Sanya Richards-Ross
The final lineup of press conferences for the 119th Penn Relays has been announced, headlined by the Penn Relays/USATF “USA vs. The World” press conference on Friday at 2 p.m. All press conferences are open to credentialed media members and will be held in the George A. Weiss Pavilion Atrium at Franklin Field. (more…)
Clive ‘Busy’ Campbell (left) presents a ‘Bob Marley Football Matches’ award to influential toaster Manley ‘Big Youth’ Buchanan for his outstanding contribution to Jamaica’s music industry at the Constant Spring Football field in St Andrew on Wednesday. (Photo: Bryan Cummings)
Jamaica’s post-Olympics celebrations will culminate today with a host of activities geared at honoring the island’s representatives, two months after their record-breaking performances at the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games inLondon, England.Lead by sprint double champion Usain Bolt, Jamaica registered a 12 medal haul at the Olympic Games (four gold, four silver and four bronze); its largest medal tally at the games, while Alphanso Cunningham mined gold at the Paralympic Games in the men’s F52/53 Javelin, with a regional record 21.84m. Several of the nation’s top athletes were present at yesterday’s service of thanksgiving at the East Queen Street Baptist Church in downtown Kingston, which was also used to celebrate the 140th anniversary of the city of Kingston.Olympic 100m and 200m silver medalist and 4x100m gold medalist Yohan Blake, women’s 100m gold, 200m silver and 4x100m silver medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Paralympics gold medalist Cunningham, 100m bronze medalist and 4x100m silver medalist Veronica Campbell-Brown, 110m hurdles bronze medalist Hansle Parchment, 200m bronze medalist Warren Weir, 400m hurdles finalist Kaliese Spencer , 4x100m gold medalist Michael Frater and women’s 4x400m relay bronze medalist Shericka Williams, were among the attendees at the service.
Also in attendance were Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister – Sport, Natalie Neita-Headley and former Sports Minister Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange.The athletes were later fêted by Prime Minster Portia Simpson-Miller during a cocktail reception at Jamaica House, but the celebrations will go up a notch today.Jamaica’s current track and field stars will pay homage to a legend of the past at the National Heroes Park later today for the unveiling of a new headstone honoring the late Jamaican sprinting great Herb McKinley before the celebrations come to a climax at the National Arena, with a massive celebratory concert featuring some of the biggest names in Jamaican music.The free concert will be staged under the theme ‘Jamaica’s Musical History Honoring Our Olympic Journey’, and will feature musical representation from all genres of Jamaican music.Athletes and officials from both the Olympics and Paralympics will receive cash incentives during the concert with gold medal winners receiving cheques of $1,000,000, while silver medalists will pocket $750,000, bronze medalists will get $500,000 and Olympic finalist will receive $350,000. Other participants will be awarded $250,000 while officials will cop $100,000.There will also be monetary incentives for the world record-breaking men’s 4x100m relay team, the silver medal winning women’s 4x100m team as well as the bronze medal winning women’s 4x400m relay team.
Marlon Samuels held on to the ICC World T20 trophy and didn’t want to let it go.Winning the trophy “means everything to us”, he said after the Windies beat Sri Lanka by 36 runs to take the title in grand style yesterday. Samuels led a rally late in the innings as the West Indies made a competitive 137-6 off their 20 overs. He blasted a career-best 78 off 56 balls with six sixes after the innings was deep in trouble at 32-2 off 10 overs.The next highest score was captain Darren Sammy, with a cameo 26 not out off 15 balls in the final stages of the innings.The 31-year-old Samuels then returned with the ball to take a wicket as the home team was bowled out for 101 before a stunned capacity crowd at the R Premadasa Stadium.
“This is a great achievement for past cricketers and for these cricketers who have bonded together to form a strong unit. The entire Caribbean embraces it. The sky is the limit and words can’t really explain it. It means the world to us,” he said as he held the trophy and his Man-of-the-Match award to his chest.”Coming into the tournament, we were labelled as favorites. We put that to the side. We can be the favorites but at the end of the day, we have to come up trumps with our best cricket,” he said.This is the fourth major international title for the West Indies.They won the inaugural Cricket World Cup in 1975 and repeated in 1979, under the captaincy of Clive Lloyd. They also beat England at the Oval in 2004 to win the ICC Champions Trophy with Brian Lara at the helm.
