Caribbean
Sports Update...
Friday, August
29th, 2008
Mills says Bolt accusations started from
American television
ZURICH, Switzerland: The ongoing debate over
whether or not Usain Bolt was disrespectful
to his fellow competitors in his
celebrations at the Olympics originated from
American television stations, coach Glen
Mills said on Wednesday. Mills said Bolt's
dominance in the 100-metres this season
broke the cycle of American supremacy in the
event, which has brought about some envy.
"They are the ones who started it," Mills
told reporters during a press conference for
Friday's Weltklasse meeting in Zurich. "I
think that Usain's dominance in the 100
meters brings a lot of jealousy because
normally you have one country that usually
dominates this event. "I have been to
eight Olympics and I have seen celebration
of all kinds. I was in Seoul and Flo-Jo was
running the last 20 meters with her hand
waving in front of the other competitors.
Nobody said anything." A week ago Bolt was
cautioned by television broadcasters as well
as International Olympic Committee (IOC)
president Jacques Rogge, who said the
Jamaican should have limit his flamboyant
celebrations and shook hands with the other
athletes. However, Mills said he does
not believe that Bolt tried to disrespect
any of his fellow competitors and feels he
was just being targeted. "I think the
comments are unfair and that there was a
certain amount of targeting," Mills said.
"(But) if they are trying to get in his mind
they are wasting their time." In the
meantime, retired Olympian, Trinidadian Ato
Boldon, one of the television commentators
who also made comments about Bolt's 100m
celebrations, said he feels his statements
during NBC Olympic broadcast were taken out
of context. "No one who saw the NBC
broadcasts I have done on Bolt could
possibly ever say I have begrudged the man
his wins or his success, or even his
exuberance," he told CMC Sports. "I can
certainly entertain or accept that
possibility, but I will not apologize for an
opinion, especially since it seems that the
999 favorable ones I have had of Bolt have
been ignored - to focus on this one - which
has been blown totally out of proportion."
Montserrat
hosts annual fishing tournament
BRADES, Montserrat: Anglers from around the
world are invited to compete in the island's
biggest fishing event of the year, the 14th
Annual Open Fishing Tournament to be held on
October 25, 2008 at Little Bay. Hosted by
The Montserrat Fisherman's Cooperative and
the Montserrat Tourist Board, the event
provides an opportunity for avid game
fishermen, regardless of skill, to win
numerous prizes and bonuses. Little Bay’s
ideal sport-fishing conditions offer
enthusiasts some of the finest fishing in
the world. Due to the volcanic eruptions
that devastated portions of Montserrat
nearly 15 years ago, the destination’s
pristine waters remained untouched for a
period of time allowing a resurgence of
underwater life. The island also features a
variety of offshore game fish that include
Marlin, Tuna and Kingfish. "It is our hope
that Montserrat gains recognition as a
destination for competitive sport fishing,”
said Director of Tourism Ernestine Cassell.
"Anglers will find Montserrat's annual
tournament to be a challenging yet thrilling
and rewarding experience." Prizes for the
best catch will be given in four categories
including Kingfish, Wahoo, Tuna and Mahi
Mahi. The Champion Boat prize goes to the
heaviest catch and special bonus prizes will
be awarded to anyone that breaks existing
records. Past record catches include a 71
lb. Wahoo (2003), a 302 lb. Marlin (1995), a
51 lb. Dolphin (1990), a 51 lb. King (1989)
and 78 lb. Tuna (1989). To be eligible to
participate in the tournament each
contestant must have a completed entry form
with a paid registration fee of $46 USD for
each person on the boat. All boats will
depart from Port Little Bay at 4 a.m. and
must return by 3:30 p.m. for the weigh-in.
After the tournament, water sport
enthusiasts looking for even more excitement
can choose to kayak in the island’s pristine
waters, snorkel through breathtaking reefs
or dive and explore Montserrat’s underwater
landscapes. Travelers looking to relax may
bask under the sun on miles of glistening
dark or white sand and enjoy a cool swim at
one of Montserrat’s picturesque beaches.
Caribbean
Sports Update...
Thursday, August
28th, 2008
Bolt could have run 9.52 in Olympics,
coach says
ZURICH, Switzerland (Reuters): Triple
Olympic gold medalist and world record
holder Usain Bolt could have run the 100
meters in 9.52 seconds if he had not slowed
to celebrate, his coach said on Wednesday.
