Interestingly, however, while there has been admiration and praise from some Western commentators and media over the ease with some of the records have been broken and the Jamaica “celebratory run”, others have queried (in their disbelief) about the possible use of drugs/steroids even suggesting that there is no proper system back in Jamaica to monitor this. Needless to say, from the Jamaican camp, there is much disquiet over the excessive testing of their athletes in an effort to “catch” them out. But this is not the only unfair thing. Think of the billions that some countries have pumped in for preparation and try comparing these figures with that of the Caribbean islands! Or even better try an alternative method of scoring as on the BBC website to see the top scoring countries.
It is amazing, but not surprising, how the western mind operates when it comes to the exceptional performance of an athlete from the majority world, who excels as an Olympian and set new records. No wonder the Chinese contingent have to produce passports to show the age of their athletes! Something dodgy must be in the air, for majority world people cannot rise from their mud-huts and banana farms.
Do not get me wrong: I am all for testing Olympians to screen for any drug enhancing towards victory. But my point is this: which Western media person has queried the possibility of their superboy/hero swimmer using drugs and steroids. I even wonder if the thought ever crossed their monochrome minds!
In the meantime, thank God for Jamaican yams (soon to be patented by some foreign drug conglomerate), Blue Mountain Coffee (the best) and the generations of runaway Maroons - those who defied enslavement. It is the spirit of the latter that propels the Jamaican athletes, past, present and future!
Cool Runnings!
© copyright Jagessar August 22, 2008
