Anthony Foster, Freelance Writer
Dexter Lee flies the Jamaica flag. - anthony foster
BYDGOSZCZ, Poland:
Respect yourself before you respect others. Those were encouraging words coach Claude Grant passed on to Dexter Lee, minutes before the most important race of his life.
Yesterday, in chilly conditions, Lee, the World Youth champion, rose to the occasion and beat the world, including two 10.1 boys in Yohan Blake (10.11) and Terrell Wilks (10.19 world leading) to win the World Junior 100m title in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
"I told him not to give anybody any respect, the respect must come from himself, because when you give somebody respect, you put them in front of you," said Grant.
Worked hardBut, despite those words of encouragement, was Grant surprised?
"Not really, because I knew once he executed (well), he would have won," added Grant, who is a part of Jamaica's coaching staff in Bydgoszcz.
Grant said they had worked hard for this title. "We have worked hard, because we had set our goals from September of last year," he said.
"This was one of our objectives for the year. He won the World Youth last year, this year we targeted the World Junior."
Lee is the first Jamaican to win the 100m at these Championships, but the third Jamaican male to secure an individual medal.
Usain Bolt won the men's 200m in 2002 and Michael McDonald took the 400m in 1994.
Lee had recovered from a very poor preliminary round on his way to the gold medal.
He finished third in his heat in 10.65 and advanced as one of the fastest losers and returned 10.42 for a better semi-final.
Grant said Lee told him that the three false starts in the preliminary round threw him off but, again, the coach's advice was simple.
Driving phase
Dexter Lee celebrates after winning the 100m final at the World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, yesterday. - AP
"I told him, nobody has ever beaten him or stronger than him at his driving phase so once he hits that path, nobody should beat him."
"He is taller than them, and once he gets rolling, the race is his," was how Grant predicted it.
Lee's time of 10.40 was the slowest ever to win at this level, but, according to Grant, "it's not about time, because as you can see, the guy from the US came in with the fastest time (10.19) - it's about execution on the day, and he showed the world that he executed well," Grant said.
Lee, who now joins Veronica Campbell-Brown as athletes winning the World Junior right after their World Youth success, said: "It feels good to get one over the Americans. I knew I could win this race, I'm not too surprised.
"It's been my goal to be World Junior champion and now my next big goal is to make the Olympic team one day," he added.
In the race, Blake, who targeted a national record, finished fourth in 10.51 seconds.
South African Wilhelm van der Vyver was second in 10.42 while world leader Terrell Wilks of United States finished third in 10.45.
Terrell Wilks (left) of the United States, and Jamaica's Dexter Lee run in the 100m final at the World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, yesterday. Lee won and Wilks finished third. - AP
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