Glen Mills said Bolt, who electrified
Beijing with his sprint victories, was at
the start of his 100m career and would peak
only in about two years' time. "If he had
continued, the slowest he would have run
would have been 9.52," Mills told reporters
ahead of Friday's Weltklasse athletics
meeting in Zurich, where Bolt is due to run
the 100m. "This is his first year of running
the 100 meters," Mills said. "In two more
years he should be peaking at this distance
and by then I am certain he will be down to
there." Bolt set a world record of 9.69
seconds in the 100m, and was so far ahead of
the field that he slowed before the end to
celebrate. Bolt then broke Michael Johnson's
12-year-old mark in the 200 and added a
third gold by contributing to a world record
for Jamaica in the 4x100 relay. On Friday,
Bolt will face the two men who won medals
behind him in the Beijing 100m, Richard
Thompson of Trinidad & Tobago and American
Walter Dix. Other Beijing winners on show in
Zurich include women's pole vault champion
Yelena Isinbayeva and Kenenisa Bekele of
Ethiopia, who won the men's 5,000 and 10,000
meters. "I've had some sleep since I've been
here so I'm not tired. I'm trying to get my
blood pumping again," Bolt said. He declined
to speculate on what time he might run on
Friday. "I don't think you can really set
another goal after doing that at the
Olympics," said Bolt, who turned 22 the day
after his 200 Beijing win. "I'm just trying
to get to the end of the season, injury
free, and go home and enjoy myself."
Caribbean
Sports Update...
Wednesday, August
27th, 2008
Bolt ok with tests
Jamaican Olympic hero, Usain Bolt, is not surprised by the
number of raised eyebrows following his performances at the
Beijing Olympics, but said he has nothing to worry about because
he is clean. Bolt turned the Olympics upside down with his three
gallant performances, winning gold in the 100 meters and 200
meters in world-record times. He ran the third leg of the sprint
relay as Jamaica also captured gold in world-record time. Bolt
said he had been tested numerous times this season with all the
results returning negative. "We've been tested a lot. I was
tested four times before I even started running," Bolt said,
while speaking at an event put on by his sponsor Puma. "I have
taken urine tests and blood tests. I have been tested after
every com-petition," he added. He continued: "I have been tested
so many times I lost track. And we're okay with it. We work hard
and we perform well and we know we're clean. Anytime they want
to test us is okay with us." Bolt took the Olympics by storm,
speeding to 9.69 seconds in winning the 100 meters before
returning to clock a sensational 19.30 seconds to break American
Michael Johnson's 12-year-old 200m record and become the first
double Olympic sprint champion in 24 years.
Clubs,
JFF to meet over Taylor, Howell
Harbour View defender Jermaine Taylor and
Waterhouse midfielder, Hugh Howell will know
which clubs they must represent in this
season's National Premier League (NPL),
following a meeting with officials of their
respective clubs and the Jamaica Football
Federation (JFF) today. The duo, who have
been in and out of the national set-up since
Rene Simoes' return, are seeking permission
to join St Georges and Meadhaven United and
according to reports, they have not been
involved in pre-season training with the
clubs to which they are under contract.
Taylor, who played a key role in Jamaica's
recent 1-1 draw with Canada in the first
match of semi-final round of the CONCACAF
World Cup qualifiers, is from Portland, the
parish of St Georges. Howell, who toured
Brazil and was a recent invitee to the
national set-up for the first round
qualifying matches against The Bahamas,
played his youth football at Meadhaven under
the late David Hunt and now that the club
has qualified for the big times, wants to
return home. "We have received complaints
about two players who want to leave their
clubs and have scheduled a meeting with both
parties to try to bring an end to the
dispute," said JFF vice-president Raymond
Anderson, who is slated to chair the
meeting. He added: "It is not the first time
as every year their are different cases. But
we happy to play a role as at the end of the
day we want everybody to be happy," he
added. Club officials, in the meantime, were
somewhat tentative. "The meeting is tomorrow
and before that I would not want to make a
comment," said Harbour View Football Club
general manager, Clyde Jureidini. "We have
already made a statement about the issue (in
the media) and would not want to say
anything that might affect the discussions,"
he added. Waterhouse president, Peter
Hibbert, said: "As far as I know the club's
postion is that we have a contract with this
player and we going to the meeting to see
how the authorities deal with the siutation,"
he said. "If he is to stay, he stays, if he
is to go, he goes." The competition is set
to kick off on Sunday with six matches, with
champions Portmore United slated to tackle
promoted Rivoli United at Ferdie Neita Park
in the feature match. In other matches,
Tivoli Gardens will face first-timers
Meadhaven at the Edward Seaga Sports
Complex, Arnett Gardens will tackle Boys'
Town at Cling Cling Oval, Sporting Central
will play Village at Brancourt, Reno will
travel to Harbour View, while Waterhouse
will welcome the Geoffery Maxwell-coached St
Georges, at Drewsland.
