#BestOfWorstOf2015
#BestOf2015 – Usain Bolt
WorstOf2015 – Alvas Powell
Best: Usain Bolt
Usain Bolt capped another fine year with a trifecta of World Championships Gold medals in August. It was not easy though; the 2015 season should be considered one of the most difficult in the sprint star’s professional career. It was a question of will he or won’t he? Trips to Germany to visit specialist doctors only a month before the start of the World Championships in Beijing certainly were cause for alarm.
The man from Sherwood Content watched from the sidelines as American Justin Gatlin dominated the circuit. Gatlin was on fire all season, leaving many to wonder if track and field’s greatest villain would prevail in the sport’s darkest time. Season’s bests of 9.74 in the 100 metres and 19.57 seconds in the 200 metres meant Justin Gatlin arrived in Beijing as favourite, even with a 90% fit Usain Bolt striving for full fitness. All was set for a dramatic showdown inside the Bird’s Nest.
Despite disappointing performances when he did indeed get on the track throughout the season, not many knew what to expect from the big man. ‘Cometh the hour, cometh the man’; Bolt defeated Gatlin by 0.01 seconds as he edged ahead of the American in the 100 metres final in Beijing. He was more ruthless in the 200 meters final, where his 19.55 seconds completed a comprehensive defeat of Gatlin who was a distant second.
As per usual at a World Championships, Bolt finished his impressive display in Beijing by anchoring the sprint relay team to another 4 x 100 victory.
We are looking forward to more of the same in Rio 2016.Worst: Alvas Powell
With such a busy international football schedule ahead of the Reggae Boyz following their Caribbean Cup triumph in Montego Bay last year, the team needed all hands on deck to complete the mission at hand. Two international tournaments beckoned: the Copa America and Gold Cup tournament. Jamaica was included in the former as invitees, but the Gold Cup was most important as the Reggae Boyz team sized up their World Cup qualifying opponents.
Former Under-20 captain Alvas Powell has been widely considered the best defender to come through the ranks for some time. This is why it was most disappointing when the Portland Timbers FC man abandoned the Reggae Boyz squad halfway through the Gold Cup tournament, citing a lack of playing time as the reason. Powell left the team’s base in Toronto and travelled back to his club in Portland, where he is a starter, to resume action in the Major League Soccer.
The player’s decision sparked outrage from the Jamaican public, who had even called for his immediate suspension from the national program. Instead, Powell apologized (not good enough), was brought back into the team (starting; without any sanctions) and has disrupted the dressing room, seemingly ‘salting up’ the team. The team’s match winner in Nicaragua, Simon Dawkins, also walked out on the team after supposedly seeing Powell introduced from the bench ahead of him in a subsequent World Cup qualifier against Panama. He has certainly set a bad precedent.