Champs meet offers colorful look at Jamaica's promising track stars

By Connie Aitcheson, SI.com

Colors are important to all onlookers and particapants at Jamaica's Champs. Collin Reid/AP

Jamaica is a country of vivid colors. The azure waters surrounding the island are as bright as a new pair of jeans. The ripe saffron-hued mangos and blood-red Otaheite Apples glisten like gems from their branches. And the concrete homes painted yellow, pink and lime green sparkle under the glow of the Caribbean light in midday.

But nowhere on the island is this kaleidoscope more visible than in Kingston, where the annual Inter Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) Boys' and Girls' Athletic Championships -- known simply as "Champs" to locals -- takes place the first week in April at the National Stadium. At Champs, colors matter. Purple and white signify powerhouse Kingston College. (In Jamaica, a high school can be called a "college" in the manner typical of British Commonwealth nations, and are often held in higher esteem by alumni than the universities they attend.) Supporters of K.C.'s archrivals, Calabar High of Kingston, sport green and black. The faithful of Wolmer's High, also in Kingston, arrive decked out in maroon and yellow.

High school track and field is serious business in Jamaica. After all, this is the country that produced Usain Bolt, Shelly-Ann Fraser, Melaine Walker, Michael Frater, Nesta Carter, Veronica Campbell-Brown and Asafa Powell, all of whom won gold medals in sprinting at the Beijing Olympic Games last summer. And for 99 years Champs has been the meet at which almost every Jamaican runner has had to prove him or herself at before bursting onto the international stage.

According to Teddy McCook, a member of the International Association of Athletics Federations council and secretary general of the Jamaican Olympic Committee, Champs -- which this year drew 191 schools and more than 2,500 athletes, not to mention more than 80,000 spectators over four days -- is one of the biggest junior track and field meets in the world.

"[Jamaica] is to track and field fans what Mecca is to Muslims," says Ato Boldon, a native of Trinidad and Tobago who won a silver medal in the 100 meters and a bronze in the 200 meters at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. "I think this is the purest track meet in the world. This is not about money. It's not about shoe contracts. It's not even about country. It's about representing your family, your school and all the alumni. So I think that's why it has become my favorite track meet -- even including the Olympics.

Part of the allure of Champs is that spectators can witness some world-class track and field races during the four-day meet --- all for under $16. "Champs is something you grow up on," says George Forbes, the ISSA's competition secretary. "For example, Jamaicans who have gone to the States will take along their culture of [having] rice and peas on Sundays. Champs is our rice and peas. You just have to be at Champs."

But many attend because they know they could well have the opportunity to watch athletes who will one day represent the country in the Olympics. "We all remember when Powell was running at these championships," says Maynard McIntosh, a physician who has been coming to Champs for 30 years. "You saw these runners grow from that stage to winning and setting Olympic records."

Although the Beijing Olympics showcased Jamaica's sprinting talent to the rest of the world it didn't have much of an effect on the participation or attendance at Champs this spring. "The excitement [level] is the same," says Juliet Cuthbert, a Morant Bay High product who won a silver medal in the 100 meters at the Barcelona Games in 1992. "You always have high-quality running at Champs, whether it's an Olympic year or a non-Olympic year."

But Jamaica's dominance in Beijing did heighten the scrutiny by the international media, which came to Champs in droves in an effort to uncover the reason behind the country's sprinting prowess. Forty foreign journalists covered this year's event -- up from 10 in 2008 -- 24 of whom were part of an IAAF project called "A Day in the Life of Usain Bolt," to promote the stars of the sport and their personalities off of the track.

In addition, approximately 30 scouts representing American colleges showed up. The NCAA limits how often coaches can recruit overseas, so the scouts could watch and take notes, but they couldn't talk to runners. Each year, approximately 70 Jamaican runners are offered athletic scholarships to colleges in the U.S. For many years, leaving for America was considered an Olympic aspirant's only option. But perhaps the most obvious byproduct of Jamaica's success in Beijing is that staying home to study and train is now a viable option.

Seven of the 13 medalists from Beijing stayed in Jamaica. All but one attended the University of Technology in Kingston. But that choice isn't right for all runners. "Everybody can't stay in Jamaica," says Grace Jackson, who won a silver medal in the 200 meters in Seoul in 1988. "They now have a choice. In my days staying home wouldn't help you improve, and I still don't think everybody should stay home. Some people need exposure for growth. And some get too comfortable here and rest on their laurels. "

Jamaica's record haul in Beijing -- 11 sprinting medals, six of them gold, including the coveted titles of fastest man (Bolt) and tied with the fastest time for the year (Fraser) -- stole the spotlight from American sprinters, who had long dominated the sport. So Doug Logan, head of USA Track and Field, issued a challenge to the Jamaican Amateur Athletic Association in March, proposing a home-and-home series in 2009 that would pit the two nations' sprinters and hurdlers against each other in head-to-head, team-scored competition. "Our sprinters are not ready to concede Jamaican dominance," said Logan in his press release.

Scoring at Champs is based on a class and point system. Runners are divided into four age-specific classes. Boys in Class One must be under 19, and under 17 to compete in Class Two. Girls must be under 19 and 16, respectively. Future Olympians are usually revealed in these two classes. Classes Three (14 and under for boys, 15 and under for girls) and Four (13 year-old girls only) are for the youngsters.

The Class One records Bolt set in 2003 in the 200 meters (20.25) and 400 (45.35) still stand. Walker, who won gold in the 400-meter hurdles in Beijing, holds the Girls Class One 400-meter hurdles (56.55) mark, set in 2001. And Campbell-Brown,a two-time Olympic winner in the 200 meters, still holds the Girls Class One record the 100m (11.13, set in 2001).