SOMETIMES many good things happen at the most inopportune times in the lives of many people, especially sports personalities who by virtue of a twist in fortune or fate are catapulted to stardom and glory beyond their belief. Whenever these things happen, some people would claim that these occurrences are destined to be or that God has had a hand in making it happen, which is indeed true in some instances.
But there are others who would suggest that some of these persons are either lucky or that their lucky stars were prevailing when exceptional achievements are recorded for posterity.
However, on closer examination and analysis, the purists or traditionalists among us would believe that most of these super-human performances are as a result of careful and strategic planning – coupled with supreme dedication, uninterrupted enthusiasm and conscientiousness of arduous training, commitment to pushing oneself beyond normal and being totally engrossed mentally and emotionally in achieving the highest goals possible.
These factors when aided with God’s grace and support from those who share your dreams and goals will eventually materialise at some stage in the journey, sometimes even against the “run of play”, quicker than one can imagine.
While the pragmatists would choose the right way to prepare themselves for their onerous tasks in achieving their best, there are a set of people who would choose the wrong way by indulging in the use of performance-enhancing drugs to boost their chances of winning gold medals and breaking records.
History has shown that many in the past have been able to beat the system and accomplish their missions, which is totally unfair to those who had chosen the right way.
And there are those who achieved their goals unnoticed and secretively and ought to be deemed “cheaters” but yet celebrate for themselves and their countries glory that was assisted by unfair practices. These repugnant practitioners will escape sanction until proved guilty. It’s a topic that will be dealt with later.
I just want to keep the focus on Trinidad and Tobago’s Beijing Olympics 100-metre silver medallist Richard ‘Torpedo’ Thompson who experienced a combination of factors last Friday when one of his dreams materialised at the refurbished Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, Port of Spain.
The 26-year-old sprinter is preparing for the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Daegu, Korea from August 27. At the world premier athletics event, he faces the daunting task of beating some of the greatest sprinters of all-time including current world record holder Usain Bolt and his Jamaican compatriot Asafa Powell who were first and third at the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin.
And judging from this season’s previous best time of 10.01secs in the 100-metre at the Eugene, Oregon race on June 4, Thompson is way out of the reckoning to reach the final, much less astride the podium to collect a medal two months ago.
But his latest performance and the commanding manner he accelerated from a high-class field provide optimism that he is peaking at the right time. The whole game plan has changed and I am convinced that he is definitely ready to take on Bolt and Powell and beat them.
He was beaten into seventh place at the Oregon meet which was won by Jamaica’s Steve Mullings who clocked 9.80 secs. American rising star and new sprint champion Mike Rodgers was second in 9.85 secs while Jamaican Nesta Carter (9.92), American Darvis Patton (9.94), Jamaican Michael Frater (9.94) and former American world record holder Justin Gatlin (9.97) finished ahead of Thompson.
Meanwhile, Olympics and world champion Usain Bolt has struggled in the early part of the season until he returned his season’s best of 9.88 secs for first place in Monaco Grand Prix on July 22.
Powell registered the season’s best of 9.78 secs in Lausanne on June 30 which eclipsed American Tyson Gay’s 9.79 that he recorded at Clermont, Florida on June 4, the same meet that Trinidadian Keston Bledman clocked 9.93 secs in his heat.
While Bolt has become a legend with his effortless giant strides and dominated during the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2009 World Championships; the lanky Jamaican has not been smooth and struggled to win his races this season in the manner he did previously.
Unquestionably, he is true champion but when Tyson Gay beat him last year and halted his unmatched winning streak, Bolt lost the aura of invincibility and could be put to the sternest test in Korea. 
Bledman then went to the Central American American (CAC) Games in Puerto Rico and won the gold medal in a time of 10.05 secs at Mayaguez National Stadium on July 15.
Thompson requested to miss the NAAA Open Track & Field Championships because the national senior championships were forced to be re-scheduled because of the non-completion of the newly refurbished track.
But the NAAA officials failed to accede to Thompson’s request to miss the meet so as to complete his training programme for the Worlds. The officials were right in not granting permission for the two-time sprint champion to stay away because of the better times produced by 23-year-old Bledman who is being touted as a future star on the international scene.
In addition, the other T&T sprinters would also want to prove themselves against Thompson and be considered for one of three spots in the 100 metres showdown event in Korea.
As it turned out, Thompson not only retained his national crown but also obliterated Ato Boldon’s national record with a career-best time of 9.85secs in the NAAA’s Sagicor Open Track & Field Championships 100 metres final at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, Port of Spain on Friday last.
Against the odds and not wanting to race at top speed before the Worlds, Thompson has now stamped his class and emerged as the country’s fastest runner of all-time when he smashed Boldon’s previous national record.
He has not only boosted his confidence but also sent a powerful psychological message to Bolt and Powell that he is ready to battle with the world’s fastest two men for the coveted gold medal and the unique title as the world’s fastest man.
Racing in lane six and against a high-quality field of world-rated sprinters; ‘Torpedo’ Thompson got out of the blocks like a rocket and blazed the newly-laid track and led his rivals at the halfway mark.
Realising that he had them covered; the 26-year-old quickly changed gears and maintained the acceleration well past the finishing line as the 7 000-odd crowd got on their feet and roared their approval.
It was double delight for the appreciative crowd and Thompson when they saw the electronic timing clock stopped at 9.85 secs. The 2008 double Olympics silver-medallist could not believe his good fortune and flung his shades into the crowd and kept pointing to a particular section to tell them that they could take that and bank it.
Thompson’s time eclipsed Boldon’s career-best and previous national mark of 9.86 seconds. The Sydney Olympics silver medallist set the previous national record best times on four occasions; twice in 1998 and 1999.
With the new national record, Thompson silenced some of his detractors and more importantly he showed his younger rival Bledman and other seasoned campaigners that they had a lot of work to do to catch up with him, much less beat him in the premier race of any track meet.