Commentary

Training feasible in Jamaica?

SINCE LAST WEEK Tuesday when Asafa Powell broke the 100-metre world record in Athens, it seems like madness has been sweeping over the country.

Asafa's superhuman effort has spawned a fever that has addled the brains of many in positions of leadership in this country, causing them to do something that not even the greatest sceptic would have expected. They are spouting even more crap than ever before.

'Yes, we can raise athletes here that can beat the best in the world,' everyone is now saying, and perhaps it is true as it relates to Asafa and his MVP camp under the guidance of Stephen Francis, and even as it relates to Usain Bolt, Aleen Bailey and the others who are being guided by Glen Mills, but who else?

I see where the Prime Minister has even extended an invitation to Chinese athletes to train here in Jamaica. Am I missing something here? Does the Prime Minister plan to clone Francis and Mills? There are more athletes in China than there are Jamaicans in the world, dead or alive.

Short of cloning these two outstanding coaches and un-retiring people like Dennis Johnson, who is going to be coaching all these athletes should China take the Prime Minister up on his offer?

And even if they could coach all these athletes, who is going to pay them, the Government?

There is also now a lot of rhetoric about having our athletes stay home, as opposed to attending universities overseas. When these athletes stay here, where are the facilities for them to use? Is everybody to use the stadium east track? If that is the case, then before long that track is going to look like Trafalgar Road during rush hour.

And, what about gymnasiums, where are they? What are these athletes to use to build muscle and gain strength - boulders and tree limbs?

We never seem to learn; we need to put up or shut up when it comes to certain things and this is one of those times.

Besides these insane arguments, Asafa's success is a great example for many kids today to follow. Kids nowadays have someone who is extremely talented and extremely humble to emulate; someone who is morally sound and who is the perfect example that you don't have to be a loudmouth to get the world to take notice.

Some of these kids who use their God-given speed to run from the police, their dexterity and flexibility to climb through people's windows, and their strength to pry open burglar bars, can now see that they don't have to steal and rob; that they can use their speed and athletic skills to earn money and gain the respect they so desperately seek.

They also now have proof that taking up a microphone and using it to spout hatred, murder and mayhem is not the only way to break free from the shackles of the ghetto, once they are willing to work hard.

One last thing. When the Reggae Boyz qualified for the World Cup in 1998, they were given house and land and all that. Asafa is now the fastest man who ever lived. Where is his house and land, Mr. Prime Minister?