Tyson gay respect is concrete.. Jamaica's Olympic explosion

[Sir X]

Jamaica's Olympic explosion was only a matter of time
AFP
Monday, August 25, 2008

President of the Jamaica Olympic Association Mike Fennell (left), chats with a CEO of Puma Jochen Zeitz at a press conference in Beijing China yesterday, (Photo: Bryan Cummings)
BEIJING, China (AFP) - Jamaica's dominance of the sprints at the Olympics was only a question of a matter of time for their talent has never been in doubt.
Their six gold medal haul - five individual and one relay - was just one short of the United States cleansweep in the 1984 Games and equalled the Americans total at the 1988 Games in Seoul.
Over the years they had consistently produced a series of top-class sprinters, Don Quarrie yielding them an Olympic 200m gold in 1976 and Merlene Ottey swept up every medal that was going except for the one that really matters - gold.
However, here it was really a case of the Midas touch for whatever was in that imaginary lightning bolt that Usain Bolt showed off prior to his races, it had an electric effect on his teammates, both male and female.
But for a faulty baton handover in the women's 4x100m relay final it would likely have been six from six.
"We're the leading athletic country in the world," said Mike Fennell, president of the Jamaican Olympic Association.
"It is a result of pure, raw talent that has been properly nurtured. We're reaping the rewards of all that hard work."
Given the aura of drugs suspicion that the sport provokes - an unhappy reaction that it shares with cycling and weightlifting - there are those who question why have the Jamaicans suddenly gone from medal contenders to an all conquering team.
It was a question that Fennell was especially keen to nip in the bud.
"We take this anti-doping question very seriously and have done for some years.
"We've had testing for some time, and come under the scrutiny of the IAAF," he said, referring to the world athletics' governing body.
Certainly there will be those who refuse to accept that it was a clean hard fought and ultimately hugely successful campaign.
However, taking together Bolt realising his undoubted potential and peaking at the right time and the misfiring of the Americans, it was logical that the heirs apparent to the US crown was the Caribbean island.
"Jamaica is the sprint capital of the world," gushed former 100m individual world recordholder Asafa Powell.
For Bolt it was very clear where all the success stemmed from.
"Jamaica's a very proud country. We work very hard to stay on top. We have some serious coaches who really push us to be the best we can," said the 22-year-old.
Few of the Americans were capable of coming up with reasons for their failure with perhaps Tyson Gay summing it up best from their side.
"Nobody should be surprised about what they have done here," said the 26-year-old, who actively sought out Bolt in the athletes village to congratulate him.
"They are natural born sprinters, fine athletes and when we went missing there was only going to be one result and that is Jamaica taking the honours.
"It isn't just a case of us not being good enough when the questions were asked, I prefer to think that this was a truly outstanding bunch of Jamaican sprinters, male and female."
Bolt for his part was quite clear that this was not a case of the Jamaicans keeping the bed warm while the Americans regroup for next year's world championships in Berlin and further ahead to the London Olympics in 2012.

[Sir X]

'We've always been a track power' - Quarrie scoffs at suggestions that Jamaican athletes have suddenly risen in sprints
published: Monday | August 25, 2008

Elton Tucker, Assistant Editor - Sport

Don Quarrie
BEIJING, China:
TECHNICAL leader of Jamaica's track-and-field team in Beijing, Donald Quarrie, still basking in the glory of the athletes' outstanding showing at the just-concluded Games, has slammed comments which have suggested that Jamaica has suddenly come to the fore as a country with vast sprinting talent.
"The whole idea of Jamaica suddenly emerging as a track power in the sprints is a joke," Quarrie said as the athletes, most of whom will go on to meets in Europe, made preparations to leave the Games Village.
Many journalists and other commentators here have little knowledge of the history of Jamaica's performance at the Games.

High goal
"We have always been a track power. We have always been close to getting medals. The difference is that this time we got medals and it is something that we will continue to do because now that we have set a high goal for ourselves, I think London 2012, which we have to start looking at immediately, will be another Games that Jamaica will shine," the 1976 200 metres goldmedallist said.

Quarrie lauded the managers and coaches here.
"The management and coaching staff did their best to keep the team together, did their best to prepare the team and did their best to ensure that that Jamaica benefited from decisions that were made and that the athletes also benefited from them to the extent where their performances were enhanced by whatever decisions were made."
Quarrie praised the pre-Games training camp.
"The training camp that we had was an excellent idea, as far as the team was concerned, in getting them prepared for the Games," he said.
He also picked out triple gold medallist Usain Bolt for special mention.

Other highlights
"The performance of Usain Bolt will be remembered as one of the highlights of the Games, but there were others that were overwhelming. We had a lot of finalists and a lot of medals.
"The women as usual (without Bolt) outshone the men. They had excellent performances. There are other areas in which we came through. For example, Chelsea Hammond entered as a 'B' qualifier and ended up fourth in the women's long jump."
Jamaica's ambassador to China, Wayne McCook, came in for special mention.

"The assistance we got from Ambassador McCook was also overwhelming. He did so many things to make Jamaica more comfortable. At the training camp, he loaned us a member of his staff who prepared meals. That sort of job is something that is needed when a team goes away for a major championship like the Olympic Games and I want to commend Ambassador McCook for what he has done for us.

"We are also happy that the Minister of Sports, Olivia Grange, was here for most of the Games. We saw her on many occasions. She was at the stadium cheering along and that was very positive.

"We got calls from a lot of people wishing the team well, including Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller. Our president, Howard Aris was also in touch with us daily, finding out what was going on and ensuring that our athletes were still on the right track."
Quarrie was also quick to point out that he had no medal tally in mind going into the Games.

Anything can happen
"This is the Olympic Games. What I did was to wait until the medals were won before counting them because anything can happen in the Olympic Games. It is good to have wishes, it is good to have hopes but what you want along with these wishes and hopes are results and I am happy that the results turned out."

He said the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association will have to sit down and start making plans soon. "There is not a whole lot that needs to be done but there are little things I am sure our executive body and our association will look into to see how much better we can prepare our athletes for the next Games."