The Caribbean Dream

**Yvonne N.** · 08-22-2008, 07:13 PM

Re: The Caribbean Dream

News analysis: Jamaica digs out sprinting nuggets from training, yams 2008-08-21 14:34:33 GMT 2008-08-21 22:34:33 (Beijing Time) Xinhua

By Sportswriter Yan Hao

BEIJING, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- What a huge loss for the Olympic Games if there had not been Jamaicans running on the track in Beijing. The Caribbean country's five gold medals to date at the Games have all come from sprinters.

Usain Bolt, 21, has won double gold medals with two stunning world records in the men's 100m and 200m sprints. The 26-year-old Veronica Campbell-Brown won the women's 200m. Shelly-Ann Fraser and other two Jamaican women swept medals in over 100m. Melaine Walker, 25, added another by breaking the Olympic record in the women's 400-meter hurdles.

Having won three silver, one bronze, but never gold in men's 100m in previous Games, Jamaican sprinters blew the world's mind as they aggressively encroached on the old domain of the United States. Jamaica has made a statement to the world that they are awesome.

"We have a tradition, we have natural talents, We are the sprinter factory of the world," said Olivia Grange, Jamaica's minister of information, culture, sports and youth, adding the victory was "crazy and unbelievable".

Big screens were put up in squares or streets all over Jamaica for people to watch Bolt and other sprinters' races. On every victory, Jamaicans poured into streets of Kingston and Trelawny, which is Bolt's birthplace, to celebrate like a national holiday.

"We Jamaicans are just born to be sprinters," said Herbert Elliott, the Jamaican team's chief doctor. "Sprint running is part of our heart and soul."

LOTS OF YAMS, GREENS, FRESH AIR AND NUGGETS

"You know why? We eat healthy and good food, lots of yams. lots of greens, lots of fishes, good Jamaican food and clean fresh air," Jamaican minister Olivia Grange told Xinhua on Thursday. "I have had Jamaican food in Beijing. Maybe you should also start to eat Jamaican food."

There couldn't be a better way to advertise Jamaican restaurants in China for a minister's suggestion at such a time when the whole world is curious about Jamaica's secret in sprinting.

The female minister had acted an operator at the National Stadium, or the Bird's Nest, conveying telephone call of the country's prime minister to their sprinting champions.

Bolt has admitted that his home-made yams and many other Jamaican food have help him a lot in achieving the results. But he also has another favorite, chicken nuggets.

"Actually I got up at noon and my masseuse brought me the nuggets. I went straight to the track and then masseuse brought me more nuggets. I just ate two because my coach said I should not eat so many nuggets," he said.

No more, no less, two nuggets for two gold medals.

EARLY-AGE TRAINING SYSTEM

Nothing can stop you if you really have talent and train hard. Everyone in the world now believe that Jamaicans really have the talent. But few know that they train hard with discipline.

"We train our sprinters from their early childhood, in basic school and then primary school, secondary school, after that is professional training where they have personal coaches," Minister Grange said.

Bolt has been just an example who came out of such a school system. When he was only 15 years old in his primary school, Bolt won a national championships specially designed for junior talents like him in Jamaica.

"We continue to train them when these talents were picked up. They are also involved in centers of excellence," said the minister.

Jamaica has established two such kind of centers. One in Jamaica's University of Technology, where Asafa Powell was based. And the other is in the University of West Indies, shared by other sponsoring Caribbean countries and regions.

"We have the fastest man and fastest junior and we have many women among some of the fastest in the world," said Grange. "There will just be more Bolts to come."

GOVERNMENT-PAID GOOD COACHES

As another reason to create the amazing myth, Jamaica also provided their sprinters with national team coaches. "In some cases they were privately coached," said the minister. "But in extraordinary events like Olympic Games, they will have coaches paid by government.

"The ministry has an institute of sports where there are national coaches. And Usain's coach is the national coach at the institute of sports, which is an agency of government."

In Jamaica, there are probably thousands of young people who have a God-given sprinting talent and dream to be the fastest in the world. Bolt, a simple Jamaican lad coming from a humble family together with Asafa Powell and Melaine Walker have been inspirations to them.

