The curtains came down Sunday, June 23 on the high-profile Jamaica 2013 National Senior Trials in Kingston to select its team for the World Championships in Moscow, August 10 to 18. The fourth and final day of competition was filled with more excitement than the preceding three, even when Usain Bolt won and Asafa Powell crashed out of the 100meters, and what a grand finale it was!
It was the last event of the meet and the buzzing crowd could not remain in their seats as the London Olympic 200meters bronze medalist Warren Weir settled in the blocks to run against the 2012 Diamond League winner Nickel Ashmeade, whom some fans touted as the winner. This race was to be the settling of a score carried over from last year.
Weir had defeated Ashmeade at the 2012 Trials, but some pundits theorized that it was just a bad day for Ashmeade of which Weir took advantage. Then in London, Weir showed that his win over Ashmeade wasn’t a fluke by snatching third place to complete a Jamaican sweep led by his Racers Track Club team mates Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake.
This season, the Florida-based Ashmeade looked as if he had a point to prove. He defeated Weir convincingly at the Jamaica Invitational, establishing a 20.00secs world leading time in the process. Weir was second in 20.14. And so, in the minds of his supporters, the powerfully built Ashmeade was set to trounce the light-weight Weir at Trials to become the new 200meters champion in the absence of Bolt and Blake. But quietly, Weir, who still looks like a schoolboy, had another idea.
On the turn into the home straight on Sunday night, Weir (in lane 6 and Ashmeade in lane 3) found himself just slightly behind Ashmeade but quickly called on his lion heart and strides to draw level with him then pulled away to a 19.79 (0.9m/s) personal best (PB) victory, a response of sorts within a few hours to Tyson Gay’s 19.74 (+1.6 m/s) at the US Trials. Ashmeade registered 20.06.
Reminiscent of Bolt’s Beijing 100m victory, Weir slowed his last few strides to the line and slapped his chest on realizing he was well clear of the field.
And then the confidence emerged, heralded by the statement with which no-one can disagree: “I am just letting the world know and Jamaica know it wasn’t a fluke; this one is for real,” Weir said after the race.
As I’ve learned, his success since last season is credited to his serious work ethic and determination. Prior to the 2012 Trials, Weir hinted to Caribbean TrackLife that he didn’t doubt himself in any way when the consensus was that Ashmeade was a shoo-in to join Bolt and Blake to contest the half-lap in London. “I am going there [Trials] well motivated – head and body and hope for the best,” he said. His best turned into Olympic bronze.
He also noted his goal to finish the season among the top 10 200meters runners and that while people have loved him since high school, he felt he had to earn the respect of the public the right way, for he was now in a new league and, therefore, had to prove himself.
Now one thing is clear, the ‘Weirwolf’, as he is nicknamed, must be taken seriously; he was among the top three on the podium in London, and based on the reaction of the crowd Sunday night, he has certainly earned their respect. “I wanted to run a fast time, to win and make a statement, and I think I accomplished that,” he said.
Should Weir and Ashmeade reach the final of the 200m in Moscow, they will continue their unspoken rivalry. And Weir doesn’t look as if he’s about to give in.