Track giants Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell ready for psychological warfare

Entertainer: Usain Bolt poses in front of the Colosseum in Rome ahead of the Diamond League meeting Photo: REUTERS

Steve Cram: track giants Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell ready for psychological warfare in Rome

The Telegraph - UK |By Steve Cram |7:00AM BST 31 May 2012


In Olympic year everything changes: even the bread and butter takes on a different flavour.

Take Thursday night's Diamond League meeting in Rome. The whole point of the Diamond League was to create juicy, television-friendly head-to-heads between the big guys. But in an Olympic year, the big guys have to be careful.

Normally they’d go to a meet like Rome thinking: yeah, I’ll go for the prize money and if I don’t get it, well there’s always next month. But with only a few weeks to go before London, you can’t accept coming third or fourth, you can’t afford to give your opponents the confidence boost of beating you.

Then again, of course, if you don’t show up your rivals are thinking: hold up, he’s scared of me.

Kenenisa Bekele is a prime example of the conundrum these kind of meets throw up. He was meant to be going to Eugene to race Mo Farah. Now he’s not. If you’re Mo you thinking: he doesn’t want to race me yet; he’s running scared. What a boost that will be to his preparations.

In Rome, though, enough of the big guns will be firing for us to get a decent idea of where their preparations are. Dai Greene, for instance. For me his attendance is a big sign of his confidence. Especially as this is his first significant outing of the season. Most British athletes would have had a couple of lesser runs first.

Now he’s world champion, however, Dai operates at the very top; frankly there’s no point in him running in Loughborough.

Sure, he’s taking a risk; if he doesn’t run well, there’s not that many weeks until Games. But he is a very level-headed guy. He’ll be confident he can start well, blast everyone away, then allow himself the chance to ease off.

Asafa Powel

And talking of relaxed, Usain Bolt will be there, running against Asafa Powell. Will there be early shots in psychological warfare that is the 100 metres? I’m not so sure Bolt needs to put one over on Powell. For me, in the big races Powell always looks defeated.

He can race fast, he has all the physical equipment, but when he comes up against Bolt, Tyson Gay or Justin Gatlin, something doesn’t quite click.

The bottom line is he’s not a great competitor. It’s about what’s between his ears; he’s a lovely looking runner who tightens up in competition.

As for Bolt himself, well he just had the worst run of his professional life the other day in Ostrava. But he has always saved his best for the big occasion.

From juniors, his opponents have always known when the chips are down he’ll win. Yes, he had a false start at the World Championships in Daegu, but he’s so very good at peaking at the right time, mentally and physically. What happens this weekend is no indication of what will happen in August.

Among the women, I’ll be intrigued to see how Caster Semenya runs. Undoubtedly she has struggled with all the attention that came her way after her 800m win in the worlds in Berlin in 2009, when she went from being an unknown country kid thinking she was just there to run, into a maelstrom. It hit her hard.

She effectively was obliged to take a year out to regroup and it was a bit much to expect her to be super fast on her return.

The South Africans have an early season in March and April and she did OK, looked pretty good. But I thought she looked a bit heavy.

Because of her physiology, because of how masculine she is, if she keeps putting muscle on, she’ll just bulk up and not get faster. Her coach has to be careful. She reminds me a bit of Tom McKean, he was a muscly 800m runner and frankly he was carrying that much he couldn’t run more than 820 metres.

Plus all four British relay teams will be in action in Rome, trying to get the baton round and register a time to qualify for the Games. I don’t think we should read too much into who lines up. I suspect Dwain Chambers will be in there in the men's 4 x 100.

There’s nothing in his performances that suggest he should be; in Ostrava, where Bolt appeared to be going backwards, Chambers was still a mile behind. But he’s always good box office so they’ll probably put him in.

There has been a lot of money spent on preparing for relays, but I haven’t seen lots of evidence of material benefit. I accept there’s an art to it.

But, like penalty taking, getting the baton round is very different in practice than in competition. Obviously in terms of flat out speed we’re nowhere near Jamaica or the US in combined individual times. But it is solely about the baton.

Predicting what happens in the relay is like trying to predict what will happen at the end of next season’s Premier League: silly. I think we have a chance to do OK come August. But then, I always think Sunderland are going to do OK.

