By Zaheer E. Clarke
Published on July 16, 2018, in the Western Mirror
There is much debate about the immediate future of young athletic phenom Christopher Taylor. Should he go pro or remain an amateur and pursue his studies? The debate wages on.
Christopher Taylor
(Source: Jamaica Olympics)
There is a curious case involving one of Jamaica’s future stars in track and field, Christopher Taylor. Depending on whom you listen to, the 18-year-old should go professional and forego another year of the ISSA Boys and Girl Championships, or he should remain in school and enjoy his childhood. That is the feedback I got while in discussion with several sports journalists across several media houses in the past week.
At the time of writing this article, Taylor was three hours away from competing in the Men’s 400m final at the IAAF Under-20 Championships in Tampere, Finland. Taylor, the under-20 world leader in the 400m this year, is expected to win. A few weeks ago at Jamaica’s National Championships, he dismissed his senior counterparts, winning in a time of 44.88 seconds. Six days later, he clocked 10.11 seconds in the 100m, equalling Yohan Blake’s junior record. At the Boy and Girls Championships this year, Taylor clocked 20.35 seconds in the 200m, rendering Usain Bolt as the only Jamaican that has gone faster than Taylor’s 20.35 seconds before their 20th birthday. It is performances such as these why the IAAF dubbed Taylor among the top-10 athletes to watch at this year’s U-20 Championships. In fact, in their listing, the IAAF had him as the number one athlete to watch.
Christopher Taylor Taylor wins his first senior men’s 400m title with a personal best of 44.88s at age 18.
(Photo source: Track Alerts)
As such, with Bolt retired, Asafa Powell in the departure lounge and the second generation of male sprinters failing to come through consistently at the world stage, the hope of Jamaica’s future dominance in the sprints springs in Taylor’s direction. Whatever time he runs in Finland, whether he wins or loses, the bewailing for his handlers to usher him from amateur status to professional athletics will continue unabated into the futurity.
However, the question must be asked, is he ready for the senior leagues? What of his personal desire to finish school and get additional academic qualifications? Some Jamaicans believe that his scholastic pursuits can be delayed for later in life. Others ponder the cruel fate of his promising athletics career failing to reach its peak and wonder what would be his fallback plan without the required academic certifications. So the question on everyone’s mind is, should he stay in school or should he go pro.
Should Christopher Taylor remain in school or go pro? What say you?
(Photo credit: Joseph Wellington/Jamaica Observer)
Another question looming is, which event(s) should he run. The 100, 200, or 400m or some combination of two of the three? Historically, over the past 20 years, Jamaican athletes who made thunderous impacts on the world stage in these events – either winning gold medals or setting world records – did those feats at ages spanning from 21 to 24.
The youngest Jamaican – male or female – to achieve one of those feats during the last 20 years at the international level is Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who at 21 years and 234 days old won Olympic gold in the 100m in Beijing in 2008. Taylor, who is 18 years and 288 days old today (date of publication), is almost three years away from that age. Elaine Thompson, who won a historic double at the 2016 Rio Olympics in the 100m and 200m, achieved her legendary status as the fastest woman in the world for the first time at 24 years and 46 days old. Thompson is the oldest Jamaica to accomplish such a feat – win World Championship gold, Olympic gold or set a world record in the 100m, 200m or 400m – for her first time in the past 20 years.
From recollection, if we expand the time span under evaluation to 40 years, the youngest Jamaican to achieve such a feat – win World Championship gold, Olympic gold or set a world record in the 100m, 200m or 400m – is still Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce at 21 years and 234 days old. It is not until we approach the 50-year threshold before we see Jamaica athletes eclipsing Fraser-Pryce’s tender age.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Shelly-Ann Fraser became the youngest Jamaican, at 21 years and 234 days old, to either break a world record, win an Olympic title or World title in either the 100m, 200m or 400m in the last 40 years.
(Source: NBC Sports)
Marilyn Neufville, running at the 1970 Commonwealth Games, broke the women’s 400m world record at the ripe age of 17 years and 249 days old. Currently, Taylor is a year older than Neufville was in 1970. Similarly, Donald Quarrie, aged 20 years and 159 days, equalled the 200m world record in 1971. Taylor, on the other hand, is still about two years away from Quarrie’s mature age.
Despite all the Jamaican examples listed above, Taylor’s pet event though is the men’s 400m. Bert Cameron, who is the first and still the only 400m World champion Jamaica has produced, won his world title at a tender age of 23 years and 267 days old at the inaugural IAAF World Championships in 1983. The year before he copped the then prestigious Commonwealth title at 22 years and 322 days old. That would still put Taylor at least four to five years away from Cameron’s age of success.
