Raymond Stewart was getting massages from Waldemar in the 1980’s because the Jamaicans didn’t have the money to have their own person, let’s not forget that either.
You would also notice that Francis has a very large club (80+ athletes) with an A, B, C, and D group, which is eerily similar to Charlie’s philosophy, and this is not a coincidence. There are many influences at work in Jamaica, and without a doubt Charlie’s influence is significant.
To suggest that a top coach in the world would just read someone’s else’s books and not actually attempt to talk to them when they are a known consultant with less of an axe to grind than other high level coaches (as he wasn’t actively coaching a group of his own) is just as implausible as suggesting that top Jamaican coaches consulted with Charlie.
They couldn’t consult easily with John Smith, or Pfaff, or Seagrave, as they all have competing athletes. I know someoene specifically who went to see John Smith for example, and learned nearly nothing because he holds his cards so close to his vest, probably because he coaches an active group. Not only that, but guys like Pfaff, Seagrave and Smith have never taken a 15 year old and progressed him into 100m champion. That’s just not the way the system works in the US, they usually get kids in college or afterward (Donovan came to Pfaff at what, 24?). The current Jamaican system is much closer to a CF style development approach.
I think anyone would admit that to improve your own knowledge, you need to talk to others at a high level, and when that person is a known consultant to top sprinters and is not competing against you with his own runners and works on strict confidentiality, I think it’s reasonable to suggest that they might have conversed on occasion. I am certainly not saying that he wrote anyone’s program, or even that he was involved, just that I think I’d have a little more interest than just reading a book if I was a coach with a 21 year old 100m kid who ran his first race in 10.00 flat.
Charlie talked to the GDR coaches when they were the best and extracted as much info as he could. Any coach with a high quality athlete would be foolish not to consult someone at Charlie’s level considering the stakes involved.
At any rate, I think it’s safe to say that Tim wasn’t the only top 100m man to do so, not that we’ll see any confirmation of that.