“In the past, we had some near misses, but nevertheless, God’s willing, we came out on top this time around. Tonight is something to be proud about. We are here today to say that West Indies cricket is back. This is T20, but it can bring a lot of fans to watch us around the world, people who still love West Indies cricket.”We will celebrate as long as possible and enjoy the moment. This a moment to cherish and cherish forever, but we have a lot of cricket to look forward to before the year is finished.”During his breathtaking innings, Samuels took a liking to pacer Lasith Malinga, who is rated as one of the best T20 bowlers in the world. Exactly half his runs came off Malinga, who he hit for five sixes off just 11 balls faced.”I only faced him one time – the first game against Mumbai (in India Premier League) – and he got me out, bowled,” Samuels said. “I was very upset. This was my time today to get back at him.”Having batted most of the overs on the pitch, my advice was that it was still a challenging total. The pitch was a tough one. As long as we could get some quick wickets and put the pressure on Sri Lanka, it would work in our favor,” Samuels added.
VETERAN track and field coach Glen Mills will be the focal point of the inaugural CB Group/UWI 5K Walk/Run on Sunday, November 18, which marks part of the Grand Jamaica Homecoming 2012.The run will begin on Golding Avenue near August Town, towards the roundabout outside the University gates near Irvine Hall, through the main gates of the University Hospital of the West Indies past the Mona School of Business, the University of the West Indies Ring Road along Gibraltar Road and ending at the University Sports Complex.The run will assist in raising funds for the UWI’s sports development and student scholarships and bursaries. The UWI’s sports programme, which is headed by Fitz Coleman, produced 2012 Olympic Games 110m hurdles bronze medallist Hansle Parchment, while Racers Track Club, headed by Mills, is based on the Mona campus.Among those who train there are Olympic Games 100m and 200m gold medalist Usain Bolt, silver medallist Yohan Blake, and 200m bronze medallist Warren Weir.
The Government yesterday announced it would stage a special celebratory event in honour of the country’s Olympians in October, during the Heroes weekend festivities, after the island’s historic 12-medal haul at the London Games a few weeks ago.Making the announcement however, Natalie Neita-Headley, minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, with responsibility for sport, was quick to underline that the event would not be on the scale of the massive road parade and pageantry that welcomed athletes home from the Beijing Olympics in 2008.Neita-Headley said the Government was this time around looking for more tangible ways to show the nation’s appreciation for the efforts of the athletes.The minister was speaking during a special reception at the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA), staged to welcome some of the island’s Olympic athletes back to the island.
Several of Jamaica’s Olympic stars, primarily from the Racers Track Club and including 100m and 200m silver medalist and 4x100m relay gold medalist Yohan ‘The Beast’ Blake; 200m bronze medallist Warren Weir; 110m hurdles bronze medallist Hansle Parchment; 4x100m relay gold medallist Kemar Bailey-Cole 4x400m relay bronze medallist Rosemarie Whyte; and United States-based triple jump finalist Kimberly Williams, were among the group.On stepping off the aircraft that brought them home, the athletes were met by a Jamaica Cadet Force guard of honor on the NMIA tarmac.”We wanted to have this so that we could extend to you a cordial welcome back home,” Neita-Headley told the group of athletes, which also included other Racers Track Club charges, Ristananna Tracey, Allodin Fothergill and Jason Young.
“There is going to be one special celebration, which will be on the weekend of the National Heroes Day. This year we are not doing any big floats, or motorcades and parade because we believe that you are coming back and are exhausted. But we also believe that this year, whatever it is that we do, we want to ensure that the promises we make to you, that on the night of the celebration, we can actually put it in your hands,” Neita-Headley added.Jamaica Olympic Association President Mike Fennell, who also shared in the event, expressed a great sense of pride in the country’s achievements in London and underlined to the athletes that they had raised the bar for future Olympic teams.
“It has taken a lot of hard work and sacrifice but this country must demonstrate how grateful it is for what our athletes have done yet again. It is not just London, it is not just Beijing, but even before and you have now blazed a new trail, set new standards and set the bar really high and we congratulate you,” Fennell said.Blake, who spoke on behalf of the athletes, was thankful for the gesture.
