Boldon puts Trinidad back in sprinting spotlight
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ATLANTA -- Twenty years after Haseley Crawford captured Trinidad's only
Olympic gold medal to date, another speedster from the tiny West Indian
island has emerged as a genuine challenger for the 100 meter title in
Atlanta.

At the 1976 Montreal Olympics, during a golden period for Caribbean
sprinting, Crawford just held off Jamaican Don Quarrie to win by 0.01 of a
second and provide Trinidad with its finest sporting moment.

Now Ato Boldon, a 22-year-old student at UCLA, who
combines scorching speed with unshakeable self-confidence,
has set his sights on emulating Crawford.

In a searing sprint season during which six men
have already clocked under 10 seconds, Boldon is     "The media are
the second fastest man in the world with 9.92        expecting me to say a
seconds and a real prospect, despite his             million dollars or
inexperience, for the Olympic title.                 something. But I say
                                                     I want my name on the
Crawford was showered with honors after Montreal.    BIWA plane.''
He was awarded the Trinity Cross, his portrait
adorned two postage stamps and six Calypso songs
were penned to commemorate his triumph.

But for Boldon, born three years before the Montreal Games, Crawford's
biggest achievement was getting his name emblazoned on a British West Indian
Airways (BIWA) jet.

"My earlier memories of Crawford are school kids playing in the yard and
anybody who was fast was Crawford,'' Boldon recalled.

"That was the big thing. Now I go back home and go incognito into the
playground and I hear people say my name. It's a big thrill for me.

"The two biggest things about Haseley were one, everybody knew who he was
and two, he had his name on a plane, which to me was the greatest thing in
life.

"We had a Miss Universe in '77 and her name got put on front of the plane in
big, black letters.

"Haseley Crawford had his name on there, too, and to me that was my whole
motivation in life. I had to get my name on the front of that plane that
flew all over.''

So what is his motivation now? Boldon does not hestitate.

"The media are expecting me to say a million dollars or something. But I say
I want my name on the BIWA plane.''

                               Boldon has not lived in Trinidad for eight
  "Trinidad is literally a     years but he still returns regularly and is
  dot on the map and to have   clearly proud of an island which has
  the Olympic champion in the  produced himself, Crawford and Brian Lara,
  biggest event in the         cricket's world record-holder for both test
  Olympics, in my opinion,     and first class innings.
  from Trinidad, was a huge
  accomplishment."             "Trinidad is literally a dot on the map and
                               to have the Olympic champion in the biggest
                               event in the Olympics, in my opinion, from
Trinidad, was a huge accomplishment.

"They look at it as, gee, now we haven't done it for 20 years. I wonder if
this 22-year-old kid can pull it off.''

As well as his obvious talent and possibly the most graceful style of all
the world's top sprinters, Boldon is a close student of the sport.

He has a video library of about 60 tapes and is coached by John Smith,
arguably the best sprint coach in the world.

Boldon is not intimidated by the other likely Olympic finalists.

"I noticed from watching films they don't run like I do,'' he said. "I think
I have the best form. I see a lot of guys with good form, too, so that's not
the end-all. I think I pay most attention to technique.''