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Jonathan Mulkeen
Cast your minds back to the start of July 2004. Britain's two biggest stars, Kelly Holmes and Paula Radcliffe were training hard in the lead-up to Athens, unaware of the mixed fortunes that lay in store for them both. But the story grabbing the headlines that week was the journey from the USA to the UK being made by Malachi Davis.
It was actually a bit more than a journey. More a dramatic change in lifestyle. For Malachi, the race at the British Trials would mark his first race as a Briton. Up until then, Malachi had assumed American citizenship and, while he had never actually competed for the USA, all of his previous races had taken place on the other side of the Atlantic.
So what was all the fuss about?
It all started at the end of the 2003 season. "I sat down with my coach and we set out our main aims for the up-coming season," says Malachi. "The decision to run for Britain was carefully thought out." Indeed, you can hardly blame him - with one American parent and one British, it was only really his residence in America that 'made' him American. That is also part of the reason why the switch to Britain happened relatively quickly. But maybe it was the timeliness of it all that created such a stir, and with everything happening so fast, no one really had a chance to learn about the man behind the passport.
Having collected his British passport just a matter of days before the British Trials, Malachi found himself the subject of a lot of criticism. This was the make-or-break week for many British athletes hoping to make it to the Olympics, and here was this former American easing his way into the British trials and, eventually, on to the British Olympic team. Or, at least, that is how onlookers saw it. For Malachi, it was the culmination of a life-long dream: to run at the Olympics. He had achieved the qualifying standard earlier in the season and seeing as only two other Brits had achieved the qualifying time in 2004, Davis was not depriving any other Brits of an Olympic place. Most of the other athletes were pleased with Malachi's decisions. Bizarrely though, Iwan Thomas claimed, "I have been robbed of my dream." Funny that. I thought it was Iwan's lack of an Olympic qualifying time that prevented him from making the team.
As it turned out, Malachi finished fifth at the trials behind Benjamin, Caines, Baldock and Tobin. Seeing as Baldock and Tobin hadn't got the qualifying standard (and others - Elias, Baulch, Thomas - underperformed at the trials), only Benjamin and Caines were initially named on the Olympic team. The other leading contenders had another couple of weeks to prove their worth.
Nothing much actually changed during that time. The leading 400m guys did not get near the qualifying standard within the designated timeframe and so Malachi was eventually given the third spot on the Olympic team. Mission accomplished.
Seeing as Malachi had only just dipped inside the qualifying standard (with his time of 45.52), he was criticised for being a "fifth-rate American looking for an easy ticket to Athens." I wonder if these same people would be so pessimistic if perhaps he had Jeremy Wariner's 44.00 ability (and, with it, a good chance of an Olympic medal). OK, so maybe if he were of that calibre then he would have stayed in the US and would have represented them in Athens. But with athletics constantly being referred to as an 'individual sport' can you really blame this talented athlete for doing what was best for himself in order to achieve his own personal dream of making the Olympics?
Put yourself in his spikes - with a British mother and an American father, you are officially dual-heritage. You have the Olympic qualifying standard and are just one step away from fulfilling your lifetime ambition of making the Olympics. Can you truly and honestly say that you would not be tempted to get a British passport in order to compete for Britain? I know what I would do.
Fortunately, in the short space of time that Malachi has been competing for Britain, he has only positive things to say about the whole experience. While 'thrown in the deep end' may be a gross understatement to describe his time at the British Trials, he enjoyed competing there nonetheless.
"At the British meets, the attendance figures were a lot higher than I thought they would be. Compared to America, there seems to be a lot more public interest for athletics in Britain," explains Davis. But did the media interest affect his races in any way? "Well I definitely did not expect the media to be so interested in it all. Before I got to Manchester, the people at FastTrack had pre-warned me that there would be a lot of journalists. After my race, a woman led me off the track and round the corner to the journalists and it was crazy! I wasn't prepared for anything like that.
