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THE WEEKLY GLEANER | DECEMBER 13 - DECEMBER 19, 2021 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | SPORTS 35 THE W EKLY GLEAN R | DECEMBER 13, 2021 - JANUARY 2 2 Robert Bailey/Gleaner Writer F OOTBALL ANALYSTS Michael Hall and Clyde Jureidini say that they are shocked by and disap- pointed over the Jamaica Football Federation’s (JFF) decision to fire Theodore ‘Tappa’Whitmore as head coach of the senior men’s football team. The JFF said on Thursday, December 9 that Whitmore has been relieved of his duties with immediate effect and that assistant coach Paul Hall will take over until the end of the World Cup qualifying campaign. Whitmore’s tenure as head coach was reviewed during a technical com- mittee meeting after the Reggae Boyz drew 1-1 with the United States at the National Stadium last month. The Reggae Boyz are sixth on seven points in the eight-team table, with six games remaining in the qualifiers. The table is led by Canada on 16 points, followed by the United States on 15, and Mexico and Panama round out the top four with 14 points apiece. Costa Rica are just ahead of the Reggae Boyz on nine points. Michael Hall says Whitmore should have been allowed the opportunity to finish the campaign. “I do not agree with the JFF firing him now,” Hall told The Gleaner . “I think that he should have remained for the remainder of the campaign because if we are honest about it, it would take a miracle for Jamaica to qualify, even for the playoffs in this octagonal series. “Even if they fired him, which they have, and brought in another coach, I am not sure at all about what some other coach is going to achieve that he has not been able to achieve. “I believe that were it not for a few unlucky situations, we would have been much better placed in terms of points at this point in time. I noticed that they (Concacaf ) are saying that VAR (Video Assistant Replay) will be introduced for the remainder of the Concacaf games. It is probably coming a day too late for the team, as well as for Tappa.” Michael Hall, like Jureidini, said that he has no issue with JFF’s decision to appoint Paul Hall. “I think he is one of the few people that meets the criteria, so I think it is necessary,” Michael Hall said. “I think he is familiar with Concacaf, and he knows the players, so I suppose he is a decent choice. I wish him all the best, but I don’t know that he is going to be able to work the miracle that it is going to take to get us into the playoff spot.” Jureidini said that while he un- derstands the JFF’s decision to fire Whitmore because of results, he is disappointed in the manner in which it was done. “I think that they should have had him finish his tenure based on the ill-preparations that they have, and in my view, destabilised the unit in the last year and half,” Jureidini said. “I think it may have come down to the results, so it is understandable that the decision would be taken to remove him. However, I think it was done poorly and took too long and too much public involvement to come to a decision.” Whitmore returned to the senior na- tional team as its head coach in January 2017, four years after his previous stint ended in 2013. His first spell as head coach started in June 2009, where he took charge of 53 games, winning 24, drawing 8, and losing 21. In his sec- ond stint, out of 52 games, he did not fare better, having won 23, drawn 13, and lost 16. He took the Reggae Boyz to the Gold Cup final in 2017 and the semi-finals in 2019. TheGleaner reachedout toWhitmore for a response tohis termination, but calls to his phone went unanswered. robert.bailey@gleanerjm.com ‘WRONG MOVE’ Theodore ‘Tappa’ Whitmore FILE Stakeholders disagree with JFF decision to sackWhitmore Hubert Lawrence/Gleaner Writer OVERWHELMED WITH pride, Jamaica’s sprinter Elaine Thompson- Herah expressed happiness at being on top of the world after being crowned as World Athletics’ Female Athlete of the Year. Thompson-Herah, WHO won both the 100 and 200 metres at the Tokyo Olympics, was crowned onWednesday, December 1 in a ceremony presented online by the sports’ world governing body. Especially good in the second half of the 2021 season, the 29-year-old Thompson-Herah joinedMerlene Ottey and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce as winners of the prestigious award. She outstripped four other women who won gold medals at the Olympic Games inTokyo – triple jumper Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela, Kenya’s 1500-metre runner Faith Kipyegon, Dutch distance ace Sifan Hassan, and American 400- metre hurdler Sydney McLaughlin. Thompson-Herah, who brought the world 100 and 200-metre records of 10.49 and 21.34 seconds into reach with her Tokyo times of 10.61 and 21.53 seconds, was delighted to win the award. Even though she is no longer with MVP coaching maestro Stephen Francis, she hopes to continue in the same vein next season. “I just take it year by year,” she told World Athletics. After Tokyo, she lowered her 100- metre best to 10.54 seconds, just 0.05 away from the record. ‘ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE’ Mindful of the small margin, Thompson-Herah noted: “I went very close to the world record, so you know, anything is possible. “Joyful to be on top after finishing as a finalist in the Athlete of the Year vote in both 2016 and 2020,”she added. “No spikes hanging up any time soon!” Rojas andMcLaughlin both set world records in Tokyo, with the American storming home in 51.46 seconds and Rojas bounding 15.67 metres. Thompson-Herah marches forward as the only woman to win the Olympic sprint double twice. “The World Championships in Oregon is most definitely my next big target. It is close to home. I hope friends and family can come out and watch. “I hope I get some crowd as well. That couldn’t happen in Tokyo, but hope- fully in Eugene I can get my friends and family to come and cheer me on,” she projected. Thompson-Herah was selected as the queen of athletics for 2021 by a three-way voting process. “The World Athletics Council and the World Athletics Family cast their votes by email, while fans voted on- line via the World Athletics social media platforms. The World Athletics Council’s vote counted for 50 percent of the result, while theWorld Athletics Family’s votes and the public votes each counted for 25 per cent of the final result,” said a release posted to the World Athletes website. Norway’s Karsten Warholm was se- lected as Male Athlete of the Year by the same process, after a campaign where he broke the 400-metre hurdles world record twice. In front of his roaring compatriots in Oslo on July 1, Warholm cut Kevin Young’s 1992 mark of 46.78 seconds down to 46.70 in his first 400m hur- dles race of the season. Then the un- defeated Norwegian produced a run for the ages in Tokyo, clocking 45.94 to become the first man to pierce the 46-second barrier. “I’m so happy for this,”saidWarholm. “First, when I saw the time (in Tokyo), I was like: ‘This must be a mistake’, be- cause I didn’t see that one coming. And I didn’t see the victory coming before crossing the finish line. “It was a very intense race, I knew the American and the Brazilian and all the other guys were really chasing me. I always go out hard, and I never know what is going on behind me. I was just fighting all the way to the finish line. When I realised 45.94 was the reality, I was thinking: ‘This is not too bad. I’ll take it!’” OTHER MEN FINALISTS The other men’s finalists were US shot putter Ryan Crouser, Swede pole vaulter Armand Mondo Duplantis, Ugandan distance runner Joshua Cheptegei, and Kenyan marathoner Eliud Kipchoge. Elaine takes top title Thompson-Herah GLADSTONE TAYLOR/MULTIMEDIA PHOTO EDITOR Thompson-Herah isWorld Athletics’ Female Athlete of the Year