BAILEY'S SPEED SET PACE FOR

T&T SPRINTERS

 

By Michael Anthony

People of the Century

Part I

Express

August 23, 2000

Page 38, 39

 

If it is true to say that Hasely Crawford was the fastest athlete in the world at a moment in time, then it is equally true to say that MacDonald Bailey was one of the finest athletes in the world for consistency during his career.

 

Out of grit and determination, effort, sacrifice, training and an enormous gift of talent, he was the first Trinidad and Tobago athlete to succeed in entering the ranks of the world's greatest sprinters.

 

MacDonald Bailey was born in the central Trinidad village of Hardbargain in 1921, and later his parents moved to Arima, where he attended his first school, Arima Boy's Government.

 

MacDonald's father, who himself was an outstanding runner, did well to spot the boy's talent early.  On one occasion he made a dash for his son in order to apply the rod of correction, but a little bit of sprinting ensued during which he could not catch him.

 

In the end, panting, he complimented MacDonald, and set him off on the road to glory.

 

From the age of six, MacDonald began distinguishing himself in school sports and with his father's support, he went through those early years invariably sprinting to the tape first, often showing the way home to boys far above his own age.  In this period, the scene was first Arima Boy's Government School, and then Tranquillity Boy's Intermediate.

 

It was after leaving Tranquillity and entering Queen's Royal College that athletics must have taken on special significance for him, for Queen's royal College had a reputation for producing sportsmen of quality, and enthusiasm in its precincts burned like a flaming torch.

 

This was especially so in athletics, for the college had produced such stars as the Farrell brothers, Victor Noel, AE Jones, and the most celebrated sprinter of that day, JRN Cumberbatch.

 

Indeed, it was Cumberbatch - he of the majestic strides and unruffled grace - who fired the keenness of the young MacDonald Bailey.

 

Many years afterwards Bailey was to say: "Cumberbatch was my first hero.  As a teenager coming up, Cumberbatch was my model."

 

At Queen's Royal College Bailey became obsessed with athletics, maybe to the detriment of his studies.  And that was when his schoolmaster father wanted to lay down the law.  For sport was sport, not to be confused with a professional career.  At least that was how the older Macdonald Bailey saw it.

 

But for the younger MacDonald Bailey there was no other career.  Here was where his heart lay.  He would give more time and effort to his academic work but it was the world of the sprints that was beckoning.

 

It was to beckon more brightly shortly afterwards, and maybe one could say MacDonald Bailey's biggest college year for sports was 1936.  for in the under-15 category he crushed his opponents to win both sprints, and he also won the junior high-jump event.

 

This was great encouragement for the young sprinter and it must have made him dram of international athletics.  For although he never won the Senior Sprint championships - the category 16 and over - he had to be considered one of the best young prospects in Trinidad.

 

And at this point it was only one stride to the national arena, and making his bid at the grand Empire Day sports meeting at the Queen's Park Oval in 1939, Bailey, to use an English term, "upset the apple-cart".  He put in a magnificent performance in the 100 yards event, coming second to his hero JRN Cumberbatch, and returning the then-fast time 10.1 seconds.

 

This could not but make an impression on the authorities, and later in 1939 Bailey was elected along with Cumberbatch to represent Trinidad at the British Games at White City, London.

 

Only four athletes were chosen.  The other members of that party were Mannie Ramjohn, the middle-distance runner; and Eric Pierre the high jumper.

 

Bailey, being 18, was eligible to run in the junior events of those championships, but this he declined.  He preferred to pit himself against seasoned campaigners, in the open international events.  The result was that, far from being humiliated, this athletic "upstart" had the distinction of reaching the semi-finals!

 

It was clear that when those Games ended and he returned to Trinidad, a new sporting era would begin.

 

The very next years, 1940, Bailey turned up once more at the Queen's Park Oval Empire Day sports meeting, and in sensational fashion he beat the cream of the island's top sprinters in both the 100 yards and 220 yards events.

 

In the 100 yards he had come upon the Pointe-a-Pierre "wonder-boy", Joe Hunte, for whom none thought he was ready.  But he edged out Hunte in 10 seconds flat.  Hunte did not line up for the 220-yard event, but the celebrated George Baker was at his marks.  In an atmosphere of disbelief and amidst the roar of the crowd, Bailey took the tape from Baker in 22 seconds.

