05:48 GMT 8th November 2011
He turned professional in 2004, and at the Beijiing Olympics four years later he became the first man to win three sprinting events at a single Olympics since America's Carl Lewis in 1984 and the first man to set woI1d records in all three at an Olympics
IF THERE were a gold medal for the most thrilling team at last month's World Athletics Championships in Daegu, South Korea, it would surely go to Jamaica. The Caribbean island once again stamped its dominance on the international athletics track with a medal haul of four golds, four silvers and one bronze, plus a world record in the 4x100m relay anchored by the extraordinary Usain Bolt.
Team Jamaica snatched seven gold medals at the same championships in Berlin two years ago and all four sprint titles at the 2008 Olympic Games, leaving the once mighty Americans scratching their heads. How could a tiny country with a population of 2.7 million and more than its fair share of poverty produce such brilliant runners?
Many theories have been offered, from the home cooked food given to training athletes - chicken, fish, yam, callaloo (a spinach-like vegetable) and cornmeal porridge - to the fact that Bolt, Ben Johnson, the Jamaicanborn Canadian sprinter (banned after a doping scandal), and Veronica Campbell-Brown, the reigning 200m Olympic and World Athletics champion, all hail from Trelawny, the island's hilliest parish.
Or perhaps it is in the genes - African slaves who ended up in Jamaica were among the most rebellious in the Caribbean and often ran away from the plantations to form their own free communities in the hills.
It has also not been lost on people that numerous doping scandals have taken their toll on American athletics. By 2008, 18 athletes had been suspended, including tracks stars Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery and Justin Gatlin, leaving the field clear for unadulterated talent from elsewhere.
But when all is said and done, success breeds success. With three world records under his belt in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay, Bolt has become every much a superstar as Bob Marley providing plenty of inspiration for each new generation of athletes. Fellow sprinters Asafa Powell, Campbell-Brown, Yohan Blake and Shelly-Ann Fraser are also stars in their own right. This in turn has encouraged local businesses and government to invest in future champions.
Jamaica now has a well-funded athletics programme complete with state of the art facilities that encourages young sprinters to remain based on the island rather than take US scholarships, as was the case in the past. Many of those who went through the US college system ended up changing their nationality. There are now about a dozen well-run track clubs in Jamaica and some young athletes have signed sponsorship deals while still at school. African leaders take note.
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