Cashing in on Olympic success

Cuba may lead the Caribbean in the Olympic medal tally but it is Jamaica which is enjoying the international spotlight, thanks mainly to one man, Usain Bolt.

Today, the sprint sensation scored his second goal, and broke a 12-year-old record in the 200m, while doing so. He also became the second man since Carl Lewis in 1984, to cop both the 100m and 200m titles at the Olympics.

It's not just Bolt's winning ways, but the way in which he has won that has baffled the world. Before the 200 finals, Bolt barely, to echo the words of one write, sprained a sweat far less break one, in his previous races.

Overall, the Jamaicans, probably spurred by Bolt's success, have been dominating the marquis events normally dominated by the Americans. Jamaican women swept the 100m women's race, and another broke the Olympic record today in the 400m hurdles.

Now the world is wondering, what's in the jerk pork? And bet your bottom dollar, they will be trekking to the island to find out.

Interestingly Edmund Bartlett, a Jamaican minister is said to be in Beijing promoting the island as a sports tourism venue. No doubt, the Jamaicans' success at the games will make his job easier.

I bet, come next year, when Jamaica holds its annual track and field meet, there will be a substantial increase in the attendance of international athletes all wanting to size up the competition for the 2012 games in London.

Jamaica has always been a track and field powerhouse in the English-speaking Caribbean, with Olympic champions such as Don Quarrie and Merlene Ottey.

They have invested in their athletes, developing a programme at tertiary level that is more advanced than in any other island. Interestingly too, this crop of Jamaica successes are homegrown, not talent that was processed and refined in American universities. In an interview I did with Bolt for Caribbean Beat magazine, he stated plainly that he will never leave Jamaica, he did not have need to.

An editorial in the Jamaica Gleaner entitled "Leveraging Beijing" supports any move to capitalise on Jamaica's Olympic success with recommendations for the establishment of a Centre of Excellence, and deals with international sporting companies to assist in the development of athletes.

Any improvement to its current facilities and programmes can only augur well for the island, and the time to start is now, while the world is still curious about how a small island could take on the mighty America in events it once owned.