The ideal situation for any track athlete is to show constant improvement over his/her career. There are those who establish their lifetimes best at an early age and then struggle with the insurmountable task of recapturing the form to improve and surpass that personal best. This is not the case with the 21-year-old Grenadian quarter-miler Rondell Bartholomew, who has shown tremendous improvement over the past two years. Bartholomew just turned pro after leaving South Plains College (South Plains) in June at the end of his two-year tenure and after capturing several All-American honors and NJCAA titles. We predict that Bartholomew will win 400m gold in Daegu. Here are the reasons.
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Bartholomew ready to go.
DPalmer-TrackLife photo
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Passionate and Hungry
Athletes are taught to say the right things to the media in interviews that they are passionate, hungry and that every time they step on the track they want to win. However, oftentimes an athlete’s action can speak volume. In Bartholomew’s first race as a professional, he gave USA Olympic champion Jeremy Wariner and the Jamaican 400m national record holder Germaine Gonzales a run for their money at the Addidas Grand Prix in New York. Despite finishing third in 45.17secs, Bartholomew took the fight to the two veterans and forced them into a photo-finish.
What was most impressive about Bartholomew’s performance was his stretch run in which he led briefly before he was over-taken by Wariner and Gonzales. We truly believe that his stretch run was a defining moment for young Bartholomew, where his passion, hunger and desire to win were on full display to a worldwide audience.
Battle-tested
Despite competing only at the Junior College level, Bartholomew is battle-tested and is currently in excellent race condition. The defending 400m World champion LaShawn Merritt will be in Daegu to defend his title. Bartholomew is race-ready to repel the challenges of Merritt and the rest of the pack (Kirani James, Tony McQuay, Demetrius Pinder, Tabarie Henry and the best Europe has to offer – the Borlee twins among others). Bartholomew is battled-tested, having gone through the rigor of the Carifta Games, where he was the under-20 Boys 400m champion before being dethroned in his bid to defend his title by fellow-countryman Kirani James. Bartholomew was third to Kirani James and USA’s Tavaris Tate at the 2009 Pan American Junior Champs. He also competed at the World Youth, despite not claiming the top prize in any of these competitions. These battles have served to strengthen his resolve.
Been There Before
Ironically, Daegu won’t be Rondell Bartholomew’s first World Championships appearance. He competed in Berlin 2009 as a 19-year-old and finished 7th in his heat in a disappointing 46.85secs, after running a then personal best 45.28 four months earlier at the 2009 Carifta Games in St. Lucia. Tabarie Henry (US Virgin Islands) won that heat in 45.14 secs. Armed with his confidence and his world-leading 44.65, Bartholomew will stride into Daegu as a professional athlete to prove himself and to show the world how much he has improved since 2009.
Can He Handle Running The Rounds?
A big question would be whether Bartholomew can handle running the rounds to get to the finals and then have an impact on the final outcome. The answer is a resounding yes. One advantage of competing on the US college circuit is that the team titles sometimes take precedent at certain meets. Bartholomew has run the 200m, 400m, and the 4x4 relays at various meets for South Plains. Some may argue that this practice tend to burnout the athletes. However, one of the advantages of running multiple events during a particular meet is that the athletes are somehow later prepared (mentally and physically) to run several rounds of their chosen event. Bartholomew is ready and it is well-documented that he is one of the hardest working athletes. Blaine Wiley and the coaching staff at South Plains, often times complimented Bartholomew on his excellent work ethics.
Belief and Confidence
In an interview with Caribbean TrackLife International (CTI) back in April 2010, a confident Bartholomew told CTI that he was in the best shape of his life and that he felt he could “run 44.39 in the 400m and sub-20.50 in the 200m.” Fast-forward a year later, after running a superb anchor leg (44.74) for Grenada at the 2011 Penn Relays and finishing 3rd in New York in 45.17 prior to starting his speed training, Bartholomew is poised to become a star in Daegu. While the general consensus is that there is no clear-cut favorite for the 400m gold in Daegu, and as athletes are currently in training hoping to peak in Daegu, we believe that the genuine desire, drive, determination and work ethics of this Spicelander, will earn him 400m gold in Daegu.