"My coach has done a lot for me, taking me from like the injured to a double Olympic champion and world record holder," said Bolt when talking about his coach Glen Mills. "It is great that we have so many good coaches in Jamaica."

"My coach is great, I executed the way my coach wanted me to. He should be proud," Melaine Walker praised her coach Stephen Francis after winning the 400m hurdles. "I believe in him."

Also coaching Asafa Powell who did not do well in his race, Francis used to be considered controversial before Walker's success. But now he has been part of Jamaica's pride.

"We don't have too much money, but we have the talent, ambition and commitment," said the minister.

"We get better every day. Our young people or youth are getting better as well. So the beauty and secret has something to do with the fact that we are born with talents, we have a school system that from early age promotes physical education."

INSPIRATION TO CARIBBEAN

"Athletes from other Caribbean islands see Jamaican athletes as an inspiration and what we can do in Jamaica is to help our Caribbean brothers and sisters to be great athletes. We will improve our facilities. We will train more coaches. We will expand our sports college, the largest in the Caribbean," the female minister could not help to make a promise for her country as she always congratulated the sprinters in the mixed zone under the stadium.

"We gonna promote more community sports facilities in all 708 communities across Jamaica," she continued. "In every single community, we are going to have intense community sports development programs."

There maybe more Usain Bolts to come. And people are just waiting for Jamaica to unleash them to the world.

**Yvonne N.** · 08-22-2008, 07:21 PM

Re: The Caribbean Dream

Region poised for best Olympics ever
By Daily Nation

Posted: Aug 7, 2008 15:03 UTC

BEIJING, China – CARICOM nations are poised to unleash their best ever showing in Olympic Games history when the world's greatest sports show starts this weekend.

Propelled by a tremendously strong Jamaican track and field outfit, the Caribbean Community is well placed to bag at least a dozen medals at the games of the 29th Olympiad.

After the Beijing Organising Committee of the 29th Olympic Games (BOCOG) stages a promised unmatched opening ceremony – with over 15 000 performers for close to four hours – on Friday, the world will spend the next 16 days glued to sports' biggest global event and the form book suggests a glorious summer for English-speaking Caribbean athletes.

CARICOM landed 12 medals at the Sydney 2000 Games, a figure boosted to 15 subsequently with the elevationof several Caribbean athletes to medal status after the demise of American drug cheats.

Guilty of doping offences, Marion Jones and Antonio Pettigrew were stripped of their medals from the Sydney Olympics, allowing Jamaican sprinters Merlene Ottey (100 metres) and Bev McDonald (200) to climb from fourth to bronze medal positions, and the Bahamas men's 4X400-metre relay unit to move up from fourth to third.

The immense quality of runners representing Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and The Bahamas guarantees huge prominence for the Caribbean in the sprints and all the relay events.

Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell, the fastest men in history, are the media's most sought after competitors on the Olympic roster here and the two Jamaicans' clash with American World Champion Tyson Gay in the Men's 100 metres is the premier event on the Olympic schedule.

Powell held the 100-metre world record from June 2005 to May this year when Bolt ran a blistering 9.72 seconds to erase his Jamaican colleague's mark of 9.74 seconds.

Gay has been bothered by a hamstring injury and has not raced since the United States trials in late June.

The American's untimely setback tilts the balance in favour of Bolt and Powell scoring a Caribbean one-two finish like the region achieved 32 years ago in Montreal when Trinidad and Tobago's Hasely Crawford won ahead of Jamaican Donald Quarrie.

Bolt and Powell are joined in their 100-metre bid by several other impressive Caribbean speed men, including veteran Kim Collins, the 2003 World Championship gold medallist from St Kitts and Nevis, Bahamian Derrick Atkins, who beat Powell while placing second to Gay at the Osaka World Championship last year, and Trinidad and Tobago's 2003 World Championship silver medallist Darrell Brown.

Add to them, Trinidad and Tobago's Richard Thompson and Marc Burns, who are among the top ten fastest in the world so far this year with times of 9.93 seconds and 9.97 seconds, respectively.

Bolt, who broke Quarrie's 36-year-old 200-metre national record when he clocked 19.75 seconds at the Jamaica National Championship last year, is a heavy favourite for the half-lap sprint.

