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As we prepare to celebrate, some voices have been calling for Sprint Queen Merlene Ottey to be brought home from Slovenia, her new country of residence, to join in the celebrations. There were calls before for her to have been invited to Beijing to present medals to victorious members of our national team. Even when it was pointed out that such honour was reserved for retired athletes and Ms Ottey was still competing, there were voices which still hoped for her participation. There is no evidence that Ms Ottey is either aware or involved in the drive to have her return for the Jamaican ceremonies, but the insistence of the calls for her to be honoured along with the 08 team, shows that she still has a devoted following here.
As much as I admire Ms Ottey, I will have to be pardoned for saying, however, that I think this is not the opportune time to invite her back to share the spotlight. The celebration belongs to her "heirs and successors", the new generation who has put its own stamp on Jamaica's athletics history. They deserve the full spotlight.
As to how the team is to be honoured, the government-appointed committee has not brought in its report as yet, but of course I have a view. (As an old Jamaican proverb says: "If is egg, me inna di red"). Apart from whatever individual recognition is given to each athlete, I'm hoping for a wider vision to benefit the society at large, especially the upcoming generation.
So, I'd like to see the GC Foster College of Physical Education upgraded and better equipped to train more PE teachers, to be put to work in schools and communities, urban and rural. Very likely, there are many other Usains and Veronicas and other little replicas of all our stars of today, running around with no one recognising their talent or investing in their future. Let's create scholarships and support programmes to unearth and train our next Olympic champions.
Then, I'd like to see the establishment of the long-proposed Museum of Sports, which would display records of our country's prowess from as far back as we can go, in all the sports where we've excelled internationally and nationally.
Instal a Hall of Fame to feature the outstanding achievers, the ones who've really put us on the map. Display all the memorabilia we can find from all the great performers. Does George Headley's bat still exist? Do we have the spikes of Arthur Wint, Herb McKenley, Les Laing, George Rhoden and the other trailblazers in our varied areas of sporting endeavours?
As to the individual athletes, some will never know want from now on, if their resources from contracts are handled properly. At age 22, Usain Bolt is now a man of considerable substance. Asafa is not poor either. But there will be some others who may never get another glory day. Let's devise a scheme to assist them, not with charity but with dignity. If we could achieve just those things, I personally, as dem sey, would be more than happy.
August 21 Jamaica continues medal haul at Beijing Olympics. August 27 First black man nominated for presidency of the USA. August 28 Hurricane Gustav prowls off Jamaica's coast.
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