Titans of the sprints!

Jamaica. The emerging sprint titans! In the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing China, Jamaica has given rise to a new crop of sprint champions. Previous sprint champions have largely been from the United States of America. Not to forget the odd Canadian. (Read Ben Johnson). In this year’s games Jamaica has stamped its dominance in the sprints. So much so that athletes from United States of America have almost been eclipsed. Usain Bolt the Olympic Gold medallist in the 100 meter and 200 meter races cast a very dark shadow on his competitors that we barely noticed them nor remember their names. This he did by not only bagging the gold in both events, but also by breaking the standing world records. He becomes the second man to win gold in both events in the same summer games. The only other man being Carl Lewis of the United States of America. Could the secret of his record breaking dash lie in the chicken nuggets he so loves? Is that a chicken dance he jigs after every deserved win?

Shelly-Ann Fraser and Veronica Campbell-Brown bagged the gold medals in the 100 meter and the 200 meter races respectively. The little known sprinters from this yam growing Caribbean Island of 2.8 million, have the world finally associating Jamaica with not only the Reggae genre of music they are famous for the world over but also with athletic sprints. The Jamaican sprints team are surely setting the bar to another level.

Jamaica first sent a team to the 1948 Olympics in London, their speciality being in the short races since. 60 years down the line, the athletic world ought to bow for the “fastest nation in the world.” As I write this article the Sprinting Jamaicans continue to assert their dominance. In the men’s 4 X 100 meter relay race, the Jamaicans bag the gold medal and with a new world record to boot!