World’s fastest country? It’s Jamaica, mon

BEIJING – Once the superpower of sprinting, America is succumbing to a country with less than one percent of the U.S. population. That’s because the 2.8 million people living in Jamaica now include the fastest men and women in the world.

A day after Usain Bolt became the first Jamaican to win the gold medal in the 100 meters, a trio of Jamaicans became the first in Olympic history to capture all three medals in the women’s 100 final. Running into a slight headwind, Shelly-Ann Fraser won the race in 10.78 seconds, the fastest time recorded this year. Her teammates, Kerron Stewart and Sherone Simpson, finished in a dead heat for the silver.

“For us to get 1-2-3, Jamaica’s saying something,’’ Stewart said. “And they need to pay attention.’’

Though Stewart never specified who “they’’ are, it’s safe to assume she’s referring to the Americans, three of whom qualified for the women’s 100 final but left the track in frustration and disgrace.

It was the first time since 1976 the U.S. team has been shut out of a medal in the women’s 100. (That excludes the 1980 Games in Moscow, which the United States boycotted, and the gold medal Marion Jones won in the 100 at the 2000 Olympics but had to forfeit after admitting she used banned performance-enhancing substances.)

Following the 100 final here Sunday night, USA Track & Field lodged a protest claiming the race should not have been run because American Torri Edwards false-started when she appeared to flinch before the gun sounded. But the protest was rejected by the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF), which governs track and field. And so the Americans lost yet again in the face of a staggering reality.

The United States boasts a population of about 300 million, not to mention past 100-meter gold medalists such as Carl Lewis, Gail Devers and Florence Griffith-Joyner, who established a dominance that’s quickly crumbling against a country a mere fraction of America’s size.

After the completion of the men’s and women’s 100, the Jamaicans have four medals in the sprints. Bolt won the men’s 100 on Saturday in 9.69 seconds, a new world record, despite showboating the final 20 meters. Jamaica’s Asafa Powell, who finished fifth, held the world record of 9.74 seconds before Bolt lowered it to 9.72 in May.

The Americans have won just one medal in the sprints – the bronze Walter Dix took in the men’s final.

“We’ve had a long history of sprinting,’’ said Don Quarrie, a retired Jamaican sprinter who finished second to Hasely Crawford of Trinidad in the 100 final at the 1976 Games. Quarrie is one of six Jamaicans who settled for Olympic silver before Bolt’s transcendent performance and before Jamaica struck gold again Sunday.

“This is a crazy Bolt effect,’’ Fraser said. “The secret of the team’s success: reggae power.’’

But that doesn’t fully explain what has transpired during the opening three days of competition in track and field. Not only is Jamaica considerably smaller than the United States, it’s also considerably poorer. That has left the Caribbean country to make due with inferior facilities partially offset by the sprinters’ passion.

Behind soccer, track ranks as the sport of choice for Jamaicans. And some might assume there’s something in their genes. Donovan Bailey, the 1996 Olympic gold medalist in the 100, and Ben Johnson, who won the gold medal in the 100 at the 1988 Games only to be stripped of it when he tested positive for steroids, were both born in Jamaica.

Now Jamaicans no longer have to fret about the native-born sons who won gold for another country.

“I think the future is going to look even brighter because now everybody is going to want to sprint,’’ said Quarrie, a technical adviser for the Jamaican track team. “So it’s only going to get better.’’

Dr. Herb Elliott, a member of the IAAF’s anti-doping commission and a Jamaican, said the country’s gold medal performances in the sprints should be no surprise.

“We have a number of doctors who have looked at these guys, and we are not changing them because they have natural speed,’’ Elliot said. “…You want to see something? Come to Kingston when we have our high school national championships. If you come there on a Saturday of the championships, and you come there after 11 o’clock, you won’t get through. The stadium will be packed.’’

But for those focused on the National Stadium here in Beijing, Don Anderson, the head of Jamaica’s Olympic delegation, suggested something else.

“Look for more,’’ he said. He meant more gold medals.

Bolt is the favorite in the men’s 200. Veronica Campbell-Brown, a Jamaican who won the 200 at the 2004 Olympics, is expected to contend with American Allyson Felix for the gold in that event. Then comes the 4x100 relays. Each time the Jamaicans triumph, reggae music will blast through the speakers.

The U.S. sprinters and everyone else better get used to the sound.