Bert Cameron

Bertland "Bert" Cameron (born 16 November 1959) is a retired Jamaican sprinter who mainly competed over 400 metres. He represented Jamaica at three consecutive editions of the Summer Olympics. Cameron won the 400 m title at the first World Championships in Athletics. He was also the 1982 Commonwealth Games champion^[1] in the event and won a number of gold medals at regional competitions. He helped the Jamaican runners to a silver medal in the 4×400 metres relay at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Bert Cameron

Personal information
Nationality	Jamaican
Born	(1959-11-16) 16 November 1959 (age 65) Spanish Town, Saint Catherine Parish
Sport
Sport	Running
Event	400 meters
College team	UTEP Miners
Medal record Men's athletics Representing  Jamaica World Championships 1983 Helsinki 400 m Olympic Games 1988 Seoul 4×400 m relay Commonwealth Games 1982 Brisbane 400 m 1978 Edmonton 4×400 m relay Pan American Games 1987 Indianapolis 400 m Central American and Caribbean Games 1982 Havana 400 m CAC Championships 1981 Santo Domingo 400 m

Cameron carried the Jamaican flag at the opening ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. He was chosen as the Jamaica Sportsperson of the year three times consecutively from 1981 to 1983.^[2] He is currently a coach in Jamaica.

Career

Born in Spanish Town, Saint Catherine Parish, his first medal on the international stage came at the 1978 Commonwealth Games, where he helped Jamaica to a 4 x 400 m relay silver medal behind Kenya.^[3] His first Olympic appearance soon followed and he reached the quarter-finals of the 400 m and also ran in the relay.^[4] He was schooled in the United States on a sports scholarship and won both the NCAA 400 m titles indoors and outdoors in 1980 and 1981, and he went on to obtain a third outdoor title in 1983 for the UTEP Miners.^[5][6] Cameron represented the Americas at the 1981 IAAF World Cup and came away with the bronze medal in both the individual and relay events.^[7] He returned to the Commonwealth stage for the 1982 Games and he became the 400 m champion.^[3]

Cameron won the 400 m at the inaugural World Championships in 1983. He had a good run in the 1984 Olympic semi-final, but halfway through the race grabbed his leg as a result of picking up a muscle injury. However, in one of the great comebacks of all time he miraculously managed to start running again and qualified for the final. Unfortunately his injury was such that he was not able to take his place in the final. He competed at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics but failed to defend his title, being eliminated in the semi-finals. He helped the Jamaican relay team to sixth place in the final. Four years after his injury-battling run, he ran at the 1988 Summer Olympics and helped win a silver medal in 4 x 400 metres relay.

Outside of his global appearances for Jamaica, he enjoyed success at regional level. He won the 400 m at the 1981 Central American and Caribbean Championships and followed this with another gold medal at the 1982 CAC Games. He returned to the CAC Championships in 1985 and won the silver medal behind Cuba's Roberto Hernández.^[8][9] At the 1987 Pan American Games, he beat the Cuban but again left with the silver medal as Raymond Pierre took the title.^[10]

After retiring from running, he became a coach in Kingston, Jamaica. He took on Jermaine Gonzales and his charge broke the 400 m Jamaican record in 2010. He decided to start working with Gonzales within Glen Mills' Racers Track Club that year.^[11]

International competitions

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Jamaica
1978	Central American and Caribbean Games	Medellín, Colombia	1st	4 × 400 m relay	3:03.76
	Commonwealth Games	Edmonton, Canada	17th (qf)	400 m	47.20
			2nd	4 × 400 m relay	3:04.00
1979	Pan American Games	San Juan, Puerto Rico	4th	400 m	45.97
			2nd	4 × 400 m relay	3:04.7
1980	Olympic Games	Moscow, Soviet Union	26th (q)	400 m	47.31
			–	4 × 400 m relay	DNF
1981	Central American and Caribbean Championships	Santo Domingo, Dominican Rep.	1st	400 m	45.05
			1st	4 × 400 m relay	3:06.95
1982	Central American and Caribbean Games	Havana, Havana	1st	400 m	45.10
			2nd	4 × 400 m relay	3:04.78
	Commonwealth Games	Brisbane, Australia	1st	400 m	45.89
1983	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	1st	400 m	45.05
1984	Olympic Games	Los Angeles, United States	4th (sf)	400 m	45.101
1985	Central American and Caribbean Championships	Nassau, Bahamas	2nd	400 m	45.44
1987	Pan American Games	Indianapolis, United States	2nd	400 m	44.72
	World Championships	Rome, Italy	9th (sf)	400 m	45.19
			6th	4 × 400 m relay	3:04.53
1988	Olympic Games	Seoul, South Korea	6th	400 m	44.94
			2nd	4 × 400 m relay	3:00.30
1989	World Indoor Championships	Budapest, Hungary	12th (sf)	400 m	47.78

¹Did not start in the final

References

1. "Commonwealth Games Federation - Our People". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
2. Foster, Anthony (2009-11-13). Bert Cameron no longer with Wolmer's - But coach insists he was not forced out Archived 17 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine. The Jamaica Star. Retrieved on 2010-11-07.
3. Commonwealth Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-11-07.
4. Bert Cameron. Sports-reference. Retrieved on 2010-11-07.
5. NCAA Division I Indoor Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-11-07.
6. NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-11-07.
7. IAAF World Cup. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-11-07.
8. Central American and Caribbean Championships (Men). GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-11-07.
9. Central American and Caribbean Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-11-07.
10. Pan American Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-11-07.
11. Foster, Anthony (2010-10-31). Bert’s presence at Racers a big plus. Track Alerts. Retrieved on 2010-11-07.

External links

• Bert Cameron at World Athletics
• Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Bert Cameron". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.