The 21-year-old marvel has three of the quickest four 200-metre times in the world this year and his season's best 19.67 at the Athens Grand Prix last month is almost two-tenths of a second faster than anyone else.

CARICOM is no less imposing in the women's sprints.

Kerron Stewart (10.80), Shelly-Ann Fraser (10.85) and Sherone Simpson (10.87) are the three designated 100-metre entries for Jamaica and they are among the five fastest in the world so far this year.

Veronica Campbell-Brown defends her 200-metre crown as the world leader at 21.94 seconds and the other quickest athletes in the world this year in the event are all her teammates, Stewart (21.99), Simpson (22.11) and Fraser (22.15).

Their sprinting depth will give the Jamaicans an excellent chance in both men's and women's sprint relays.

Trinidad and Tobago's men are strong in the sprint relay and only the Americans have gone faster than them so far this year.

The Jamaicans are defending Olympic women's sprintrelay champions. (CMC)

**Yvonne N.** · 08-22-2008, 07:30 PM

Re: The Caribbean Dream

Caribbean newspapers unite for Olympics
Published on:

Nation News
It's the first Caribbean 1-2-3 sweep for the Olympics!

Three of the Caribbean's biggest newspapers, plus a regional broadcaster, are joining forces for the Beijing 2008 Olympics to produce all-round Caribbean coverage of the world's biggest sporting spectacle which began on Friday with the opening ceremony.

On the print side, the Jamaica Gleaner, the Nation in Barbados and the Trinidad Express are the news houses contributing to a joint-effort website – www.sportscaribe.com. The site will carry news, features, video, photos and blogs tracking the progress of the Caribbean at the Games. The Caribbean Media Corporation will be contributing video footage of Caribbean athletes.

The venture, which is the first collaboration of its kind between regional newspapers in sports coverage, is the brainchild of the Gleaner's Online division.

Gleaner Online project manager, Hope McMillan, said the idea came about when they began work on building their own Olympics site to highlight the Jamaican Olympic team which includes gold medal prospects like Veronica Campbell-Brown, Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell.

"We actually began to do it for ourselves and then we thought it would be much more dynamic if we included the rest of the Caribbean," McMillan added.

She said she has been heartened by the responses from the NATION and Express and said it could augur well for the future.

"It would be lovely if we could find other platforms where we can work together. Sports and news would be good if we can all commit. We really appreciate the enthusiasm so far and I hope it will be the beginning of new ways to work together," said McMillan. (AL-F)

**Yvonne N.** · 08-22-2008, 07:32 PM

Re: The Caribbean Dream

WADA chief reveals Caribbean target testing 
ABC - August 22, 2008, 10:27 am

au.sports

The president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), John Fahey says widespread drug testing was conducted across the Caribbean in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics.

Jamaica last night completed a clean sweep of the individual sprint events, with Veronica Campbell-Brown defending her 200 metres title.

Usain Bolt won the men's 100m and 200m double in world-record time, while Shelly-Ann Fraser won the women's 100m.

Mr Fahey says the Jamaican team has been heavily scrutinised and there have been no positive results from drug tests carried out so far.

"There's been a number of comments made to me while I was in Beijing about the superiority of the Caribbean speed athletes, and that's been demonstrated each night when we look at track and field on our television screen," he said.

"There was significant testing done in the Caribbean in the months leading up to the Games."

Mr Fahey says if anyone is using drugs they will eventually be caught.

"I think I'll be watching the next eight years because all of the blood samples that have been taken will be held by the IOC I think in a laboratory in Lausanne in Switzerland for the next eight years," he said.

"They're capable of being used again for further testing, when technology or science allows that to occur."

**Yvonne N.** · 08-22-2008, 07:35 PM

Re: The Caribbean Dream

Caribbean swimmer relishes his 31.23 seconds in the Olympic spotlight

BY WAYNE COFFEY
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

BEIJING - Fifteen-year-old Kareem Valentine swam in a pool for the fifth time in his life on Thursday night. He did it by getting up on the same starting blocks that Michael Phelps uses, trying to calm his pounding heart and settle his jangling nerves as he did.