“On behalf of the athletes that are here and those who are not here like Usain (Bolt), who got in early, I want to say thank you for this and it really means a lot to us coming back to such a warm reception,” Blake said. “We are thankful for your interest and warm support because that is what we really need.”Women’s 100-metre gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce returned to the island over the weekend, while former 100-metre world-record holder Asafa Powell returned last month.The athletes were met outside the terminal building by a throng of supporters and students of several schools.A large contingent of University of West Indies students was on hand to welcome Parchment and Young, with the Olympic medalist also treated to a surprise party on the campus’ Taylor Hall later on.
Who knows whether it was a set of historical coincidences, the temperamental New York weather or just, at long last, it was finally Andy Murray‘s time. Whatever the case, Murray ended British tennis’ 76-year drought without a men’s Grand Slam tennis championship on Monday, a curse that didn’t have the hype of a Bambino but whose passing was greeted with sheer delight in the United Kingdom.Murray, in danger of becoming modern tennis’ nearly-man after four previous defeats in major finals, outlasted defending champion Novak Djokovic in an epic five-set match (7-6, 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2) at Flushing Meadows in conditions made unpredictable by the wind swirling around the Big Apple. Yet, while the 25-year-old from Scotland certainly adapted better than his Serbian opponent, those who believe in fate will surely be unable to resist alluding to a series of factors that made this victory seem as if it was written in the stars.
Ever since Murray emerged five years ago as a player who could regularly mix it with the best in the world, he has, in effect, been chasing Fred Perry. Perry, the enigmatic star of the courts in the 1930s when prize money was banned and players wore long pants, was the last Brit to win a Slam before turning pro and going on to found a sportswear empire.Perry won eight majors, the last being the 1936 U.S. Open. His first major title came at the U.S. Open three years earlier on Sept. 10, 1933.Murray’s first title also came on Sept. 10, at the U.S. Open, his on the heels of winning Olympic gold last month in London.To add further fuel to a coincidental fire, this year marks the Diamond Jubilee of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II. The last Brit to win a Grand Slam came when Virginia Wade won the Wimbledon women’s crown in 1977 – the year of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee (25 years as monarch).
It was the positive vibes created by Murray’s Olympic title, combined with the injury-enforced absence of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer‘s surprise quarterfinal exit, that led some to speculate that Murray may never get a better opportunity than this one.His four finals appearances prior to this one had yielded only a single set victory, the opener against Federer in this year’s Wimbledon final, and a strong start was vital here if he was to get a foothold against a favored Djokovic, who was nursing a 27-match winning streak in Slam matches held on hard courts.Murray broke in the first game but the advantage of service was somewhat negated by both the wind and the excellence of these two as returners. The Brit squeaked through a record tiebreaker – Murray won 12-10, the longest tiebreak in a men’s title match in the tournament’s history – to raise genuine hope back home, where millions surely tuned in deep into the night.
[Related: A fist-pumping Sean Connery celebrates Murray’s first grand slam win]Murray faces enormous pressure in Britain, what with the screaming tabloids and that historical barren run to cope with. He even had the eyes of two of Scotland’s most famous sons watching him in Flushing: James Bond legend Sean Connery and Manchester United soccer coach Sir Alex Ferguson.Seemingly unfazed by either the occasion or the attention, Murray began the second set brilliantly, storming to a 4-0 and 5-1 lead. But then Djokovic showed the sort of heights he has regularly attained over the past couple of years in becoming the most regular Slam champion during that time.He broke back once, then again to level it at 5-5, then started to make inroads into the Murray serve once more. Murray dug deep, though, holding his serve and then breaking Djokovic again courtesy of a surprising muffed smash from the world No.2.
It looked as if Murray’s relaxed approach was working. He prepared on Sunday night by watching “Wedding Crashers” and playing Scrabble, and showed none of the nerves from his other finals appearances.Djokovic was not going away, though, and after breaking early in the third was gratified to see his groundstrokes settling into their usual rhythm. He took the set 6-2 and, despite still trailing, had momentum firmly with him.A break to start the fourth tilted things into Djokovic’s favor again and with his serve now firing, the reigning champ was full of flair and confidence. Fist-pumping and firing up the crowd, Djokovic had no intention of surrendering meekly and pushed the contest into a deciding fifth set.
