norman grindley - These women celebrate as the Olympic motorcade passed through the Corporate Area yesterday.

Hundreds of enthusiastic Jamaicans yesterday lined up along the Palisadoes strip and Sir Florizel Glasspole Boule-vard, eager to get a glimpse of the local athletes, who in August, rendered record-breaking performances at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.

They stood in the sizzling sun waiting for the parade of the golden girls and boys who would be leaving from the Norman Manley International Airport and then embarking on a tour of the Corporate Area.

There were several false alarms, which sent the excited crowd bolting down the Palisadoes strip, heading towards the airport. The first instance was when a woman saw policemen on horses and screamed: "See dem a come deh!" believing the horsemen were leading the motorcade. Then, when the crowd saw two other officers clearing the way further down the strip, people made a mad rush in that direction. The crowd, strangely, seemed not to care that it was running in the lane of oncoming traffic.

With the heat of the midday sun, bag-juice sellers made brisk business sellling 'Beijing bag juice'.

Not everyone, however, was cashing in on the drink. One woman, dressed in her Jamaican outfit, emphatically said: "Mi nuh waan dat. Not even mi baby nuh drink bag juice, straight Red Bull."

baby fan

Speaking of babies, one mother from the Harbour View area, giving her name only as Tammy, said she had been standing along the Palisadoes strip, holding her six-month-old son Tavari, since 10:45 a.m. It was close to 2 p.m. when the news team spoke with her.

"Bwoy! Mi would like if dem come out now, because mi waan go home go rest mi hand dem and mi baby," said the frail woman, who said she had come out to see Usain Bolt. She said that even though Tavari was only a baby, she knew that he wished to see Bolt and wanted to grant him that wish, despite the wait in the punishing sun.

By the time the procession of some eight trucks, transporting the athletes, started making its way along the Palisadoes strip, there was pandemonium among the crowd. People screamed out the names of their favourite athletes as they passed by, smiling and waving at the crowd. Usain did his usual dances and a screaming woman hoisted her baby in the air for Asafa Powell to touch him. Powell held the shirtless child for about two minutes, much to the delight of the crowd, before handing him back to his mother.

The parade made its way through downtown Kingston, Half-Way Tree and New Kingston, greeted by enthusiastic and proud Jamaicans at each point of the parade.