Southern comfort: Gilbert strikes gold
Reluctant runner hit the top with relay team during '96 Atlanta Games
MARTIN CLEARY, CanWest News Service
Published: Wednesday, December 26
For a gifted athlete who never really wanted to be a runner, Glenroy Gilbert walked off the Commonwealth Stadium track in Edmonton at the 2001 world athletics championships with a mind-boggling legacy in sprinting.
And six years after his retirement, the multi-talented Ottawa athlete and five-time Olympian is now developing the future in the discipline as coordinator of sprinting and relays for Athletics Canada, the national governing body for track and field.
Gilbert - born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, 38 years ago - moved to Ottawa at the age of 5 and wanted to make his mark in track and field as a long jumper. He made a name for himself in provincial high school and national junior circles and earned a scholarship to Louisiana State University.
He competed in his first of five Olympics during the 1988 Games in Seoul based on his ability to sail more than eight metres through the air as a long jumper.
But an innocent slip on the takeoff board at a local meet at the LSU stadium in his freshman year as a Tiger jarred his back, tore a groin muscle, and ended his career as a jumper.
The injury prompted his LSU coach to ask the obvious question to start his second year.
"The coach said: ‘Glenroy, you’re on scholarship. What are you going to do now?’ " said Gilbert, who knew what the coach wanted, but he playfully asked if he could become a thrower.
“I had no option but to run, sprint. Either that or go home.” Even though running with his friends was a natural part of his life growing up in Port of Spain and in Ottawa, he didn’t want to run the 100 or 200 metres or be part of a 4x100-metre relay team.
“I just didn’t want to do it. It didn’t come natural. I had to really work at it,” he said.
When Gilbert was on the long jump runway, he was on his own and had 90 seconds to make a jump. He was blessed with muscle elasticity, solid technique and wonderful abdominal strength to stay airborne for a long period.
He also had built-in confidence as a long jumper, dating back to his elementary school days, when he would take on all challengers for long jump competitions into the school’s forgotten sand pit.
In the 100 metres, he usually would have runners on either side of him with a starter giving instructions and firing a pistol to send off the runners.
“It was a difficult move from being in control to having no control,” he said.
But because of his desire to be an Olympian, he trained hard for the sprints, which triggered a fascinating and accomplished career for the reluctant runner.
Gilbert won a gold medal in every major international Games and championships, whether it was the relay or the 100 metres, except for one.
He won gold in the men’s 4x100-metre relay at the 1993 NCAA championships with LSU, the 1994 Commonwealth Games and Games of the Francophonie, the 1995 and 1997 world championships, the 1996 summer Olympic Games and the 1998 Goodwill Games. At the 1995 Pan-Am Games, he was first in the 100 metres.
As hard as he trained for international success, individual sprinting wasn’t his forte, even though his career-best time was 10.10. His body type didn’t allow him to be quick out of the blocks for the first 50 metres. Instead, by the time he reached 50 metres, he was just starting to feel comfortable and used that power over the final 50 metres to gain ground on the fading field.
Gilbert’s future, however, was in the 4x100-metre relay, where he would become one of the best second-leg runners. The race was perfect for him, as it allowed him to have a flying start (not out of blocks) and almost be in full stride by the time he received the baton from the lead-off runner.
At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Gilbert’s flying 100 in the gold-medal final was clocked at 9.02 seconds, which was the second-fastest time of any of the runners. Canadian anchor Donovan Bailey had the best time of 8.95 to cap a national-team record 37.69.
But Gilbert’s relay career almost was shut down early by Canadian coach John Cannon, Gilbert said.
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At the Canada-Ireland-Wales track meet in Ireland in 1990, Cannon was considering scratching Gilbert in favour of Atlee Mahorn. Gilbert, who was then the lead-off runner, defended himself, saying he was fourth at the Canadian championships and deserved a berth on the four-man team.
Cannon gave him one chance to run the second leg. Gilbert remembers his words well.
"If you don’t run well in that leg, I’ll pull you off the relay team,’’ said Gilbert, who responded with a "no problem.’’ Gilbert was timed in 9.27 seconds off a flying start for his relay assignment. Cannon’s post-race message was to the point: "Stay right where you are.’’ The 13-year national team experience has been rewarding and frustrating for Gilbert, especially his final appearances at the summer Olympic Games.
The magical moment was the 1996 Games in Atlanta, when Robert Esmie, Gilbert, Bruny Surin and Bailey beat the Americans on their soil for the gold.
Ottawa Citizen
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2007
