Discover the legends of athletics in our monthly feature On the Shoulders of Giants.
Merlene Ottey
Merlene Ottey, Queen of the Track or The Bronze Queen (because of the number of 3rd place finishes she had at major championships), had an elite level sprinting career that spanned five decades and saw her win 9 Olympic medals and 14 World Championship medals. Ottey’s incredible journey which began with a successful collegiate career in the late 1970s and early 1980s and concluded with her representing Slovenia at the European Championships in 2012 aged 52, had many moments of celebration but was not without controversy.
Born in the small village of Cold Spring on the northwest tip of Jamaica in 1960, Merlene Ottey found an interest in athletics at an early age. Rural life in Jamaica in the 1960s was tough, her village had no running water, electricity or telephones. Her youth was spent outdoors playing games, running barefoot to school and when the opportunity arose competing in local races. By her mid-teens, Ottey began to consider track more seriously. She looked at the achievements of Don Quarrie, the 1970s Jamaican sprint star, and dreamed of replicating his Olympic successes. By 1978, she was representing her country and a year later claiming her first major senior medal, a bronze in the 200m at the 1979 Pan American Games in Puerto Rico.
Ottey’s status rose to a new level after her move to the University of Nebraska in the US mid-west where she took the collegiate circuit by storm. Her 4 years at the university saw her win 14 individual national titles and 24 All-American awards. Ottey is still the only athlete, male or female, in the history of the NCAA track and field championships to score in the 100m, 200m and 400m in the same meet, the 1983 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Merlene Ottey’s first Olympic games in Moscow 1980 yielded a bronze medal in the 200m. This performance meant Ottey was the first female Jamaican athlete to win an Olympic medal. She returned home to a hero’s welcome and was awarded Officer of the Order of Nation and the Order of Distinction both for her contributions to Jamaican sport. Success after success followed for Ottey, with double bronze at the 1984 LA Olympics (100m & 200m), and the 1987 Rome World Championships (100m & 200m), and a further two bronze medals (100m & 200m) with a 4 x 100m relay gold at the 1991 Tokyo World Championships particularly notable performances.
An athlete in her prime with all the experience in the world, the 1992 Barcelona Olympics were set for Ottey to finally move up the podium. Prior to the Games, Ottey suffered with anaemia, which many attribute to her underperforming. However, she still managed to win her way through the 200m heats and claim another bronze medal. Ottey overcame the disappointment of Barcelona, by setting a World Indoor 200m Record in early 1993. This the perfect preparation for the Stuttgart World Championships which saw Ottey involved in two photo finishes. Out dipped by Gail Devers in the 100m but holding off Gwen Torrence in one of the all-time classic 200m races. A blistering start by Ottey saw her 2 metres clear at the curve but as the line approached Ottey tightened, feeling her hamstring and the Olympic champion closed. Ottey stumbled forward with the line arriving just in time. The official decision took an age but finally Ottey was announced the winner and had her first major individual outdoor gold. Ottey did move up the Olympic podium too at the 1996 Atlanta games, winning silver in the 100m behind long-time rival Gail Devers, and silver in the 200m behind France’s Marie-José Pérec.
Merlene Ottey was voted Jamaican Sportswoman of the Year 15 times between 1979 and 1997. In 1998, Ottey made the decision to move to Slovenia to train under coach Srđan Đorđević, where she preferred the support structure and treatment options for her ongoing injuries. After an athletics event in Lucerne, Switzerland in 1999, Ottey returned a positive sample for the banned anabolic steroid nandrolone. Her ‘B’ sample was also returned positive and Ottey was banned for two years. Proclaiming her innocence, Ottey said she was the victim of a “terrible mistake”, and that "I live my personal and athletic life with the utmost honesty and integrity.” The Jamaican Amateur Athletics Association cleared Ottey of illegal use of drugs in November of 1999 citing a faulty test. The IAAF subsequently lifted their ban after the case was thrown out by The Court of Arbitration for Sport, the retesting had not taken place within the allotted timeframe. Ottey was again free to compete and was eyeing up the Sydney Olympics, although now with a cloud of controversy hanging over her.
No doubt affected by the ongoing saga and without a clean block of training, Merlene Ottey floundered at the Jamaican Trials, finishing 4th in the 100m. Selection for the Olympics was on the basis of the performances at the trials and the top three were selected to compete in Sydney. Ottey requested that she be included in the team at the expense of another. A request granted by the Jamaican AAA with Peta-Gaye Dowdie the unfortunate athlete. The decision was not favoured by the Jamaican team who felt Dowdie was being mistreated, bullied out of her rightful place by an ageing athlete with a suspect past. The dispute came to a head when the Jamaican team threatened to boycott the relays and paraded through the Olympic village holding placards and shouting “Merlene out, out!!!”. The demonstration came on the same day that Germany's 1992 Olympic 5,000m champion Dieter Baumann was banned by the IAAA for two years after testing positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone, the same drug found in Ottey's drug test the year before. The protests ended when the International Olympic Committee intimated that the whole Jamaican team would be expelled if they continued. Ottey finished 4th in the 100m final, a race won by Marion Jones. Ottey was later upgraded to the bronze position after Jones was stripped of her medals for using performance enhancing drugs.
Due to the controversy, Ottey decided that "after Sydney I said I wasn't going to run another race for Jamaica ... because I felt like the Jamaicans were trying to push me out of the sport and I really needed to prove my point, that I might be 40 but I can still run.”
In 2002, Merlene Ottey became a Slovene citizen and represented the country at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. At the age of 52, Ottey competed in her final major T&F championships running as part of the Slovenian 4 x 100m relay team at the 2012 European Championships in Helsinki.
A career of remarkable achievements, Merlene Ottey ran the 100m under 11 seconds a record 68 times, ran the 200m under 22 seconds a record 16 times, won 57 consecutive 100m races and holds the Masters World Records over 100m and 200m in W35, W40, W45 and W50 categories. However, all these feats and more by the 1990 World Athlete of Year come with a large question mark. Do we celebrate the unprecedented achievements of Ottey or do we refrain from talking about her athletics career? It is a dilemma that faces Jamaican Track & Field, the relationship with her country of birth has never been the same since the 1999 drugs ban and ensuing dispute. Sadly, an athlete who should be adored as The Queen of Jamaican Track remains a divisive figure.
Tadhg Crowley
23 April 2023