Valentine finished his Olympic 50-meter freestyle heat in 31.23 seconds, a time that is 10 seconds off the world record, but four seconds better than his own record. He doesn't want to be seen as the 2008 version of Eric Moussambani, the Equatorial Guinea swimmer who struggled mightily to finish the 100 meters in Sydney eight years ago.

He wants to be seen as a competitor.

"I believe one day I can win a medal, if I stay focused and keep out of trouble," Valentine said.

PHOTO GALLERY: THE BEST OF THE DAY IN BEIJING
In his third year in high school, Valentine competes for the Caribbean nations of Antigua and Barbuda. Maybe there's another Olympic swimmer who has had a similar passage to the Games, but it's not clear who.

The son of a construction worker and hotel chambermaid, Valentine does all his training in the Caribbean, walking an hour to the beach, swimming three hours, and walking the hour back. He qualified for the Games by winning a two-mile race just off the Antiguan shore. He has also swum the 2 1/2 miles between St. Kitts and Nevis.

Before he gets in the water for his distance swims, he coats himself with a greasy lotion, to protect against sting rays and jellyfish.

"They don't sting very hard when you have the grease," Valentine said.

At 6-1, 190 pounds, Valentine, who everybody calls "Grinny" because of his wide smile, does not have the sinewy, cut physique of most elite swimmers. "I believe I should get that body, too," he said, smiling. He doesn't have a pool, or any resources to speak of, but he says that will not stop him from continuing to swim. He lives in a perfect place for it.

"We have plenty of sea and a little bit of money," said Bruce Williamson, Valentine's coach and VP of the island's swimming association.

With his 31-second stay in the Olympics done, Kareem Valentine will stay in town until Aug. 19, then head back. He was asked what he will remember most about these Games.

"I'll remember my swim," he said.

**Yvonne N.** · 08-22-2008, 07:39 PM

Re: The Caribbean Dream

From Charterwave

Caribbean Olympic Athletes

Expectations are high for Caribbean Community athletes as observers predict the region could best its historic haul of 12 medals in 2000.

The Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica have sent the largest squads. The 57 member Jamaican team has the two fastest men in the world- Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell. Bolt and Powell will be challenged in their 100 meter bids by world champions Kim Collins of St. Kitts & Nevis, Derrick Atkins of the Bahamas, and Darrell Brown of Trinidad and Tobago.

Champion triple jumper Randy Lewis of Grenada has a good chance of bringing home his country’s first Olympic medal.

Another athlete aiming for a first is Jamacian Maurice Smith, who is hoping to win the region’s first Olympic decathlon medal.

Boxers Taureano Johnson of the Bahamas, and the USVI’s John Jackson have already registered wins in the ring on Sunday.

The CARICOM filed overall comprises
five athletes from Antigua/Barbuda,
22 from the Bahamas,
8 from Barbados,
4 from Belize,
6 from Bermuda,
4 from the Cayman Islands,
9 from Grenada,
4 from Guyana,
4 from St. Kitts & Nevis,
4 from St. Lucia,
2 from St. Vincent and
30 from Trinidad and Tobago.

Most of the competitors are in events like track and field and swimming, but a few are participating in fields like equestrian, taekwondo and sailing.

**Yvonne N.** · 08-31-2008, 08:05 PM

Re: The Caribbean Dream

Bahamas Wins Silver Medal in Beijing
By Journal Staff Writer

In what could be regarded as the final hour to secure a second medal for the Bahamas at the 29th Olympiad in Beijing, China, thousands of Bahamians were glued to their television sets on Saturday as the four member relay team comprised of Chris Brown, Andretti Bain, Michael Matthieu and Andrae Williams stepped onto the track with a vengeance to pull off a Silver medal win for the Bahamas in the 4x400m relay.
The Bahamas, who ran in lane five, finished nearly four seconds behind the Americans with a time of 2:58.03. Russia crossed the finish line just .03 seconds later to secure a bronze medal.

Avard Moncur and Ramon Miller, who had participated earlier in the heats and moved the Bahamas into the final, are also expected to receive Silver medals. On Friday evening, the men had advanced to the finals after finishing second in heat two in two minutes 59.88 seconds.

