The Legacy: Why Jamaicans run so fast?

CNN: When the fastest men on the planet contest the Olympic 100 meters final in London on August 5, it will be a major upset if the winner does not come from the small Caribbean island of Jamaica...

Jamaican Female Athletes

Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce, 100m

Fraser, who trained for the Olympics with teammate Asafa Powell, became the first Jamaican woman in history to win an Olympic gold medal in the 100m sprint. In her first round heat, she placed first in a time of 11.35 to advance to the second round. She then improved her time to 11.06 seconds, finishing first in her heat…-more

Veronica Campbell-Brown – 100m, 200m

A five-time Olympic medalist, she is the reigning World and Olympic 200 m champion. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she ran the 200 m in 21.74 seconds (the fastest time in a decade) and became the second woman in history to win two consecutive Olympic 200 m events, after Bärbel Wöckel of Germany did so at the 1976 and 1980 Olympics.^[2] Campbell-Brown is one of only seven athletes (along withValerie Adams, Usain Bolt, Jacques Freitag, Yelena Isinbayeva, Jana Pittman, and Dani Samuels) to win world championships at theyouth, junior, and senior level of an athletic event…click here for more information

Sherone Simpson, Kerron Stewart – 100m women

Sherone Simpson is a gold medalist in the 4 x 100 m relay from the 2004 Olympics and silver medalist in 2005 World Championships and now is the silver medalist in the individual event at the 2008 Summer Olympics, after she tied for second with Kerron Stewart in a photo finish. With her personal best of 10.82 seconds in the 100 m, Simpson is ranked fifth among Jamaican women, behind Shelly-Ann Fraser (10.73},Merlene Ottey (10.74), Kerron Stewart (10.75) and sprint veteran Veronica Campbell-Brown (10.78). Simpson’s 200 m personal best of 22.00 seconds ranks her sixth among Jamaican women behind Merlene Ottey, Grace Jackson, Juliet Cuthbert, Veronica Campbell-Brown and Kerron Stewart. She has run this time on two occasions….click here more information

Kerron Stewart is a Jamaican sprinter who specializes in the 100 metres and 200 metres.^[1] She is the 2008 Jamaican national champion in the 100 m clocking 10.80s. She defeated World Champion Veronica Campbell-Brown in the process and now is the 2008 Summer Olympics silver medalist after she tied with Sherone Simpson in a time of 10.98s. She also earned a bronze medal in the 200 metres at the 2008 Summer Olympics with a time of 22.00s…click here for more information

Melanie Walker – 400m , 4x100m

Walker is the reigning World and Olympic400 m hurdles champion.^[1] She holds the Olympic record of 52.64, set at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and her time of 52.42 seconds at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin is the second fastest time in history…more

Jamaican Male Athletes

Asafa Powell – 100m

Asafa Powell is a Jamaican sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres. He held the 100 m world record between June 2005 and May 2008, with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds respectively. Powell has consistently broken the 10-second barrier in competition, with his personal best of 9.72 s being the fifth fastest time in the history of the event. As of 2 May 2012, Powell has broken the ten-second barrier legally more times than anyone else – 74 times in total…click here for more information

Michael Frater – 100m

Michael Frater is a sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres event. He won a silver medal at the 2005 World Championships and a gold medal at the 2003 Pan American Games for the event. He has also been successful as part of the Jamaican 4 × 100 metres relay team, setting the world record and Olympic record at the2008 Beijing Olympics. He also won gold in the relay at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and took silver in the 2002 edition…click here for more information

Yohan Blake – 100m, 200m

Yohan Blake is a Jamaican sprinter and the current 100 metre World Champion. He holds the national junior record for the 100 metres, and is the youngest sprinter to have broken the 10-second barrier (at 19 years, 196 days). Blake’s personal best of 9.82 seconds makes him the fourth fastest Jamaican runner, after Nesta Carter, Asafa Powell and Usain Bolt. His fastest run under any conditions is 9.80 seconds in May 2011 in Kingston, but the wind assistance (+2.2 m/s) was over the legal limit. He is coached by Glen Mills, and is training partners with Bolt and Daniel Bailey. On September 16, 2011 in Brussels, Belgium, he won in a time of 19.26 seconds, the second fastest 200 m ever…click here for more information

Usain Bolt – 100m, 200m