket fans, women's cricket remains a 'Cinderella' sport in the global arena. As such, her achievements are not regarded at the same level as an Olympic gold medal. Maybe if she played in the male version of the game her chances would be much stronger, but, as the saying goes, unfortunately, it is what it is.

The clearest evidence of this was provided in 1976 when Donald Quarrie got the nod over Michael Holding. Holding had probably one of the greatest years of any Test pace bowler when he famously took 14 wickets on a figuratively dead pitch at the Oval in England, 12 unassisted and two caught by wicketkeeper. It was the best ever by a West Indian pace bowler in a Test match. But that was not enough to earn him the Sportsman of the Year title. Those feats, unfortunately, were achieved in an Olympic year when Donald Quarrie won Jamaica's first post-Independence gold medal. It marked the first time that the country's national anthem was played and our flag hoisted in the Olympics.

Besides the controversy that has followed the selections over the years, there is the relatively new "People's Choice Award" for the most outstanding performance of the year among those nominated. Astonishingly, this year the person receiving he most votes was Asafa Powell. The choice is laughable. This award would be more appropriately named the "Most Popular Athlete Award". In so doing, Asafa would always be the clear and understandable winner.

antoye@gmail.com

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