Heroes: Javon Francis

Any long sprinter would agree that the 400 meter dash is one of the hardest events on the track. While a world class sprinter can complete the one-lap race in under 45 seconds, the pain that one feels in the second half of the race is simply unmatchable. As a 400 runner myself, I must cope with and push through this pain all the time, giving me just a taste of what the elite sprinters must experience. When I think of the best 400 runners in the world, the name Javon Francis leaps into my head as a true long sprint hero.

While just twenty years old, Javon Francis is arguably on the cusp of becoming one of the greatest 400 runners in history. A Jamaican-born sprinter, Francis ran track at Calabar High School, and in 2014, he shattered the previous 400m Jamaican high school record by over a third of a second, which dated back all the way to Usain Bolt in 2003. What might be more impressive is that in 2013, when Francis was only eighteen years old, he anchored the Jamaican national team's 4x400m relay at the World Championships in Moscow, and took the team from 5th place to 2nd during his leg. In 2015, he took the team from 5th to 2nd yet again during the IAAF World Relays heats, and then ran the fastest relay split out of every athlete at World Championships this year in Moscow, running a 43.52 second lap. For anyone unclear of how fast that is, note that only five people in history have ever run the 400m dash in under 43.52 seconds and only one non-American.

These statistics are probably meaningless to non-track fans, but their significance is important to me. Time and time again, Javon Francis runs 4x400 anchor legs that will go down in history for many years to come. In the World Relays race, Francis was in 4th before the last 100 meters, around ten meters behind the leaders. Jamaica needed 2nd place to qualify for the final. Remember now that at 100 meters to go, athletes' legs hurt the most. Lactic acid is at its highest, form starts to break down, and many athletes just have nothing left to try to finish the race, let alone catch other runners. With that being said, Javon Francis picks himself up, lifts up his knees, and powers down the home straight, passing who was then the African record holder Isaac Makwala to get Jamaica the 2nd place they needed to move on to the final. Every race I have run after that, I arrive at the 300m mark and start telling myself "Javon Francis activate," hoping that my legs can find that incredible burst of energy that he has found on countless occasions.

In the 2015 World Championships, Francis took the baton in 4th place, quite a ways behind Lashawn Merritt in 1st, who happened to be the 400m silver medalist this year. While Merritt's credentials may intimidate some, they did not intimidate Javon Francis. He stormed into 1st place by 150 meters into the race, and began opening the gap wider and wider. The three runners initially in front of him ended up catching up, but that race was more than just who got medals and who didn't. The way Francis attacked the beginning of that run showed courage, courage that I rarely see in athletes. Running from far back all the way to the front of the pack is intimidating, and Francis just went for it anyways. I hope that I can bring myself to be this courageous when I run.

A final thought about Javon Francis is his team mentality. Francis is not famous because he never performs extremely well on the individual 400m. His best races are when he is anchoring the 4x400 for the Jamaica national team. Seeing athletes who run their best in relays is so admirable because it shows that they care more for their country's performance than their own. I share this philosophy in that I would much rather see my team win the relay than run a personal record on my own. Having an athlete like Javon Francis that I can look up to in this regard is amazing, and I can't wait to see what impressive feats he pulls off in the next decade of his career.