This Silver medal win was considered to be sweet victory for anchor Chris Brown, who had to endure a fourth place finish last week when he competed in the 400m race. Brown’s hopes of a third place finish was dashed when American David Neville dived across the finish line to secure a bronze medal and give the American team a one, two, three sweep of that event.

Brown told Bahamian reporters that the outcome of this particular race was "disappointing" but he still gave thanks to God for allowing him to compete.

The Bahamas’ Silver medal win came on the heels of a bronze win by Leevan "Superman" Sands last Thursday, who was considered to be a surprise medalist in the triple jump. Sands set a Bahamian national record with a leap of 17.59 meters (57-8.5) to finish third. He entered the competition ranked eighth in the world this year with a personal best of 17.29 meters. His personal best of 17.50 meters was set back in 2002.

Sands finished just three centimeters behind the silver medalist and eight centimeters behind the winner, Nelson Évora of Portugal. Leevan Sands of the Bahamas celebrates after winning the bronze medal in the men's triple jump at the athletics competitions in the National Stadium at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008." is winning jump came on his third attempt and was well beyond his second-best mark of 17.32 meters (56-10).

The 29th Olympic Games officially climaxed yesterday and Bahamian athletes are expected to return to the capital this week.

In a statement released yesterday afternoon, Progressive Liberal Party leader Perry Christie extended his "heartiest" the entire Bahamian team at the Beijing Olympics, especially the Men’s 4 x 400 meter relay team and Leevan Sands for their silver and bronze medal winning performances.

"As Bahamians, we should all take a great deal of patriotic pride in the outstanding efforts and achievements of our Olympic athletes," Christie said. "Although we are a small country, we continue to attain results that are truly remarkable."

"Our challenge now is to intensify our national commitment to our sports development programs so that come the London Olympic Games in 2012, our performances will result in even greater successes for our athletes and our beloved nation."

**Yvonne N.** · 08-31-2008, 08:10 PM

Re: The Caribbean Dream

The Olympic Medals ordering...

Right here

By Population:

1. Bahamas
2. Jamaica
3. Iceland

By Olympic ordering

1. China
2. USA
3.Russia


By Table of Tables

1. Australia
2.Jamaica
3.Great Britian

**Yvonne N.** · 09-09-2008, 08:10 AM

Re: The Caribbean Dream

...and from Magic in GD:

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> 15. Not to take the spotlight from Jamaica, but as a region the Caribbean won 41 medals (Jamaica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Bahamas combined). 41 medals represent 4.53% of all Olympic medals won by a region that with its 37.5 million residents comprises of 0.56% of the world's population. To place in context, the Caribbean together won one more medal than the continent of Africa that has a population of over 922 million people, and won fourteen more medals than the continent of South America that has a population of over 382 million people.
 </div></div>

**Yvonne N.** · 09-10-2008, 11:26 PM

Re: The Caribbean Dream

New West Indian heroes

Tony Cozier
Trinidad Express

EVER since the first West Indies team toured England in 1900, cricket has been acknowledged as the one endeavour, above all others, that binds and inspires the people of these tiny, largely inconsequential former British colonies.

In the course of a week, at the premier sporting event on the planet, that distinction abruptly shifted to another sport, driven by a towering giant from country Jamaica with a fitting surname and boosted by a host of other West Indians.

With the once proud reputation and dominance of West Indies cricket now reduced to distressing weakness, Usain Bolt emerged on the track at the Beijing Olympics to fill the void as the world's newest sporting star.

The ridiculous ease of his victories in the 100 and 200 metres and his part in the victorious sprint relay quartet, all in world record times, marked him not merely as the greatest sprinter of his time but arguably of all time.

For all the supercilious censure of the Olympics' chief, Jacques Rogge, Bolt's joyful celebrations revealed a personality unmistakeably Jamaican, unmistakeably Caribbean. So was the diet of the champion revealed by his father-yam, dasheen and sweet potatoes.

It was class and charisma to stir the coming generation of West Indians, accentuated through our tv screens by the first-rate Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) coverage.

Such motivation was once the almost exclusive preserve of our superior cricket teams and players, from George Headley to Garry Sobers, from Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards to Brian Lara.