DIGICEL RESPONDS TO PROPOSED TELECOMMUNICATIONS TAX MEASURES

News Release from Digicel
Contact: Jacqueline Burrell-Clarke

Tuesday, May 29, 2012, Kingston, Jamaica: Digicel today expressed strong opposition to Minister Phillips' proposed telecoms tax measures that were unveiled in the Government's budget presentation last week as they will have a detrimental impact not only on the telecommunications industry, but on the wider Jamaican economy.  
 
The benefits Jamaica has seen from the vibrant telecoms sector include inward investment, increased innovation, healthy competition, job creation, business opportunities, better standard of education and many more socioeconomic benefits - all of which contribute to economic growth.
 
Mark Linehan, CEO, Digicel Jamaica, stated that, "Digicel is strongly urging the Government to reconsider the imposition of these excessive taxes on the telecoms sector as these proposed tax measures will have a grossly negative impact on the economy. While these punitive taxes on the telecoms industry may assist the Government's budget shortfall in the short term, ultimately it will be detrimental to the development of Jamaica in the medium to long run. The imposition of these taxes will severely restrict further investment in Jamaica by the operators and their ability to assist in the development of the economy, ultimately harming businesses and consumers. This Government's proposed approach does not foster further development of the telecoms industry. The Government should rely on the enabling power of telecommunications to drive economic growth rather than attempting to slow it down."
 
Digicel also says the imposition of these taxes must also be considered in the context of the existing 25% GCT rate applied to the industry, and the fact that this critical sector will continue to be taxed at the highest corporate tax rate (33.3%), which already makes telecommunications one of the most tax burdened industries in the country.  
 
The impact of these new taxes will also be felt in terms of limiting how broadband access and internet penetration can be improved in Jamaica.  This is a critical consideration given that studies have indicated that for every 10% increase in telecoms and broadband penetration there is a 1.3% boost to GDP, which directly translates into a 1.5% increase in a country's labour productivity. Increased taxation in the telecoms sector will reduce the rate of telecoms and broadband penetration, which will hinder GDP growth and job creation.
"In the current economic climate, the Government needs to foster, not hinder, economic growth. We are calling on the Minister to conduct an urgent review of the proposed tax measures, as in their current form they will have the effect of strangling economic growth and hampering future development in Jamaica", closed Mark Linehan.

ENDS

Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Digicel

Jamaican workers - best in the world!

Corporate bosses testify: Jamaican workers are the best!
Jamaica Gleaner | Published: Friday | May 25, 2012

National Baking Chairman Butch Hendrickson

In a recent Gleaner Editor's Forum, Gary 'Butch' Hendrickson, CEO, Continental Baking Company, gave credit to his "remarkable team of employees who have, over the years, performed exceptionally well on the job". He said there was no better worker anywhere in the world than a truly hardworking Jamaican worker.

The Gleaner caught up with some other corporate bosses to see if they shared his view. Denis O'Brien, head of Digicel, shared his views.

Denis O'Brien (centre) and Digicel Group CEO Colm Delves (right) with the Digicel EMBA class of 2011

Expressing the wish that the Jamaican DNA was imprinted in workers all over the world, O'Brien expressed pride in Digicel being a Jamaican company that has flourished and been successful on the world-wide stage. "And much of that success is attributable to our fantastic Jamaican staff. I would like to thank them all for their commitment and hard work.

"Our fantastic, tenacious, and hard-working Jamaican managers are now scattered far and wide throughout the world, and their talents have made a massive impact on our operations," he said.

Investing in natural talent

"Our ethos is to create a different, more responsible form of capitalism. All of our wonderful 5,500 staff, wherever they may be across the globe, are exceptional and have worked with us to achieve our goals," the Digicel boss noted.

Adam Stewart - Group CEO, Sandals

Adam Stewart of the Sandals Resorts International and ATL Group says the Jamaican labour pool is laden with raw talent and is committed to being better. They are virtually unmatched in the world. "We say hire the attitude and teach the skill," he added, noting that what First-World countries have over Jamaica is a more skilled labour pool because of their better educational opportunities. "But if Jamaican companies are prepared to invest in training, a typical Jamaican worker is almost like putty that can be moulded into the the best worker anywhere in the world.

"You can't worry about the challenges. You have to make your worker into what you desire, and our labour pool is amazing. We just have to commit to training them," Stewart said.

Director of Elections, Orette Fisher

Orrette Fisher, director of elections, Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ):

"I sincerely value the exemplary level of dedication and commitment displayed by the staff at the Electoral Office. Our team has as its main focus the delivery of a fair election acceptable to all stakeholders. They are always willing to go above and beyond the call of duty; willing to work any time, any hour, and anywhere they are assigned, even overnight if necessary," Fisher said.

