Merlene OTTEY

It is exceedingly rare for a sprinter to continuously rank amongst the world's best for a decade, but Merlene Ottey is probably unique in having performed consistently at the highest level for a period of over 20 years. Ottey was only in her freshman year at Nebraska University when she represented Jamaica at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, where she set a new US collegiate record of 22.32sec when she won her semi-final of the 200 metres. In the final later that day, Ottey reduced this time still further, when she clocked 22.20sec to win her first Olympic bronze medal. Ottey also competed in the 4 x 100m relay at Moscow where the Jamaican team finished sixth in the final.

Two years later, Ottey took home a medal of each colour from the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane. After finishing a close second in the 100m final, Merlene won the 200m gold medal in a wind-assisted time of 22.19sec. She won her third podium spot as a member of the Jamaican 4 x 100m relay team which won the bronze medal. The following year, Ottey set herself a busy schedule at the inaugural World Championships in Helsinki. In her first event, on 8 August, Ottey finished fourth in the final of the 100m in a time of 11.19sec. Two days later, she anchored the Jamaican 4 x 100m relay team to a bronze medal finish. After winning her heat of the 200m on 12 August (see photo above), Ottey easily progressed through to the final held two days later. Ottey entered the straight in the final just behind world record holder Marita Koch (East Germany), and although she closed on Koch over the final stages, Merlene could not entirely bridge the gap, and she had to be content with the silver medal. (Ron Casey)

Merlene Ottey had established her credentials as a world-class sprinter with her medal winning performances at the 1982 Commonwealth Games and the 1983 World Championships. Her next goal was to emulate these feats at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and possibly add to the Olympic bronze medal she had won in Moscow. In February 1984, Ottey embarked on what would become a short-lived marriage with USA high jumper Nat Page, and during the following three seasons Merlene competed under the name of Ottey-Page. In June 1984, Ottey won the 100m/200m double at the USA national championships in San Jose, and then on 25 July, she reduced her 100m personal best to 11.01sec at a meet in Walnut. At the Los Angeles Olympics, Ottey was out sprinted in the early part of 100m final, before moving through the field in the closing stages to win the bronze medal in 11.16sec.

In the 200m, Ottey finished second in her semi-final on 9 August to Florence Griffith, while the other semi-final was won by Griffith's teammate Valerie Brisco-Hooks. Ottey was disappointed when she drew lane 2 in the final held later that day, and would have preferred a lane in which the turn was less tight. Despite her poor lane draw, Ottey was virtually even with Brisco-Hooks and Griffith as they entered the straight, but then the two Americans drew away from Merlene, and she finished with her second bronze medal (see photo above, furthest from camera) in a new Commonwealth record of 22.09sec. The Jamaican 4 x 100m relay team, on which Ottey ran the anchor leg, won the first semi-final, and appeared to be a serious challenge to the favoured USA quartet, but disaster struck them in the final, when the baton was dropped on the first changeover, completely dashing their hopes. (Ron Casey)

In the three years preceding 1985, Merlene Ottey had won multiple medals in each of the 1982 Commonwealth Games, 1983 World Championships and 1984 Olympic Games. With no major championships to contest in 1985, Ottey went chasing fast times with devastating effect. On 28 April, at Walnut, she recorded 10.92sec over 100m, to become the first Commonwealth sprinter to break 11 seconds. In the following two months she dipped under 11 seconds on four further occasions, culminating in a win at the USA national championships on 15 June in 10.98sec. The following day, Merlene also won the 200m title, slashing her Commonwealth record to 21.93sec in the process. Ottey was a clear favourite to win the sprint double at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, but she was denied the opportunity when Jamaica joined a number of nations that boycotted the Games over the British Government's failure to impose economic sanctions on South Africa.

On 31 May 1987, Ottey broke her own Commonwealth 100m record, clocking 10.87sec at Walnut, the site of her previous record in 1985. At the World Championships held later that year in Rome, Merlene finished third in the 100m final won by Silke Gladisch (East Germany). In the 200m (see photo above photo G. Herringshaw ©) Ottey's main rivals were Gladisch and the 1984 Olympic silver medallist Florence Griffith (USA). In the final, Ottey drew lane four, with Gladisch immediately inside her. Gladisch made up the stagger in the turn and entered the straight ahead of Ottey, who was in second place. Gladisch went on to win the race, while Merlene eventually finished third after being passed by Griffith in the closing stages. Surprisingly, considering its successes in the preceding years at major championships, Jamaica did not field a team in the 4 x 100m relay. (Ron Casey)

Despite Merlene Ottey's impressive performances at the all the world's major championships since her Olympic debut in 1980, the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul is one competition she would probably prefer to forget. Ottey had been bothered by bronchitis during 1988, which caused her to race sparingly prior to the Olympics. Despite this lack of competition, nothing seemed particularly amiss with Ottey as she breezed through the first two rounds of the 100m at Seoul, until another bronchial attack caused her to withdraw from the semi-finals. Quickly recovering from this setback, she finished second four days later in her semi-final of the 200m, in which Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA) broke the world record. Although no one came close to Griffith-Joyner in the final held later that afternoon, Ottey seemed to have second place sewn up, until she injured herself in the closing stages, causing her to fade to a disappointing fourth place.

Two days later, with her injured leg heavily bandaged, Ottey helped the Jamaican 4 x 100m relay team to a third place finish in its semi-final, but the team later withdrew from the final due to Ottey's injuries. Having won a multitude of minor medals at major global championships, Ottey finally broke the drought when she won the 200m gold medal at the 1989 World Indoor Championships in Budapest. Ottey had arguably her best year to date in 1990, commencing with her performances at the Commonwealth Games in Auckland early in the year. Merlene easily won both the 100m (see photo above taken 28/01/90 George Herringshaw ©) in a wind-assisted time of 11.02sec on 28 January, and the 200m in 22.76sec four days later. During 1990, Ottey further reduced her Commonwealth 100m record to 10.78sec, and reclaimed her Commonwealth 200m record from compatriot Grace Jackson with a 21.66sec clocking. (Ron Casey)

During 1990, Merlene Ottey had been undefeated in all 36 finals in which she competed both indoors and out. She carried this form through to the following year, setting a new 200m world indoor record of 22.24sec on 3 March. Exactly one week later, Merlene equalled that time when she successfully defended her 200m title at the World Indoor Championships in Seville, after winning the silver medal in the 60m the previous day. By the time of the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, Ottey had recorded the fastest five times for the season over 100m, and had been undefeated at that distance since 1987. At Tokyo, Ottey cemented her favouritism by recording the fastest time in each of the three qualifying rounds leading up to the final on 27 August. In the final, Ottey appeared to be rolling backwards in her blocks when the gun was fired, which resulted in her conceding ground to Katrin Krabbe (Germany) and Gwen Torrence (USA) at the start. Ottey was never able to fully recover, and eventually finished third (see photo above, No. 453  taken by G.Herringshaw ©) behind Krabbe and Torrence.

The circumstances in the 200m were a virtual repeat of those in the shorter event. Ottey had been undefeated since 1989 and had the fastest two times of the season, but she again finished third behind Krabbe and Torrence. Merlene managed to exact some atonement for these disappointments in the 4 x 100m relay. The German team had emerged from the heats as the favourites following the elimination of the USA quartet due to a dropped baton. In the final, the Germans lost their early lead through sloppy baton passing, and at the final changeover, the Soviet Union had a slight lead over Jamaica, but these positions were soon reversed, as Ottey stormed home to win her first gold medal at a World Championships. (Ron Casey)