VETERAN COACH Bertland Cameron, the man tasked with overseeing Jamaica’s male 400m runners at this month’s World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, says he is backing them to perform well and believes that people should not count them out at the event.
Jamaica will be represented by defending champion Antonio Watson, Delano Kennedy, Rusheen McDonald, and Bovel McPherson.
Watson automatically secured his spot as reigning champion, while McPherson posted a season’s and personal best time of 44.78 seconds. Kennedy and McDonald failed to meet the qualifying standard of 44.84 seconds but earned their places through international rankings. The World Championships will be held from September 13-25.
“Looking at the competition, it is going to be fierce, but you also know that people get ready at the right time,” Cameron said.
“Look at our reigning World Champion Antonio Watson at the last World Championships, I mean nobody gave him any chance, but the young man came out and proved himself from round one right back to the final. I would never look at an athlete and count them out before the race starts.”
Drawing from his own career, Cameron added that surprises often come when athletes rise to the occasion.
“Don’t ever count them out because I know what happened to me in 1988. Nobody gave me any chance and that was my third Olympics, and I finished sixth in the 400m final and we ended up getting a silver medal in the 4x400m relay.
“So I am saying, just don’t look at what has been happening in the past, there are people who get ready on the day, and these young athletes are very capable of doing things that nobody expected them to do,” Cameron said.
He also noted that Watson, in particular, has the experience of winning on the big stage and knows how to handle himself under pressure.
“You just have to look at them throughout the rounds. They know their fitness and what they are capable of doing. Especially Antonio, he has been there before, he knows his competition, he watches them and sees them, so we have to sit back and see what they bring to the table before we make a judgement,” he said.
Cameron, who won gold in the 400m at the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, underscored that his role will be to guide, motivate, and encourage the athletes as they prepare for competition.
“Championship is championship, and I believe they will be coming with their A game. As athletes, they know what is at stake and I believe they are going to try and do their best,” he said.
“We just can’t sit down and say people believe they have no chance. I don’t believe that. Once they go on the track to compete, they have a chance. If they don’t go out there and compete, then they don’t have a chance. I will motivate them and encourage them to go out and put their best foot forward.”