 

The demands of the Second World War along with the quest for international competition saw MacDonald Bailey leave for England in 1944 as a member of the Royal Air Force.  Almost directly he made his presence felt - he ran at the Royal Air Force athletic championships of 1945 and triumphed in both the 100-yard and 220-yard events to crown himself champion.

 

And it was from here that his amazing consistency began.  He dominated those championships for four consecutive years, winning both sprints on each occasion.  He was unbeaten champion when he left the Royal Air Force in 1948.

 

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BRINGING SPORTING GLORY TO

TWO 'HOMES'

 

By Michael Anthony

People of the Century

MacDonald Bailey

Part II

Express

Section 2

August 30, 2000

Page 11

 

By 1948 his was one of the biggest sporting names in England, and is referred to in the book History of British Athletics, as one of the greatest crowd-pleasers in the history of athletics in Britain.

 

His victory at the Royal Air Force championships in 1945 had established him as the finest sprinter in England.  In that year he was selected to run for Great Britain in the Great Britain vs. France International.  At that meeting, Bailey won both sprints.

 

In the summer of 1946 he was again selected to run for Great Britain, this time at the British Amateur Athletic Association championships at White City in London, where he won both the 100 and 220 yards events.

 

In two short years MacDonald Bailey was already a hero on the British scene.

 

After winning the sprint 'double' at the British Amateur Athletic championships of 1946 MacDonald Bailey went on to do the same thing for six consecutive years.

 

During this period he was returning times close to the world record: in the range of 9.6 to 9.8 for the 100-yards event, when the world record was 9.4 seconds.  He was also recording 21.1 to 21.5 seconds for the 220 yards event, again not far from the world mark.

 

In 1947, Bailey returned consistently fast times for the 100 yards, and on one occasion he did a world-record 9.4 seconds, deemed to be wind-assisted.  In 1947, he also clocked 10.3 seconds for the 100 metres - one-tenth of a second outside of the then world record.  His time for the 200 metres was 21.2 seconds.

 

The British people were clamouring for Bailey to represent Britain in the Olympic Games of 1948, scheduled for London.  The pressure on him to run for Britain was nearly as great as Trinidad's indecision on the selection of a team.  In the end Bailey had to choose running for Britain or risk sitting out the Olympics.

 

Ironically, while 1947 was a magnificent year for MacDonald Bailey, in 1948 he was plagued by injuries.  Indeed, he had to fight tenaciously to reach the final of the 100-metres event, in which he finished sixth and last.

 

The other irony was that soon after the Olympics he returned to full fitness.  British athletics then saw the Bailey of old, not only winning every race, but literally running away from the field to take the tape.

 

His biggest achievement in 1949 was in Reykjavik, Iceland, where he recorded times like 9.5 seconds for the 100 yards event and 10.2 for the 100 metres event.  (The time of 10.2 for the 100 metres was the world record for the distance, but his performance was not recognised because the organisers had omitted to install a wind gauge on the track).

 

In 1950 he reached his best.  Running in a 100-metre event in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, he hit the tape in 10.2, equaling the world mark set by Jesse Owens in 1936.

 

British thoughts once again turned to the Olympic Games, this time scheduled for Helsinki, Finland, in 1952.  They were certain that Bailey would bring them a gold medal this time.

 

But fate was not in favour of the man who was probably the greatest sprinter of that era.  He was coming up to the tape in the final of the Olympic 100-metre race, and almost in a straight line with him, 10 metres from home, were Lindy Remigino of the United States, and Herb McKenley of Jamaica.  The next moment both Remigino and Herb McKenley were lunging for the tape, but, according to the author of History of British Athletics, Bailey, maintaining his poise and his classic style, threw away what might have been a momentous victory.

 

Remigino won in 10.4 seconds.  To show how close together the three men were, each of them was credited with 10.4 seconds.  Bailey came third, winning a bronze medal for Great Britain.

 

By 1953, he decided to retire.

 

Although he had his career in England, and ran for Great Britain in two Olympic Games, it is to Trinidad that the glory redounds.

 

Thousands of British people probably heard the name "Trinidad" for the first time when Bailey ran in the Royal Air Force championships, and although he represented Great Britain at two Olympic Games, it was not Great Britain facing the Olympic starter, but Trinidad and Tobago.

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