Table 1. The youngest Jamaicans to hold a world record, Olympic title or world title in the 100m, 200m or 400m in the past 50 years.
| Event | Athlete | Time/s | Age | Result | Year |
| 400m | Marilyn Neufville | 51.02 | 17y, 249d | World Record | 1970 |
| 200m | Donald Quarrie | 19.86 | 20y, 159d | World Record | 1971 |
| 100m | Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce | 10.78 | 21y, 234d | Olympic Title | 2008 |
| 100m | Yohan Blake | 9.92 | 21y, 245d | World Title | 2011 |
| 100m | Usain Bolt | 9.72 | 21y, 284d | World Record | 2008 |
| 200m | Veronica Campbell-Brown | 22.05 | 22y, 102d | Olympic Title | 2004 |
| 100m | Asafa Powell | 9.77 | 22y, 203d | World Record | 2005 |
| 400m | Bert Cameron | 45.05 | 23y, 267d | World Title | 1983 |
| 100m | Elaine Thompson | 10.71 | 24y, 46d | Olympic Title | 2016 |
With all this data before us, it could be good sense to allow Taylor to develop and also pursue his scholastic endeavours in the next two years. Though Taylor has the fastest time of the year of all the participants at the U-20 Championships, Taylor’s 44.88-second clocking is the 53rd fastest time in the world this year over 400m at the senior level, and 25 other senior athletes have gone faster than him this year.
Those on the other side will point to Kirani James, who achieved both his first World or Olympic titles at the ages of 18 years and 363 days old and 19 years and 340 days old respectively. The year before James first world title, he had the 47th fastest time and was ranked as the 20th best over the distance. Those wanting to see Taylor go professional will point to the similarities in their rankings. James exploded a year later and showed his immense talent and class. Like Taylor, James dominated the U-20 ranks the year before. Will Taylor follow the same path? Should he go professional now?
Table 2. The youngest non-Jamaican athletes to hold a world record, Olympic title or world title in the 100m, 200m or 400m in the past 20 years.
| Event | Athlete | Time/s | Age | Result | Year |
| 400m | Kirani James | 44.60 | 18y, 363d | World Title | 2011 |
| 200m | Allyson Felix | 22.16 | 19y, 267d | World Title | 2005 |
| 400m | Jeremy Wariner | 44.00 | 20y, 205d | Olympic Title | 2004 |
| 400m | LaShawn Merritt | 43.75 | 22y, 55d | Olympic Title | 2008 |
| 400m | Shaunae Miller-Uibo | 49.44 | 22y, 122d | Olympic Title | 2016 |
| 100m | Justin Gatlin | 9.85 | 22y, 194d | Olympic Title | 2004 |
| 400m | Wayde van Niekerk | 43.48 | 23y, 42d | World Title | 2015 |
| 200m | Dafne Schippers | 21.63 | 23y, 74d | World Title | 2015 |
| 400m | Christine Ohuruogu | 49.61 | 23y, 104d | World Title | 2007 |
| 400m | Sanya Richards-Ross | 49.00 | 24y, 173d | World Title | 2009 |
From my empirical vantage point, Taylor’s thunderous emergence on the world stage might not be before his 20th or 21st birthday. That would put him in line for world explosion at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the 2021 Eugene World Championships or beyond. For the remainder of 2018 and 2019, he could concentrate on his academics and position himself for the what-ifs of life and track and field.
As one journalist said to me, “He should enjoy his childhood.” He doesn’t have much of it left, but stardom awaits him when he’s fit and ready.
Marilyn Neufville of Jamaica beats her nearest competitor by over two seconds to win the women’s 400 metres final in a then-world record of 51.02s during the British Commonwealth Games at Meadowbank Stadium in Edinburgh, 23 July 1970. Neufville was only 17 years old.
(Photo by Ed Lacey/Popperfoto/Getty Images)
Until next time…
© Zaheer Clarke
Zaheer E. Clarke is a sports columnist, freelance sportswriter and a multi-award-winning blogger. He believes Christopher Taylor is Jamaica’s next best hope at domination in the male sprints. However, he must be given time to grow into a professional student-athlete (tongue-in-cheek).
He can be reached at zaheer.clarke@gmail.com. Follow him on Facebook at Zaheer Facts, Lies & Statistics, or on Twitter at @zaheerclarke.
A version of this blog article was published in the Western Mirror on July 16, 2018.
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