29 December 2011
Two-time winner of the prestigious Laureus Sportsman of the Year Award, Usain Bolt, does not have a shot at his third next February, when the winner will be announced. This is the sentiment expressed by Peter Matthews, the editor of the internationally respected Athletics International Magazine.
Bolt won the Laureus Award for 2009 and 2010 for his incredible exploits at the Olympic Games in Beijing, China in 2008 and at the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Berlin, Germany the following year. In China, Bolt set two individual world records, in the 100 meters and 200 meters, respectively, and then helped set a world record, running the third leg of Jamaica’s sprint relay team. He repeated those exploits in Berlin, breaking his own world records in the two sprints and then was a member of the championship-record setting sprint relay team.
However, in 2011, even though Bolt successfully defended his 200 meters world title, he relinquished the 100 meters crown to teammate Yohan Blake when he was disqualified for committing a false start in the finals. And even though he returned to anchor the Jamaican sprint relay team to another world-record run, Bolt was not at his usual standard, Matthews suggested. As such, he doesn’t match up well with the other sportsmen who are being considered for the award.
“Well, I wouldn’t vote for him. I think Usain Bolt has transcended our sport and he has been the sportsman of the last few years, but 2011 wasn’t his greatest year,” Matthews told The Gleaner. “If you had asked me in 2008 and 2009, I think there is no question he would have been Sportsman of the Year, but this year, no. He had a good year, he had an outstanding year, but it’s a moot point as to whether he or Yohan Blake, for instance, would be number one in the world in the 100 (meters), he doesn’t stand out so much.”
Bolt goes up against tennis champion Novak Djokovic, who won three grand-slam titles during the year and will end 2011 as the number-one player in the world. Also being considered for the award are Sebastien Vettel, who dominated Formula One racing to take his second title at age 24; Lionel Messi, the reigning World Footballer of the Year, who scored 53 goals for Spanish and Champions League title holders Barcelona; Dirk Nowitzki of NBA champions the Dallas Mavericks, and Tour de France champion Cadel Evans. Matthews favours Djokovic to come out on top.
“I would certainly put Djokovic ahead for winning three grand-slam titles at tennis. I think there are a number of people from other sports that may have a prior claim over Usain. (However) If you take the last five years Usain tops them all.” Matthews, a committee member of the Association of Track and Field Statisticians (ATFS), expressed the view that Bolt may actually be suffering from the very high standards he has set for himself.
“I think there is a danger of that. I think how we judge sports people, for me, really great sports people are those who maintain their ability over a long period of time. Well, Usain is beginning to do that, but also of course, the very greatest really keep going at their own standards. Now, that’s very hard for him because he has set world records that are almost out of sight. But on the other hand, as I say, the greatest sports people do take aim at that,” Matthews argues.
“And I think, after all, at a hundred meters he was quite a long way down, a couple of meters down on his best. At 200 meters, well, his run of 19.40 at the World Championships was unquestionably outstanding, but again, a little bit behind his own standards. So yes, I think he has been hurt a little bit by his own standards.”
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