He noted that particularly during an election period, working at the EOJ requires enormous sacrifices from staff. It demands time away from their families, going into areas that persons would normally avoid, sometimes even working 36 to 48-hour shifts to meet a deadline. In spite of these sacrifices, the EOJ staff remains committed to getting the job done.

Citing the the last parliamentary elections held right after the Christmas break, he said several staff members spent the entire holidays, including Christmas Day and Boxing Day (some working 36-hour shifts), preparing and dispatching final electoral materials.

"But what really impresses me is that even during times of immense pressure, they have the remarkable ability to remain upbeat and positive, rarely complaining, while displaying a commendable spirit of teamwork."

Ilsa DuVerney - Alpha Academy Woman of Excellence

The Alpha Academy Alumnae Association presented their 2012 Woman of Excellence Award to human resource guru Ilsa DuVerney last Friday. Ilsa founded the Jamaica Training and Development Association (HRMJ) 30 years ago, the first of its kind in the Caribbean.

She also founded the Jamaica Customer Service Association and pioneered the Customer Service International Certification Programme. She has mentored, trained and developed many managers, leaders, trainers and facilitators as well as employees in Jamaica and the Caribbean.

Ilsa has assisted in countless outreach activities, particularly for her beloved alma mater. Congratulations, wonderful Ilsa!

Big step to 25% less NCD deaths

Message from:
Prof. Trevor A. Hassell
Chairman, Healthy Caribbean Coalition
Special Envoy for NCDs

Dear Members of the NCD Alliance Network,

We did it.

One week ago, there seemed little hope of convincing the world's governments to agree to reducing preventable deaths from NCDs by 25% by the year 2025.  Many said we would have to wait until next year. Some countries told us it was too hard to get agreement on such a concrete goal from all 193 UN Member States.

Thanks to the initiative of Jamaica and Samoa, and to the leadership of the United States, Barbados, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Norway, Russian Federation, Thailand and Switzerland, Member States gave hope to millions of people living with NCDs on Thursday evening by adopting the "25 by 25" target at the 65th World Health Assembly, with the remaining targets to be agreed at a formal Member State consultation before the end of October. We expect the full resolution to be formally adopted on Saturday morning at the Assembly.

This success is the outcome of months of work, starting last year with our call for this goal to be included in the UN Summit commitments, and maintaining the pressure through the subsequent rounds of consultation on the targets. Your efforts in the lead up to the WHA helped make the way for this decision, and the undaunted efforts of the NCD advocates in Geneva this week to keep pushing right to the last moment played a critical part.

The key decisions are:

to adopt a global target of a 25% reduction in premature mortality from non communicable diseases by 2025;
express strong support for additional work aimed at reaching consensus on targets relating to the four main risk factors, namely tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diet, and physical inactivity;
note wide support expressed by Member States and other stakeholders around global voluntary targets considered so far including those relating to raised blood pressure, tobacco, salt/sodium and physical inactivity;

note support from among Member States and other stakeholders for the development of targets relating to obesity, fat intake, alcohol, cholesterol and health system responses such as availability of essential medicines for non communicable diseases.

We'll be sending more feedback from WHA early next week, but for now, let's celebrate this great victory and the knowledge that our collective effort has set the foundation for renewed national and global action to reduce preventable NCD deaths and save millions of lives.

With many thanks,

The NCD Alliance

Prof. Trevor A. Hassell
Chairman, Healthy Caribbean Coalition
Special Envoy for NCDs
Woodside, Bay Street
St. Michael, Barbados.

Tel. 246 429 5455/246 266 2905.

www.healthycaribbean.org.

www.facebook.com/getthemessage
www.twitter.com/healthcaribbean

Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Digicel

Winston Chung receives highest FIFA Honour - Order of Merit

Photo courtesy CONCACAF.com.
CONCACAF.com
Confederation of North, Central American & Caribbean Association Football
May 25, 2012

BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Winston Chung received the FIFA Order of Merit on Thursday at the opening ceremony of the 62nd FIFA Congress at the Budapest Congress and World Trade Centre.The Jamaican-born Chung, whose gifts to football were felt far beyond his native country, was presented the award by CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb.

The Order of Merit is FIFA's highest honor and is given to those who have made profound contributions to the sport.

