Sports

Jamaica’s Prime Minister Hails Bolt and Powell

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Hon. Bruce Golding, has described the performance of Jamaica’s sprint champion, Usain Bolt, as extraterrestrial.

Mr. Golding, who spoke to Usain shortly after he shattered the 100 metres world record at the 12th International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships in Berlin, Germany, on August 16, said the speedster, “performed like he was from outer space.”

Mr. Golding asked him how much faster he intended to run in a 100-metre race and the champion responded: “I’m coming home to work on it.”

The Prime Minister congratulated him on the sensational run of 9.58 seconds, the fastest time in which a human being has covered 100 metres. The previous world record was 9.69 seconds which Usain did at the Beijing Olympics last year.

Mr Golding also spoke to bronze medallist, Asafa Powell, who overcame his big race jitters to finish third in a season’s best time of 9.84 seconds, behind American Tyson Gay, who clocked the American national record of 9.71 seconds.

“I told Asafa how proud I was that he had found his form; that he was back in the fray. I told him I knew that he had been through a rough period when he might have at times questioned his own capacity, but that he had demonstrated that he is a champion with this performance,” the Prime Minister told JIS News.

“I was also very encouraged by the words that Asafa had to say of Usain’s achievements,” Mr. Golding added.

Youth, Sports and Culture Minister, Hon Olivia Grange, was at trackside to greet the sprinters as they took the historic victory lap.

She told Usain that he was a rare human being, who will stand with the greatest of all time from every genre of sport. She said his desire to become a legend in the sport was a project firmly on course and promised him that Jamaica would once again welcome him and the other athletes home with all the pomp and circumstance befitting the “kings and queens of athletics.”

The Minister heaped praises on Asafa, after a very emotional embrace. “You are special. You have showed the fight and determination that you needed to get to the podium. This performance proves that you are a champion. I am so proud of you,” Miss Grange said.

Jamaica’s women will be the main attraction at the Olympic Stadium this evening as they do battle in the 100 metres. Veronica Campbell-Brown, Shelly-Ann Fraser, Kerron Stewart and Aileen Bailey are all through to the semi finals and will face tough challenges from the Americans, Lauryn Williams, Muna Lee and Carmelita Jeter as well as Trinidadian, Kelly-Ann Baptiste.

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