No longer.

Betrayed by dysfunctional administration, an ordinary West Indies team, now without an identifiable star, now flounders near the cellar of world cricket.

It is not difficult to imagine the long-term consequences for the sport that, more than any other, stamped West Indies as a brand name of distinction.

How many others with the advantages of Bolt's height, physique and athleticism will now follow his path to the track rather than seeking to extend the celebrated legacy of West Indian fast bowling?

Bolt is exceptional but not an exception. Other West Indians, male and female, were all over the medals and the finals in the Beijing sprints.

Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, always strong in these events, were most prominent but others, not least from the smaller islands that boast no cricket icons, are beginning to produce world-class competitors.

St Kitts-Nevis rejoice at the successes of Kim Collins, 100 metres gold medallist in the world championships in Paris five years back and 200 metres finalist in Beijing.

Grenada have Alleyne Francique, world indoor 400 metres champion.

Antigua won't ever find sporting rivals for Sir Viv Richards, Andy Roberts and Curtly Ambrose but Brendon Christian sprinted to the 200 metres gold and 100 metres bronze at last year's Pan American Games in Rio.

And more and more such athletes are making their name on the global stage. Cricketers are not among them.

Most of those who once promised so much-Marlon Samuels, Ryan Hinds, Narsingh Deonarine, Devon Smith, Dwayne Smith-have fallen by the wayside.

Even in Barbados, home of more cricket legends than anywhere on earth of comparable size, the most recognisable sportsmen now are racing car drivers, jockeys and swimmers and more people turn up for a Caribbean volleyball final than for the opening day of a Test against Australia.

Such changes should be of urgent concern to those who manage the sport that was once the pride and joy of West Indians. Perhaps they might heed a few lessons from the Beijing experience.

One is that the Jamaican authorities have set out to develop their athletes at home and to institute a system to teach their own specialist coaches. Bolt and most of his colleagues train at home under Jamaican tutelage, rather than heading off to American universities as in the past.

Track is an individual sport, cricket team, so it may be comparing mangoes and oranges. But it is something to think about for those who have taken to employing Australians, worthy as they might be, to handle the West Indies cricket team.

Grace Jackson, herself an Olympic medallist for Jamaica in 1996 and, like Bolt, especially aptly named, made another strong point during her always succinct analysis on CMC's coverage. It was that the Jamaicans were no longer intimidated by the Americans who had so utterly reigned in the sprints.

There was a time when opponents cowered before the cricketing might of West Indies teams under Worrell and Sobers, Lloyd and Richards. Now it is the other way round and there won't be a revival until such insecurity is erased.

Ironically, a West Indian, Trinidad and Tobago's four-time Olympics medal winner Ato Bolden, made observations on NBC tv about the Americans' failures (Jamaica topped them 5-0 in the men's and women's sprints) that should have rung bells in the renovated office of the WICB president.

Boldon pointed the finger of blame at ineffective management. The chief executive of US Track and Field had been replaced in an Olympic year, he noted, and there was no proper direction.

He was quick to point out that the 4x100 relay squad that dropped the baton had the letters USA on their vests scrawled by hand with a marker, not properly printed as everyone else did. And this was the US of A, the most powerful nation on earth that could have had them inscribed in flashing neon lights.

As West Indies cricket knows to its cost, such seemingly trivial matters are indicative of a deeper malaise.

USA Track and Field began an internal investigation as soon as the Games were over. The WICB did the same last year with the weighty report on the governance of West Indies cricket by a powerful committee headed by PJ Patterson, the former Jamaican prime minister.

Typically, its main recommendations are yet to see the light of day.

It may be that the WICB is far too busy denying that its president ever took its money to spruce up his office and dealing with court action by its main sponsor and its dismissed corporate secretary to be sidetracked by such issues.

In the meantime, the eyes of our young sportsmen are firmly on Usain Bolt and the idols of other sports.

Source and picture...hereso...

**Yvonne N.** · 09-13-2008, 10:30 AM

Re: The Caribbean Dream

Caribbean Games---coming soon~!

The Caribbean Dream

The Caribbean Dream

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