Though Chung was well-known for his ability to instruct and motivate footballers, he also possessed a unique gift that enabled him to identify problems in the community, create programs that garnered wide-spread support and implement meaningful solutions.

To that end, in 1964, Chung founded the Santos Football Club in Jamaica.There, he gave opportunities to underprivileged inner-city players, who generally would not have gained exposure to organized club football on the island.Chung went on to win titles at four different levels of Jamaican league football, coaching the club to a place in the 1970 CONCACAF Champions Cup.

After leaving Santos, Chung moved on to Clarendon College, where he formed one of Jamaica's greatest-ever schoolboy teams.

As his reputation grew in Jamaica, Chung's talents were being tapped throughout the CONCACAF region. In the United States, he worked with the American Youth Soccer Organization, where he was responsible for licensing coaches, organizing clinics, seminars and workshops.

In 1989, Chung became Technical Director for the Cayman Islands Football Association, training all of the islands' national teams.

He returned home in 1991 and was the Jamaican Football Federation's technical director for two years.In his first year back, Jamaica's national team won the Caribbean Cup.

Chung returned to the Cayman Islands in 1996 as technical director of Scholars Sports Club.Two years later, he went to the Academy Sports Club, where his youth sides won numerous national titles.

Since the FIFA Order of Merit was first awarded in 18984, Chung is the 16th person from CONCACAF to be a recipient.

Usain wins but fails to shine

Tough day at the office: Bolt could only manage 10.04 seconds on Friday night

By Sportsmail Reporter | Daily Mail | http://www.dailymail.co.uk

PUBLISHED: 19:23 GMT, 25 May 2012 | UPDATED: 19:34 GMT, 25 May 2012

Usain Bolt eased to victory in Ostrava on Friday night, but his post-race reaction was somewhat unusual.

The fastest man of all-time got off to a poor start in the 100 metres, but sharpened up over the closing 30m, recording a time of 10.04 seconds.

He grimaced a stride out from the line, though, and went to his knees after finishing, removing both of his shoes instantly and walking away less than comfortably. But if he was in pain he did his best not to show it, high-fiving the crowd before telling them he would be back next year.

Flying the flag: The Jamaican sprinter vowed to return next year

There were no such celebrations for Great Britain's Dwain Chambers. Eligible to compete at London 2012 after a change to the rulings relating to doping offenders, the 34-year-old was a distant fifth in 10.28 - missing both the A and B Olympic qualification standards.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-2150101/Usain-Bolt-wins-Ostrava-Dwain-Chambers-misses-Olympic-qualifying-time.html#ixzz1vumXT4cj

VCB Triumphant in Ostrava!

Jamaica's Veronica Campbell-Brown reacts after winning the Women's 200m race at the Golden Spike Athletic meeting in Ostrava, Czech Republic, Friday, May 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

News on tax changes

Tax changes – from Gleaner report

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/latest/article.php?id=37406

 

GCT reduced by 1% to 16.5% now charged on:

All fresh food except for chicken

Saltfish, milk, milk-based and milk substitutes except for baby formula

Printed material (book industry not happy)

 

from June 1 threshold for GCT on electricity increased from 200 Kilowatt Hours to 300 Kilowatt Hours. Solar panels now tax-free

 

Tax free items include:

Adult diapers and sanitary napkins

 

Special consumption tax of $9.50 added to each litre of alcoholic beverage

 

Hotel industry:

Removal of all tax-free expenses on commission and transportation except for gratuities

 

Corporate income tax cut to 25% but 33% remains for financial institutions as well as for telephone companies

 

For all registered companies - a flat fee of $60,000 per year

 

Motor vehicles:

50% increase on license plates, licensing and registration

 

Increase in income tax threshold:

From $441,168 to $505,312

 

Reported in article by Damion Mitchell

Bolt is a hit with Czech kids!

From the Gleaner 'Something Extra' | 24 May 2012
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20120524/ent/ent4.html

Jamaica's sprinter Usain Bolt poses with children in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on Wednesday. Ostrava held a Golden Spike Athletics meeting on Friday.

Bolt and the kids in Ostrava, Czech Republic, having a good time.

Rev Sam Vassell for Mount Vernon, New York

From

Jennifer P. Lumley,

Author & Freelance Writer

 

A TREASURY OF PRAYERS (soft cover & 3 set CD)

www.Jenuinpoetry.com
(914) 663-5161; (347) 768-4297; (876) 702-4162  

 

Francis Tiafoe - 14 y-o rising tennis star

Photo - Matt Roth for The New York Times

14-year-old Tiafoe training at the Tennis Center at College Park, Md. In January he won the boys' singles title at an international tournament in Bolton, England.

