I am not your typical Jamaican… then again, there are no typical Jamaicans. I am not your average Jamaican… then again, no Jamaican is average. Plain and simply put I AM JAMAICAN, but I am not plain and simple. I am Jamaican, yes thats pretty much all you need to know. You can’t wrap me in a bubble or put me in a box. I am unstoppable. Whatever I believe, I can achieve and I just achieved history of ginormous proportions. My name is being spoken all over the world, yet few can find my home on a map. This land of wood and water is now synonymous with Gold. Over the years, this small island nation which I call my home has given this world just a glimpse of its greatness – Bob Marley, Merlene Ottey, Michael Lee-Chin; just enough to keep the world watching, waiting, anticipating to see what we would do next. The stage was set and we were ready, ready to take on the world, but was the world ready for us? I don’t think so. The Beijing Olympics 2008 had its fair share of controversy even before it began, but nobody was prepared for the flash of Black, Green and Gold that would light up and dominate the track and field. Nobody was prepared to be left speechless and fumbling in the wake of the greatness we always knew as a nation we could achieve. We were always a force to be reckoned with, but as the playing field became level and the “gold robbers” were reigned in by the WADA, the world would finally behold the awesomeness of our athletics. Race after race, medal after medal, record after record, our speed could not be conceived, our spirit could not be squashed, our charisma could not be contained.
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I have never felt as much pride as I have in watching the likes of Shelly-Ann Simpson, Veronica Campbell, Asafa Powell, Usain “Lightening” Bolt and Melaine Walker, just to name a few, perform so magnificently at this year’s Olympics (2008). The many memories of this olympics will be with me forever and though they be many, none (in my opinion) catches the spirit of Jamaica more than the 4x100m Mens Relay final when anchor, Asafa Powell upon receiving the baton as well as words of encouragement from Usain Bolt ran 8.84 seconds to finish the race and then seconds after, in a fit of euphoria, Usain Bolt a flash of lightening passes the finish line before the last athlete in the race to congratulate his fellow teammates with a joyful embrace and jubilant dancing… and yet doping questions linger. Its understandable and like I said, it just shows – the world’s just not ready for us!!
The Jamaican Spirit lives on.
Jamaican flag
Just a little sup’m extra
Usain Bolt 100m Sprint Parody
