PM wants better organization of Athletics Programme

Mr. Golding who met Usain on arrival at the Norman Manley International Airport said the Olympian and world record holder had captured the hearts of the Jamaican people in a way the country has not experienced in a very long time. “Not for a long time has the Jamaican people been so enraptured. You have captured the hearts of the people of Jamaica,” Mr. Golding said.

He said the government was seeking to identify a meaningful and enduring way to commemorate the country’s Olympic achievement and that the government has received an encouraging response for the athletes. Speaking directly to Usain, Mr. Golding said all Jamaica was looking to him and urged that he sends a positive message to the country especially the youth, in everything he says and does.

Members of the local athletics fraternity led by Mike Fennel, President of the Jamaica Olympic Association, were on had to pay tribute to Usain

Bolt. Mr. Fennel noted that Usain had created history in so many ways and an image of which the country could be proud.

Chef de Mission to Beijing, Don Anderson said Usain’s 100M win set the staged for every other athlete on the team as each wanted to emulate him. He said that every fifty years a phenomenal athlete comes to the fore and Usain Bolt is a phenomenal athlete of his time. Tributes were also paid tor Glen Mills who was regaled as one of the greatest track and field coaches in Jamaica.