NY Times - 23 May 2012 - Growing Up With a Home Advantage

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — An Aston Martin, a Bentley and a Jaguar are among the cars parked at the Tennis Center at College Park. Through the door of the private club one will find luxury locker rooms, 30 courts, a health club and an office, about 120 feet square with one window, that was once a makeshift apartment the janitor called home.

From 1999 to 2010, its tenants were three members of the Tiafoe family: Constant and his twin boys, Francis and Franklin.

While Tiafoe, the center’s maintenance man, made his rounds, tending to the courts and emptying the trash bins, Francis would follow, occasionally drifting away to hit a few balls. The costs of elite tennis are prohibitive for many parents — the full-time junior program here is $27,500 a year — but Francis had ready and free access to the sport and some of the best coaches because of his father’s job.

From that unusual arrangement, a young tennis star was born. Today, Francis Tiafoe, 14, is the nation’s top-ranked boys player in his age group.

“It could be argued that Francis is the luckiest kid in the world,” Ray Benton, the tennis center’s chief executive, said. “It was pure serendipity. He didn’t pick tennis; tennis picked him.”

When the French Open begins May 27, analysts and fans will lament the state of men’s tennis in the United States. John Isner is the top-ranked American at No. 10, and he is hardly considered a formidable threat to win a Grand Slam tournament. The last American man to win a major was Andy Roddick, at the 2003 United States Open.

If Francis continues his ascent, he could be the country’s next best hope in the sport — a notion that would have been inconceivable to his parents when they immigrated from Sierra Leone in the early 1990s.

Tiafoe and his wife, Alphina, had twin boys in 1998, and two years later he took a job on the construction crew that was building the tennis facility.

“I worked harder than everybody else as I was the only black guy on the crew,” he said.

When the club was completed, Tiafoe was hired to do maintenance. Responsible for opening and closing the center, and everything in between that did not directly involve tennis, he often slept only three hours a night. His starting salary was $21,000 a year. When the staff told him he could stay in the spare office, he made it a home for him and the boys, who stayed at least five days a week. The rest of the time the children stayed with Alphina, who lived with relatives in a one-bedroom apartment in nearby Hyattsville.

“We didn’t have a certificate of occupancy, so I was really nervous about telling people he lived in a back room,” Benton said.

Alphina said she liked the arrangement because the center was a safe haven from her blighted neighborhood.

At first, no one at the center paid much attention to the boys. But the boys, especially Francis, paid attention to the action on the courts. Frank Salazar, one of the coaches, said that from the time Francis was 4, “he had a tennis racket in his hands.” For years, Francis would watch instructors give lessons to older boys.

“When we would get done training the bigger boys, he would roll the basket out there and try to serve by himself or play some mini-tennis with whoever had a few minutes,” Salazar said.

“Suddenly he started to get really good. He’s probably watched more tennis than all the kids here combined.”

When Francis was 8, Mikhail Kouznetsov was hired to coach at the club’s Junior Tennis Champions Center. He became a second father of sorts to the Tiafoe children. Alphina called him “a godsend and a miracle.”

“I would come in early, around 5, 6 a.m., and wake the boys up to play and feed them balls or whatever,” Kouznetsov said. “Me and my wife loved them, so we helped feed them, buy them shoes and when we needed to, we drove Francis to tournaments and paid his entrance fees out of our own pockets.”

Constant Tiafoe left his maintenance job at the center in 2010 and is unemployed. The family now lives in the apartment in Hyattsville.

But the boys remain immersed in tennis almost exclusively. Francis said he had no friends outside the center. His girlfriend, he said, is also a world-class player there.

The Tiafoe boys’ development was not always smooth. Franklin also exhibits impressive skills on the court, along with some petulance.

“You would know Franklin is playing because all you would hear is curse words ringing from somewhere in the courts,” said Ken Brody, who founded the Junior Tennis Champions Center in 1999. “Roger Federer was the quintessential hothead when he was a junior. They grow out of it.”

Schoolwork can be a struggle for Francis, and the fitness regimen and practice drills sometimes flustered him.

“Iʼd give him a C in gym glass,” said Frank Costello, the senior director of fitness. “There’s good days and bad days.”