Caribbean
Sports Update...
Tuesday, August
26th, 2008
OAS hails Jamaica on Olympic success
The Organization of American States has
hailed Jamaica's superb performance at the
Beijing Olympics, which concluded Sunday. In
a letter addressed to Jamaica's Prime
Minister Bruce Golding, the OAS' secretary
general, Jose Miguel Insulza pointed to the
country's sweep of the men's and women's 100
meters events as remarkable achievements
"for which Jamaica should be very proud".
Insulza pointed out that the achievement was
even more poignant as it was not often that
an athlete from any of the Caribbean or the
Latin American countries won as many medals
at the Olympic Games. "It therefore makes
all of us in this hemisphere immensely happy
and proud that our sister state of Jamaica
so decisively claimed the coveted titles of
the world's fastest man and woman," the
letter said. Usain Bolt swept both the men's
sprints in world-record times, while
Shelly-Ann Fraser captured the women's 100
meters title and Veronica Campbell-Brown,
the 200 meters title. Jamaica also won the
men's sprint relay title in world-record
time.
Jamaicans
poised for fourth New York title
Defending Caribbean Cup champions, Jamaica,
are poised to create history by becoming the
first team to win four successive titles
when they face St Kitts and Nevis in the
12-team championship Sunday. The New York
Reggae Boyz secured their berth in the final
by beating five-time Cup champions St
Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) 1-0 before
a capacity crowd in the first semi-final
match Sunday at the Jefferson High School
Stadium. St Kitts and Nevis guaranteed their
place with a 4-0 stunning of Haiti in the
subsequent semi-final game, creating history
in the process. It was the first time that
St Kitts and Nevis reached the final in the
16-year-old Cup. After Jamaica and St
Vincent and the Grenadines were locked 0-0
by the half-time interval, the Jamaicans
bypassed their opponents just four minutes
into the second half through a defensive
blunder. In attempting to head the ball back
to goalkeeper Markie Williams, SVG captain
Greg John woefully miscalculated, to the
chagrin of hundreds of Vincentian fans as
the ball hit the back of the net. SVG then
made valiant efforts to find the equaliser,
but the New York Reggae Boyz kept them at
bay up to the final whistle, denying them
any prospect of clinching the Cup for a
record sixth time. St Vincent and the
Grenadines had won the Cup in 1993, 1994,
1995, 1997 and 2000. "We did not create
enough chances compared to the last game (in
which they beat Guyana 3-1 on August 10),"
Stanley 'Luxie' Morris, SVG's head coach,
told CMC Sports in a post-game interview.
Arthur 'Jetty' Mikes, the Jamaican coach,
said while his team did not play to the best
of its ability, it was glad to be in
winner's row. "We had some injuries, but we
had enough players on the bench who can go
in and get the job done," he said. "We're
going to win the Cup for the fourth time,"
he added confidently.
Caribbean
Sports Update...
Monday, August
25th, 2008
It seems the Caribbean
cannot win for losing
“Faster, higher, stronger” is the motto of
the Olympic Games. An event that ought to
provide a platform for unity and peace,
where countries come together for a couple
of weeks of competition and sportsmanship,
putting their differences aside. A place
where power players in the world of sports
should exhibit behaviour that exemplifies
the spirit of the games, and where the
“underdog” can shine in their moment. With
sporting superpowers like the United States,
China, and Russia holding the top three
medal counts, it would be reasonable to
think pride and honour would be in full play
and, with the media footage showcasing their
top contenders, it’s easy to overlook the
lesser known athletes competing alongside
them. Such is the case of Churandy Martina,
an Olympic competitor from the tiny
Caribbean territory of the Netherlands
Antilles. With a total population of
225,369, and only one Olympic medal in its
history, the territory had a lot riding on
Mr Martina. Mr Martina was born on the
island of Curacao, the main island in the
grouping, and is so revered in his country
that he served as their flag bearer in the
ceremonies of the previous two Olympics.
Just moments after finishing second behind
Jamaica’s Usain Bolt in the men’s 200 meters
final, Mr Martina said, “Today I really feel
like a champion,” and added the invitation,
“Everybody in the whole world is welcome to
enjoy and celebrate my silver medal.”
