Jamaican athletics moving forward
August 23, 2009 by Marguerite Orane
Filed under Featured Posts, Observe
I wrote this last year after Jamaica’s performance in the Beijing Olympics. I am repeating it, after Jamaica’s performance in the Berlin World Championships. The calls for “government to do this and government to do that” are getting louder – I take a different view, as I observe something really interesting. Read on ….
Much will be written and spoken over the next few days, weeks and months about Jamaica’s prowess in track. We see this phenomenon of sustained world domination of the sprint events by Jamaican athletes and wonder “How does a poor country of just 2.7 million people, where schools, hospitals and other infrastructure are falling apart, where unemployment is high and economic growth low – how does this country called Jamaica CONSISTENTLY produce world class performances in track?
All sorts of theories are posited – the ackee, Trelawney yam, our water, a gene (recently discovered – yes, there seems to be a genetic foundation for our dominance). What occurs to me is that Jamaica’s athletics performance has something in common with another area in which we are world class – music! There is no doubt that our music is heard and played everywhere on this globe; our musicians travel relentlessly, and wherever you go, everyone loves Bob Marley. I was reminded of this recently by the check-in clerk at our hotel in Johannesburg who stated in no uncertain terms “Bob Marley is a legend in South Africa”.
I am not going to attempt a fulsome analysis of why Jamaican music and athletics is so successful – that would be my Phd thesis if I ever decided to pursue such a degree. What I do observe is something that Jamaican music and athletics have in common – they have developed with minimal government intervention or direction. Why do I consider this important? What this has meant is that resources, human and otherwise, have been able to move quickly to where the opportunities are. It has meant that our musicians and athletes have been able to be nimble and quick in terms of scoping out and taking advantage of opportunities. It has meant an absence of bureaucracy, lengthy analysis and convoluted decision-making. Decisions are made by the individual doers – those who really know, participate and have something at stake, and not by public officials or politicians who at best are informed by studies, reports and fact finding missions.
Let us not lose this lesson. It is critical, now more than ever, as the question we Jamaicans MUST ask ourselves is: “If we can be this great in athletics and music, why can’t we be great at everything else?” A critical part of this discussion MUST be the role of government. Based on our experience with our world beaters, it is my belief that this role should be as minimal as possible.