"But the media attention didn't distract me. I just took it all my stride and, if anything, it made me even more focused and determined to do well in my races." It seemed, though, that the fans were just as interested as the journalists were in Britain's newest star.
"I was shocked that people knew who I was. Every time my name was announced at competitions, there would be a good cheer, and after the races there was always a load of kids wanting my autograph. Overall, the fans have really embraced me and have given me a lot of support. I still correspond with some of the fans that have taken a keen interest in my career. Everything has been extremely positive."
As it happened, all of Britain's 400m runners did not fare too well in Athens (nor did any other of our sprinters on an individual basis, for that matter). Things went slightly better in the relay though, and Britain cruised through to the final, winning their 4x400m heat. Running the third leg of the relay in the final of the 4x400m, Malachi ran the fastest split of the whole team (45.13), but in the end Britain missed out on a medal by a mere 0.17, finishing fifth. Being so tantalisingly close to an Olympic medal, Malachi explains, "The team we had in the final was the best possible team we could have had on the day. I don't think a change in the running order would have resulted in a medal, as all of us did an excellent job. On any other day it could have been a different outcome, but it's something I'll take in as experience and I'll look to the future, confident that we are capable of medalling at a major championships.
"I don't think the fact that I ran the fastest split on the relay would silence the critics," continues Malachi. "The only way I feel I could have silenced the critics would have been to win a medal. I went to Athens with that sole aim - to medal. Although things didn't quite work out how I'd hoped, I have gained plenty of invaluable experience from Athens and from the season as a whole. As an athlete I have consequently changed my mentality, and that is to compete for a medal. This season, I spent too much time chasing the Olympic qualifying standard earlier on, and my body wasn't at its best for Athens. But that's one thing I will do differently next year."
On the subject of next year, Malachi has a clear focus for 2005. "I won't be competing indoors, as the World Championships in Helsinki are my main goal. Next season I intend to maintain my early season form with the aim of peaking for the World Champs. I'll compete in a few races in the USA, but I also intend to compete in events such as the European Cup."
In fact, over the coming seasons Malachi intends to divide his time between the USA and the UK, with the possibility of eventually moving to the UK. Currently coached by Darrell Smith, Malachi will train with Nick Dakin's Loughborough-based group during his time in the UK. This, if anything, shows that amongst his peers in Britain, he has been welcomed and accepted as any other team member. All the British athletes and American athletes he has spoken to have supported his decision and are sympathetic to the sacrifices he has had to make in order to achieve his sporting goals.
"The plane ticket to the UK was a bit of a financial set-back. But once I was on the plane, that was the least of my worries. I started to wonder if I'd be accepted and whether the whole move was worth it. I knew this was a big risk. Ultimately, though, I knew that it would be a move for the better and everything about it has been so positive.
"The American press were very good about it too. I think the negative press I received in Britain was more due to the journalists wanting something to write about."
Personally, I can see why athletes switching allegiance (or 'nation-hopping' as it is now sometimes affectionately known) can cause problems. But the case of Malachi is incomparable to that of Kenyan athletes being bought by Qatar and Bahrain. Malachi has an authentic link to Britain (whereas Saif Saeed Shaheen has no genuine link whatsoever with Qatar). Seeing as Davis's mother is British, say if his parents had decided to settle in the UK as opposed to the USA - would that have changed Malachi as a person in any way?
Of course it wouldn't. It would still be the same Malachi Davis - the ever-optimistic, articulate and driven athlete we see today in a British vest. As a Brit, I could not be happier that he is competing for Britain. At a time when the state of 400m running in the UK is somewhat sagging, maybe Malachi is exactly the kind of athlete we need in order to motivate, improve and develop the other current British 400m runners. I wonder if the people who were initially complaining about Malachi's switch are the same people who moan about the current drop in standard of British men's track events. Well here, in Malachi, we have a solution (albeit a short-term one) to improve the depth of talent in men's track events. Welcome him. Support him. Accept him. He really is a good bloke, you know!
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