This past weekend Javon Patterson went down to Jamaica for the 2014 JAAA National Junior Championship to compete in the 800m. Patterson was coming in with the 3rd fastest time out of all 14 boys registered to run. During the two days of competition, they decided to cancel the prelims of the 800m and made it a time final to be run on day two. It was then apparent that the boys in the U20 division were going to be running in two sections.Patterson was not in the fast section to everyone’s surprise. He still won his heat running 1:53.82, to place fourth overall,missing his shot to make the team. Now with the 3rd fastest time out of 14 in a timed final shouldn’t he have been in the faster section? That was the question everyone was asking, including some of the athletes. “Other officials approached me later on saying that wasn’t fair, and that wasn’t justice,” according to Coach Barrett, who went with Javon to the meet.
So, this honestly stirs up the question, was Javon cheated out of a chance to make the Jamaica World Team? I spoke to Coach Barrett and Coach Spann about the meet as a whole and they’re pretty sure he was. “They had all this information on him, and I was kind of disappointed when I heard that they didn’t know about this athlete, inquiring who he is, anyone know of him? That shouldn’t have mattered because all the information was there, so I think in a meet they would normally put all the top seeds together in order to get some good times.” “The documents had his three fastest times of the season, which they asked for, in today’s day in age we have the internet, we have multiple ways to find out who an athlete is, going through MileSplit, which I know Jamaica has, they could have easily put his name in and saw that his times were the real deal,” Coach Spann added. By just hearing that alone, it is very obvious that what happened to Javon in Jamaica was no accident.
First impressions are everything to some athletes and most coaches, and this opens up another questionable detail; has Jamaica lost Javon as an athlete and will Javon take this experience and keep his talents in the states, as he is one of the fastest high school 800m runners in the country. When asked if Javon should try out for another Jamaica team Coach Spann said, “That I would say no, I do know that Jamaica is very passionate to him mom and Coach Barrett. So the possibility is probable, but I think where we’re at today, I would just go with who would want him, and we know the U.S. won’t turn him away.” Now when speaking to Javon about possibly trying out for another team, he was a little more optimistic and said, “I would love to go back and tryout again. Now everyone knows who I am and what not, if I were to go back they won’t make that mistake again.”
Leaving Jamaica with 4th place definitely leaves that what if thought in the back of people’s minds. Would he have won the section? Would he have made the team? Would he have broken that 1:50 barrier that few do in high school? Would he have stolen the show in Oregon? As far as the race in Jamaica goes, Coach Barrett believed that he could have gone 1:50 without a doubt. Coach Spann on the other hand believed that he was ready to go sub 1:50 with his new found focus. When speaking on his race, here is Javon had to say, “When I realized that I was in the slow my mindset was to go out there and run the best time I can, but it’s hard to run by yourself. I feel if I was in the 2nd heat, I would have won that section because their first lap was slower that mine, and their 600m was slower than mine. It was just that all the competition in that heat made them run faster coming home.” The second section also had a rabbit, which went slower on the first lap than Javon. According to Coach Barrett, the athletes down there welcome competition, but they know their race tactics well. Being that Javon isn’t from Jamaica, but has dual citizenship, it makes you think will the athletes give him trouble next. “Definitely he’s going to get boxed him, because they know what type of runner he is, so I think just learning how to get out of that, or not getting into that situation, will put him in the best position to win the race,” said Coach Spann.
The ultimate opinion that matters in this case is Javons’. When I asked Javon if he thought he was cheated out of a fair chance, he replied, “Yes, I honestly think they did cheat me out of making the team because the second heat had a rabbit, and the first section didn’t have a rabbit, and that only benefits the second heat rather than the first heat.” Javon as a whole seems to have a positive take on this whole experience which is what an athlete in these situations has to do.
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