Sports – a cornerstone of Jamaica’s history
JAMAICA WAS still under British rule when Arthur Wint ran a brave 46.2 seconds to best compatriot and then world record holder Herb McKenley and claim 400m gold at the 1948 Olympic Games in London.
The 1980s saw flashes of brilliance in boxing, with the likes of Mike McCallum and Trevor Berbick claiming multiple world titles in varying weight divisions.
En route to an Olympic record, Deon Hemmings broke ground on the female side almost five decades after Wint, claiming the 400m Hurdles at the 1996 Olympics.
On the field, local football enthusiasts were in for a treat in 1997 as Brazilian manager René Simoes and national coach Carl Brown guided the national team to the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France.
This meant that Jamaica became the first Englishspeaking Caribbean country to qualify for a World Cup.
Said accomplishments acted as the catalyst to what is currently a successfilled sporting tale, which continues to invoke emotion in millions, particularly athletic fanatics who are familiar with a6’ 5” track phenom called Bolt.
As the track and field prodigies continue to role off the conveyor belt and rewrite the history books, the Government is keen to ride the new wave – sports tourism – to the benefit of the ‘sprint factory’.
One of the fastestgrowing areas of the global
travel industry, sports tourism, a potential multibillion earner, is tailormade for Jamaica, particularly since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which announced Bolt et al arrival to stardom.
Though last Saturday marked the sprint legend’s local swansong, and as has been indicated, he should exit fully on the eve of Jamaica 55th, stakeholder ministries, along with private partners are fixed on creating a sustainable framework to market and profit from home-grown talents.
As the annual Boys and Girls’ Championships continue to attract hundreds of international visitors and plans for infrastructural development and improvement continue to mature, the prospect certainly seems a viable one.
With the golden age of Jamaican sports experiencing a surplus of legendary personalities, it’s not a stretch to declare sports, as a cornerstone of Jamaican history.