PM Says Athletes Performance in Moscow Beyond Expectations

From China, where Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller is now on an official visit and with the Jamaican athletes returning home from the 14th IAAF World Championships in Moscow, Russia, the Prime Minister has issued the following congratulatory message:

“I wish to extend to the entire team, the coaches and management staff, on behalf of a most grateful nation, my heartiest congratulations on a performance which went beyond our wildest expectations.

Let us not forget that when the team departed Jamaica the discussion, at home and abroad, largely centered around the unfortunate and regrettable developments involving some of our senior athletes.

Despite such developments the Jamaican team was once again able to stamp its authority as the sprint capital of the world at the World Championships, indicating the fierce determination, competitive spirit and never say die attitude of our people.

As I commend the entire team for their proud and commendable representation of Jamaica at these Championships, I wish, without taking away from the contribution of all the athletes, to single out the superhuman efforts of Usain Bolt, Shelly- Ann Fraser-Pryce and the young Javon Francis.

Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce between them were largely responsible for Jamaica’s six gold medals. In both the male and female sprint categories they were the performers at the Championships, once again demonstrating that Jamaica has the capacity and capability to outperform larger and more powerful countries at this level.

From a Jamaican perspective, it would be difficult not to rank Javon Francis’ unbelievable 400m run at the Championships, with that of some of the Jamaican greats, in whose footsteps he now follows.

Let us as a people continue to give all the necessary support to our athletes and use their performances as a motivation in our personal lives. As they donned the black, green and gold colours on the track at the World Championships it was clear that they were not only about personal success, but also about representing their country proudly and passionately.

As a Government, we will continue to play our part in ensuring that, in keeping with available resources, track and field is given the attention and support it deserves, as we pursue policies and programmes  to further develop the country’s rich sport programme”.