Finishing second, and placing his country on
the Olympic map for the second time in their
history, Mr Martina was set to receive his
silver medal with all the pride and glory of
a gold medallist. However, American athlete
Wallace Spearmon, also a competitor in the
men’s 200 meters, was disqualified for
running out of his lane, thus losing his
bronze medal. Though this would be a blow to
any contender, it was not a devastating hit
to the US medal standing. We get the point
that rules are rules, and the judges
immediately noticed Mr Spearmon’s error, but
what we don’t understand is why, after
combing the tapes and discovering that Mr
Martina had also committed a similar but
apparently barely perceptible error, the US
felt the need to retaliate against him,
seeking some sort of vindication. With the
disqualification of Mr Martina, the United
States placed two of their runners, Shawn
Crawford and Walter Dix, on the podium for
silver and bronze. Not only did the United
States take away the small Caribbean
country’s glory and national hero, for whom
that country would have celebrated a silver
medal with the enthusiasm and triumph of the
prized gold; they also handed two US runners
medals who did not “earn” them – as the
athletes themselves are the first to
acknowledge. Did the coaches who pored over
the video of the event give the US, or the
athletes for that matter, more pride to be
“given” medals in lieu of “winning” them?
How can a nation as large and powerful as
the United States take any pride in this
double tragedy? Mr Crawford, who was bumped
to second as a result of US protest, told
reporters he felt uneasy accepting the
silver medal, stating, “It feels kind of
weird, like a charity case,” and adding.
“I'm always going to know that I finished
fourth.” Doug Logan, track and field’s new
CEO, obviously did not see the error by Mr
Martina, so was the US innocently verifying
the mistake on the part of the contender and
the judges, or did they make a calculated
move to advance in the medal standings? At
the time of press, the United States holds
110 medals, more than any other country, so
when a country of 300 million people denies
a single medal to a country with less than
226,000 people, it most likely will not sit
well with the International Olympic
Committee (IOC), which will, hopefully,
include representation from other small
Caribbean countries with long memories when
the time comes for Chicago to be considered
as a venue for the 2016 Olympic Games. Maybe
the US coaches should consider that just
because they had the right or power to do
something, does not mean they should have
exercised it. In another apparent “sour
grapes” moment, IOC president Jacques Rogge
spoke out against Jamaican sprinter Usain
Bolt for celebrating his world record wins
in the 100- and 200-meter races, saying he
should show more respect for his rivals, and
accused him of showboating. As an athlete,
Mr Bolt had trained for these games for many
years, and not only won, but won his races
in world record times. Is he not entitled to
some chest slapping and arm waving? And for
the record, his “I’m number one” production
for the TV cameras was a fact, so how was
that being disrespectful? Since the
beginning of the Olympic Games, and any
other sport for that matter, victors have
celebrated their wins in flamboyant
displays, so maybe Mr Rogge should go back
and study the history of the “win”. With all
the rules, regulations, and rigidness in the
world of sports, it is a breath of fresh air
to see some individuality and exhibition of
pride. Let’s bring “good sportsmanship” back
to the largest sporting event in the world,
one with an international arena viewed by
millions, where the athlete's spirit, mind,
and body endeavour to excel and achieve
higher standards than the presently existing
ones. Pierre de Coubertin, who founded the
IOC on June 23, 1894, got an idea for a
phrase from a speech given by Bishop
Ethelbert Talbot at a service for Olympic
champions during the 1908 Olympic Games.
That phrase became the Olympic Creed, and it
reads: The Olympic creed and motto are both
meant to spur the athletes to embrace the
Olympic spirit and perform to the best of
their abilities. Perhaps others should
embrace this message.
Dominican
Republic boxer wins Olympic gold medal
SANTO DOMINGO. Dominican Republic: The
Dominican Republic boxer, Felix Diaz, became
the first Dominican-born boxer in history to
win an Olympic gold medal and only the
second Dominican boxer to win an Olympic
medal after a period of 24 years. Diaz
convincingly beat the Thailander Manus
Boonjumnong for the gold on Saturday morning
in Beijing. Diaz, fighting in the 64k
category, counterpunched his opponent and
landed well executed combinations to secure
the well deserved win. Pedro Nolasco was the
first Dominican Republic boxer to win an
Olympic medal when he won the bronze medal
in the 1984 games held in Los Angeles, USA.
It is expected he will receive a hero’s
welcome when he returns to the Dominican
Republic and will be received by Dominican
President Leonel Fernandez to celebrate his
win.