The fifth was a tussle but it was Murray’s tussle. He raced into a 3-0 lead and although Djokovic broke right back, it was Murray who had the greater will on this occasion as his destiny approached, nearly five hours after the match started.He broke for the third time in the set to lead 5-2, then closed it out with a flawless service game.At last, after all the waiting, all the disappointment and all that weight of history, the curse was lifted and a new champion was crowned. “It’s the best feeling for me,” Murray told the television audience. “After the tough loss at Wimbledon to have have won the Olympics and now here is amazing.“I got asked about it a lot, most weeks to be honest, why I hadn’t won a grand slam,” he continued. “Was it a mental thing? Was it to my tennis? It was probably a combination of a few things. I was competing against great, great players as well. I doubted it a little bit, but so happy that I managed to get through.”
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Triple world record-holder Usain Bolt will end his season at tomorrow’s Diamond League (DL) meet in Brussels where 16 other Jamaicans are down to compete Bolt will contest the 100m where he will likely take the Diamond as the Olympic champion is tied on eight points with American Tyson Gay, who will not run Nesta Carter, Nickel Ashmeade, Kemar Bailey Cole and Kenroy Anderson are the other Jamaicans who will contest the shorter sprint.Kaliese Spencer should also claim her second DL title in the 400m hurdles as she leads the event with 16 points, nine ahead of Melaine Walker, who will also run. The two will be joined by former training partner Ristananna Tracey.
The men’s 110m hurdles will see all three Olympic medalists clash again as Hansle Parchment attempts to overturn the two dominant Americans, Aries Merritt and Jason Richardson.The men’s 200m could see another Jamaican sweep as Olympic medalists Yohan Blake and Warren Weir line up alongside training partner Jason Young, who did not make the Olympic team, but has finished ahead of bronze medalist Weir twice since London.Anneisha McLaughlin and Samantha Henry-Robinson will go in the women’s 200m.Triple jumper Kimberly Williams will compete in her pet event, ranked third in the DL standings.Allodin Fothergill and Rusheen McDonald will run against the Olympic silver and bronze medalists, Dominican Republic’s Luguelin Santos and Lalonde Gordon of Trinidad and Tobago, in the men’s 400m.
After conquering the Olympic track in London by retaining his sprinting titles in fine style,Usain Bolt will be changing his sporting interests, for a day anyway.Bolt, a life-long fan of English Premier League club, Manchester United could finally get the chance to suit up for his favorite club as he may play for the 19-time English champions in a charity match against a team of legends representing world-renowned Spanish club, Real Madrid. According to English newspaper, the Daily Mail, Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson plans to invite Bolt to play in the annual charity match after the world-record holding sprinter publicly pleaded to earn a chance to play for his favorite club.Ferguson told Manchester United’s magazine,Inside United that he’s intrigued about the possibility of giving the Jamaican track legend a run with the ‘Red Devils.’“Usain’s a character and a big United fan…it’s interesting he says he’d like to play in a charity game. It could be brilliant, and next year when we play Real Madrid’s Legends again there could be opportunities to bring him up and see how he does,” Ferguson said.
Bolt recently appeared at Manchester United’s 3-2 victory at Old Trafford against Fulham in which he met with players and was presented a team jersey with his name and the number, 9.63 which represents the time Bolt ran when he successfully defended his 100m crown at London 2012.Ferguson praised Bolt’s achievements at the Olympics, even revealing that he bet on the track megastar to retain his titles.“I must thank him because that was my biggest bet,” he said.“Bolt was 4/5 to win each of them, the 100m and 200m, a week before the tournament started. It was a brilliant bet. I couldn’t believe it…He’s the fastest man in the world and the others would have to have taken half a second off their running to beat him.”
The 32-year-old set a new Regional record with his throw of 21.84m in the event ahead of Iran’s Jokar Abdolreza who was second in 20.72m. Mexico’s Mauro Maximo de Jesus places third in 20.14m.
The other Jamaicans down to compete are Tanto Campbell in the men’s Discus F54/55/56 tomorrow and Sylvia Grant in the women’s Javelin on Thursday.
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