A high wind in Jamaica

Usain Bolt and his fellow Jamaican sprinters set the world on fire at the Beijing Olympics. Their manner of winning was awesome. Usain seemed to have the speed of lightning in breaking the 100m and 200m world records. In the former, he broke into a celebration with 10m to go and yet beat the record by 0.03 seconds. In the latter, the runner-up was not even in the frame at the finish. The 4x100m relay world record was also broken by the Jamaicans by 0.3 seconds, which is the equivalent of three metres. The runners-up were a second behind.

The girls were right on top too. Shelly Ann Fraser led a clean sweep of the 100m, with two of her colleagues tied for silver. Veronica Campbell-Brown ran away with the 200m gold and Melanie Walker broke the Olympic record for 400m hurdles.

All this from a small island 234 km long and 80 km at its widest, with a population of 2.8 million! Jamaican sporting excellence is not confined to sprinting. Cricket is big too in a country which has produced world-class cricketers such as George Headley, Michael Holding, or Alfred Valentine, who formed a deadly spin combination with Sonny Ramadhin, and Courtney Walsh, the first bowler to pass the 500-wicket mark. The West Indies team always has a fair number of Jamaicans and the famous Sabina Park ground is a must on all tours to the Caribbean.

And what of Jamaican music? The land of Bob Marley brought reggae to the world stage in the ’70s. “One Love”, was selected as the song of the century by the BBC; Exodus was chosen as the album of the century by Time. Harry Belafonte, the king of calypso, had a Jamaican grandmother and spent his childhood in a small village on the island. Who can forget his “Jamaican Farewell” where the nights are gay and in which he had to leave a little girl in Kingston town? Maybe the girl is still waiting in Jamaica.

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