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| Photo illustration of Grenada's medal hopefuls |
At Olympic competitions, the reigning world champion typically faces gold-medal expectations. But Kirani James, world champion in the 400-meter sprint, needs only to win a bronze medal in London this summer to ignite what would be the most spirited sports celebration in the history of his homeland, the Caribbean island of Grenada.
Since launching its first Olympic team at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, Grenada has never won an Olympic medal, coming closest in 2004 when Alleyne Francique finished fourth in the men's 400 meters in Athens. This year, Grenada boasts not only the world champion 400-meter sprinter; it's also sending to the Games a runner who last year posted the third-fastest time in the event.
How a nation of 110,000—roughly the equivalent of Peoria, Ill.,—produced two world-class 400-meter sprinters is a mystery. But many in Grenadian running circles point to the same factor: a cultural tradition of training on grass. This training method, which is now being widely praised, was actually foisted on the country's current Olympians by accident: When Hurricane Ivan struck the island in 2004, it destroyed its only synthetic track, leaving its young athletes with little choice. "Running on grass makes you stronger," said Francique, the retired Olympian who now coaches track at Texas A&M.
Of the world's 204 countries, about 80 have never won an Olympic medal. The medal-less hail from Asia (Cambodia), Africa (Liberia), the Middle East (Jordan), Europe (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Central and South America (El Salvador and Bolivia).
But each Summer Games, four or five countries usually reach the podium for the first time, and this year no nation is better positioned to do that than Grenada, a country best known for exporting nutmeg.
Grenada's hopes for 2012 can be traced in large part to its moment of near-glory at the 2004 Games in Athens. By finishing fourth there, Francique inspired runners all across Grenada. Further deepening his influence, he won the indoor 400-meter world championships in 2004 and 2006.
Watching Francique represent Grenada in 2004 were two young countrymen: James, now 19, and Rondell Bartholomew, 22. James, who was 11 years old at the time, said he can still remember watching Francique's 400-meter final on television with his family and being totally transfixed. "He gave us the belief that we could compete," James said.
It wasn't only in honor of Francique that James and Bartholomew gravitated toward the 400. As in Jamaica and other Caribbean ports, sprinting is a popular pastime in Grenada—but James and Bartholomew explained that it's nearly impossible to post blazing 100- or 200-meter times on grass, which is too slippery from the starting blocks.
James and Bartholomew grew up in different parts of Grenada and didn't even meet until a few years ago. After attending different U.S. colleges, they rarely cross paths even now. James has an endorsement deal with Nike, Bartholomew with Adidas.
But something they shared growing up was a plush, green training environment. Bartholomew said he also spent countless hours sprinting on soft sand under the direction of his former Grenadian coach Neville Glean. "He really believed in that stuff," said Bartholomew, who now lives and trains in Levelland, Texas, where he attended South Plains College. He still devotes most of his preseason training to grass and builds up only gradually on a synthetic track, where he said, "You have to be really careful you don't get shin splints."
At Texas A&M, Francique is exporting his Grenadian philosophy. Several days a week, he directs his sprinters away from the track and onto playing fields for their workouts. He estimates that his athletes spend up to 75% of their time training this way. "The track will beat you up," he said. It's worth noting that Texas A&M has won three of the last four national men's outdoor track-and-field team titles.
Whether training on a soft surface like grass actually improves performance is unclear, said Dr. Reed Ferber, a professor of kinesiology at the University of Calgary. Ferber, who directs a running-injury clinic, said there has been little research on the topic. But it is apparent, he said, that running on more rigid surfaces, such as asphalt or synthetic tracks, typically results in "more loading on the joints" and a greater likelihood of injury.
Of course, grassy fields pose risks too, as Bartholomew discovered when he visited his family in Grenada over the winter. Returning to the grass track of his youth, he stepped in a hole and injured his hip, though it has recovered.
The concept of working out on softer surfaces isn't exactly groundbreaking. Roger Black, who won silver in the 400 meters at the Atlanta Games in 1996, was part of a coterie of top-notch British runners who trained on a grass track at the University of Southampton. And when Jamaican sprinter Don Quarrie arrived at Southern Cal in the late 1960s, he eschewed the school's newly installed, top-of-the-line synthetic track in favor of an old cinder track. According to Peter Thompson, a longtime coach and former official with IAAF, track and field's governing body, Quarrie felt he could more effectively build muscle and develop tendon elasticity on cinder. He became a four-time Olympic medalist. "He recognized that it wasn't necessarily an advantage to train all the time at a high-class facility," Thompson said.
James turned professional after his sophomore year at the University of Alabama but has remained in Tuscaloosa, where he runs under the direction of Harvey Glance, who retired as Alabama's track coach last year. James is the only athlete he still coaches. "When you have the pleasure of working with the No. 1 athlete in the world, that's a no-brainer," said Glance, who won gold as part of the U.S. 4x100-meter relay team at the Montreal Games in 1976.
If either James or Bartholomew medals in London, the celebration in Grenada would be spectacular. Last year, after James won his world title at age 19, a street was named after him in St. George's, the capital.
Asked what would happen if James and/or Bartholomew were to medal, Conrad Francis, the country's coordinator of sport, put it this way: "Euphoria."
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