Decathlete brings best to Bangkok
By Ryan Rogers
Sports Editor
August 29, 2007
 Jamie Adjetey-Nelson set a personal best and achieved a top-10 finish in the men’s decathlon at the 2007 FISU Summer Universaide Championships, this year hosted in Bangkok, Thailand.
While finishes like this in international competitions are remarkable on their own, the athletes had to compete with Mother Nature, too. “It was the heat that was the biggest factor and the biggest fight in the competition. It was 35 degrees (Celsius) with 100 per cent humidity and it got up to 45 C some days,” said Adjetey-Nelson.
Starting with 22 competitors, the field was dwindled down to only 13 because of the hot and humid conditions. “A lot of [the competitors],” said Adjetey-Nelson, “came from places that weren’t all that warm… Mother Nature won that one,” he joked. But the heat led to more problems than just DNFs.
Adjetey-Nelson woke up during the last night of the competition with what he believes was a stomach flu. “I just woke up in the middle of the night and had stomach problems. I thought it’d go away by the morning,” but it didn’t. “The medical staff couldn’t really do anything about it [because] I was still in competition,” he said. And the medication would have made him drowsy. He admitted that the best thing he could have done was tough it out and drink lots of water.
And tough it out he did, finishing with the highest score he’s ever reached in the decathlon with 7,517 points. “Under those conditions, it felt good. At some points [I] didn’t feel at my best, but it was great,” said Adjetey-Nelson on his personal achievements.
Assistant Coach Brett Lumley, who traveled with Adjetey-Nelson to Bangkok, echoed the concerns about the weather. “Being from Windsor, we’re used to hot and humid conditions, but it was nothing compared to Bangkok, and even then it was overcast,” he said. “We were there in plenty of time to acclimatize, and the athletes did a good job to get used to the conditions, but it’s very difficult to compete in the 40s (degrees Celsius),” said Lumley.
He elaborated to say, “Looking at the conditions, I wonder what he would have done if they (the conditions) had been more ideal.” Adjetey-Nelson is already the CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport) Pentathlon champion and CIS record holder.
Adjetey-Nelson placed third in two events with a throw of 44.81 m in the discus throw and a toss of 55.48 m in the javelin. He finished fifth in the shot put with a throw of 14.76 m, seventh in the 100m dash in 11.06 seconds, and eighth in the long jump with a best effort of 7.17 m. He also placed eighth in the 400m in 49.32 s.
On the final day of competitions, he placed ninth in the 110m hurdles with 15.16 s, and ninth in the pole vault with 4.30 m. He
Track and field head coach Dennis Fairall said that competitors will often train during particular times of the day to prepare themselves to excel at that time during a competition.
“What we’ve done here,” said Fairall, “is if there’s an athlete competing in the heat of the day, or the specificity of training is important, we keep it specific to the time they’re going to compete.”
Making the trip all the way out to Thailand was a difficult chore, as well. Competitors at 2007 the Summer Universiade were required to fund their own travel expenses. “The university track and field and athletics [program] helped Jamie,” said Fairall, “but unfortunately there’s not a lot of money in the Canadian government if you’re not an Olympian.”
Fairall said the Greater Windsor Essex community was very generous in supporting Adjetey-Nelson. “There were a lot of people who contacted us out of the blue because they realized he did need funding for the trip,” said Fairall.
Lumley agreed, “Everything’s taken care of – accommodations and food – once you arrive, but getting there is your own dime, and all athletes and coaching staff had to pay about $3,000 to get there.” He continued, “We live in a community that’s very generous. Most of them are able to contribute to help.”
Adjetey-Nelson was very appreciative. “I tried to do some fund-raising with the club, asking around different sponsors to pay for the trip. The university didn’t really have that kind of money set away for a competition like that. The Greater Windsor and Essex community, a lot of people came together when they saw the article in the paper and the A-Channel and I started to get phone calls and emails,” said Adjetey-Nelson.
But simply traveling to compete in Bangkok was only a small part of the great experience Adjetey-Nelson was to receive. “It’s an honour and a privilege to represent Canada on a world stage,” said Lumley. Adjetey-Nelson concurred, “It was a beautiful place. They were very rich in their religion, and I did some traveling while I was there. I saw the Golden Palace and … monks walking the streets. You could learn a lot about their history. It’s the number one place I’ve been to compete and country I’ve experienced,” he said.
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