Staff Writer – Kerran Monroe
Last year was a good year for Jamaica in terms of achievements. No, I am not talking about financial achievements. I am talking in terms of sports. I usually don’t discuss sports but I am still a sports fan.
Last year being Jamaica’s fiftieth year of so called independence was anticipated to be a great year for Jamaica on all fronts. If no other sector met those expectations, sports certainly did.
The first big sporting highlight for Jamaica in 2012 was the Summer Olympics. There was a big hype created going into the Summer Olympics of 2012. It being Jamaica’s 50th was only one of the reasons behind the hype. Others included Jamaica’s awesome performance at the previous Olympic Games; Jamaica’s Usain Bolt being the poster child for the 2012 Olympics; Jamaica entering other events off the tracks; and the games being held in London, the home of many Jamaicans was just a bonus.
There were many highlights for Jamaica at the Olympic Games last year. The first was for Jamaica to come in 4th place finish in the pool. It was not a podium performance, but it was enough to get the momentum going; the second was an almost inevitable gold medal for Jamaica in the men’s 100m event.
Warren Weir. Photo courtesy jamaica-gleaner.com
After that it was just medals after medals for Jamaica, of all colours; even medals which some might say were unexpected. These were the two bronze medals from Hansel Parchment in the Men’s 110m hurdles and Warren Weir in the Men’s 200m event causing Jamaicans to sweep the medal podium in the event. For many Jamaicans, including myself, those two bronze medals were their biggest highlights at the 2012 Olympics.
Of course, with the Olympic Games usually comes a lot of excitement in Jamaica. The last Olympic Games (2008) saw the making of a new tradition in Jamaica. This is where Jamaicans leave the television sets in their home and head to Half Way Tree to watch the races on big screens. Last year was no different. Half Way Tree was filled with jubilant Jamaicans, whose homes just could not hold them during the big events, in which Jamaica was expected to win a medal. This caused traffic to come to a standstill until the race and the excitement following the race was over. The media was also in on the action, as camera men from both media houses were present at all times to give viewers at home a sense of what was going on in Half Way Tree.
The 2012 Olympics was undoubtedly the biggest sporting highlight for Jamaica last year.
