Dear Editor,
With 2014 being a year where there is no major event on the track & field calendar, such as the Olympic Games or the World Outdoor Championships, many Jamaican track & field fans and enthusiasts are not fully interested in the current performances of the country's athletes. This is also the year when the football World Cup, already completed, took the centre stage of sporting competitions. Many of us, including myself, must admit we have taken a break from the track & field diet.
The Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow, Scotland, are open only to Commonwealth countries and so does not feature all of the world's best athletes in the various disciplines. Countries such as the United States, Russia, as well as other top European countries and Cuba are absent from this competition. This makes it less attractive to sporting fans worldwide.
This means that those athletes who may not be among the world's best or those either going through development, or just launching out on the international scene can use the games as an opportunity to shine. I say this with the point of focus on our country's sportsmen and women especially in track & field.
I commend those athletes who participated at the National Championships and were selected. I now implore them to try and perform at their best, as this is a tremendous chance to win medals at a global event. They will also get the moral boost to excel at the bigger world events.
These games, as I can remember, gave athletes such as Kim Collins of St Kitts & Nevis and Cathy Freeman of Australia a breakthrough in their careers. Collins won his first major gold in the 100m at the 2002 Games and did the same at the World Outdoor Championships a year later. Freeman won the 400m in 1994 and went on to win individual gold at both the World Outdoor Championships and Olympics. Asafa Powell won his first individual gold at a major event in the 100m at the edition held in Melbourne, Australia, eight years ago.
I must express my pleasure at the interest of our top athletes such as Usain Bolt, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Veronica Campbell Brown, and Yohan Blake to compete. With the exception of Bolt, who runs in the sprint relay only — much to my regret — the others have a chance to add another individual title to their careers.
These games are important as any other event and provide the opportunity to add to individual achievements and a stepping stone to worldwide success.
Loystan L Clarke
clarke_mis@yahoo.com
Athletes should use Commonwealth Games as stepping stone
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With 2014 being a year where there is no major event on the track & field calendar, such as the Olympic Games or the World Outdoor Championships, many Jamaican track & field fans and enthusiasts are not fully interested in the current performances of the country's athletes. This is also the year when the football World Cup, already completed, took the centre stage of sporting competitions. Many of us, including myself, must admit we have taken a break from the track & field diet.
The Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow, Scotland, are open only to Commonwealth countries and so does not feature all of the world's best athletes in the various disciplines. Countries such as the United States, Russia, as well as other top European countries and Cuba are absent from this competition. This makes it less attractive to sporting fans worldwide.
This means that those athletes who may not be among the world's best or those either going through development, or just launching out on the international scene can use the games as an opportunity to shine. I say this with the point of focus on our country's sportsmen and women especially in track & field.
I commend those athletes who participated at the National Championships and were selected. I now implore them to try and perform at their best, as this is a tremendous chance to win medals at a global event. They will also get the moral boost to excel at the bigger world events.
These games, as I can remember, gave athletes such as Kim Collins of St Kitts & Nevis and Cathy Freeman of Australia a breakthrough in their careers. Collins won his first major gold in the 100m at the 2002 Games and did the same at the World Outdoor Championships a year later. Freeman won the 400m in 1994 and went on to win individual gold at both the World Outdoor Championships and Olympics. Asafa Powell won his first individual gold at a major event in the 100m at the edition held in Melbourne, Australia, eight years ago.
I must express my pleasure at the interest of our top athletes such as Usain Bolt, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Veronica Campbell Brown, and Yohan Blake to compete. With the exception of Bolt, who runs in the sprint relay only — much to my regret — the others have a chance to add another individual title to their careers.
These games are important as any other event and provide the opportunity to add to individual achievements and a stepping stone to worldwide success.
Loystan L Clarke
clarke_mis@yahoo.com
Athletes should use Commonwealth Games as stepping stone
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