Jamaica’s educational system has paved the way to enable the island’s golden Olympic glory. Through its physical education curriculum and dedicated physical education teachers, we now reap the benefits. Coaches are also to be commended for their dedication and effort in supporting athletes, helping them stay focused. Being an Olympic medalist is every father’s dream for his son or daughter. When Husain Bolt, Asafa Powel, Melaine Walker, Veronica Campbell, Shelly Ann Frazer, won Olympic gold medals. In Beijing, the world was shocked, the Jamaicans on the other hand were happy, not surprised. There is a history of producing medal winners in track events dating back to the 1948 London Games.

Jamaica will always be seen as a gold mine for athletics. The world may wonder about our success and what the secret is, some even imply that our athletes use drugs. I recommend Jamaica as the ideal place to educate your son and if he has athletic talent it is one of the best places to develop that talent. The hilly terrain is a good driving range for building muscles, strengthening the heart and lungs. ability Many of our track and field talents are those who have run miles over mountainous terrain. The yellow yam was given as one of the reasons Jamaicans can run. The sickle cell trait possessed by many Jamaicans and teamwork were also cited as reasons for success in the tract and field.

For such a small third world country, Jamaica has a tradition of athletic performance like Merlene Ottey, Donald Arry, Author Wint and many others who have come before it. Jamaica has what is considered raw talent, driven by motivation and a culture of competitive spirit all make the Jamaican athlete shine. A very important factor in the country’s success is that Jamaica has one of the best organized track and field programs in the world. Although restricted by funding, the country still promotes athletics from kindergarten. In Jamaica we train body and mind to achieve it. Every year we look forward to which new athlete will be better than Usain or Veronica. Throughout the year, if you follow the country’s sports calendar, you will realize that there is always some sporting activity throughout the island aimed at preparing our athletes.

There is the annual sports day for all kindergartens and primary schools, high schools and universities; in these events, students compete against each other in house matches. Next is the parochial interscholastic sports center. Of these, the best are chosen for island-wide sporting meets, such as the JTA All-Ages and Elementary School Meet and the Boys and Girls Champs for high schools, designed to discover and develop the best school sprinters. There are intercollegiate and varsity sports with a special emphasis on track and field geared towards keeping Jamaican athletes trained in Jamaica to represent the country rather than perform for other countries like the US and Canada. After these eliminations and tests we reached our best level, selected to be trained and compete on the international stage. This is the point at which raw talented athletes are monitored by the Jamaican Amateur Athletic Association. With the right funding, Jamaica will continue to rack up medals of glory at the international level.