But Francis’ results on the court have been so promising that shortcomings may be easy to dismiss. In January he won the boys’ singles title at an international tournament in Bolton, England. A week later, he won Les Petits As, a prestigious tournament in Tarbes, France, which attracts many of the world’s best young players.

He now has endorsement deals with Adidas and Wilson.

“I knew I was going to play pro tennis when I was 12,” Francis said.

This Friday! Mobile Apps Workshop

DIGITAL JAM 2.0
   The future of work is online
 
Apps Competition Reminder and Updates
 
Coming Friday  !!
 
MOBILE APPS DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP #2
 
Friday May 25th, 2012 to Tuesday May 29th

 JOHN HENRY THOMPSON returns to provide participants with hands-on specialized training.

This 2nd in a series of Digital Jam 2.0 Mobile Applications Development Workshops series will help young developers build effective native mobile applications (e.g.  for the iPhone and Android  or Blackberry phones) using cross-platform tools that deliver greater flexibility and speed to market.

Creative artist and designers are especially welcome.
The workshop seeks to establish the partnerships between creative/art practitioners and engineering/programming specialist as needed to deliver uniquely exciting offerings.

APPROACH

The workshop approach will be open and dynamic, with the activities of each day depending on the progress made on the previous day and the needs of the participants. After the first day of team and individual assessments, sessions will be structured to meet the differing needs of beginning, intermediate and advanced developers.
 
Participants who attended Workshop #I will graduate to more advanced series of exercises. One will not need to attend all sessions for the workshop to meet your needs.

REGISTER FOR WORKSHOP ONLINE
Please provide IMPORTANT REGISTRATION INFORMATION by filling out the REGISTRATION FORM on the Digital Jam 2.0 App Community Forum MAIN tab to help us structure the
workshop to best meet your needs.

 www.digijam.biz 
 
BRING A LAPTOP to the workshop if you have one.
 
Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Digicel

Jamaica wins gold at Chelsea Flower Show

The Gleaner | Tuesday May 22, 2012 | 1:43 pm

Her Majesty the Queen greets Mrs Lucille Levene of the Jamaica Horticultural Society - UK VOICE/Photograph.

Caribbean Florist group the Jamaica Horticultural Society was awarded Gold for Plant of the Year at the Royal Horticultural Chelsea Show yesterday.

The team, who were greeted by the Her Majesty the Queen at the special event, confessed they had hopes of taking gold at the annual event this year, after winning eleven Silver Gilts Awards over the past 16 years.

Team leader Lucille Levene said: “Each year we came to Chelsea we try our best in spite of the challenges, but we love Jamaica and all the beautiful flowers it has to offer."

"As part of Jamaica’s 50th Independence we really worked hard to make the trip to London, mostly because we need to show even our flowers have 'bolt'," she added.

Award-winning JHS is made up of volunteers from the Caribbean island.

The floristry exhibition aims to encourage amateur gardeners of all levels to try to accomplish similar displays in their own gardens and will be open to the public from May 22 to 26.

editorial@gleanerjm.com

Now we have a Usain Bolt watch!

The Hublot King Power Usain Bolt

by Anthony DeMarco, Contributor | Forbes

Usain “Lightning” Bolt, the world’s fastest man, has a Swiss watch named in honor of him and featuring his image. The Hublot King Power Usain Bolt was developed in close consultation with the three-time Olympic champion and Swiss luxury watch brand ambassador.

“It’s perfectly natural to be associated with the fastest man, not just on the planet, but the fastest since the Big Bang,” said Jean-Claude Biver, Hublot chairman.

The 25-year-old Jamaican sprinter prepares to defend his titles and world records in the 100, 200 and 4-x-100 meter races at the London Olympics (July 27 – August 12).Bolt’s silhouette pose in an anthracite grey on a black background is located at 9 o’clock in the center of the movement’s small seconds counter. The chronograph movement features a central 60-second hand and a 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock. A 12-hour chronograph counter sits at 6 o’clock and is decorated with a touch of green in a nod to the colors on the Jamaican flag. A date window at 4:30 completes the design.

The 48 mm-diameter watch, in micro-blasted ceramic, is predominantly black, with gold—Bolt’s personal color and that of his lucky running shoes. The strap is made from exactly the same gold-colored synthetic leather as his shoes. This is stitched onto Hublot’s signature black rubber strap.

Follow me on my Jewelry News Network blog, on my Jewelry News Network facebook page, and on Twitter. You also can subscribe to my posts on Facebook.

Vogue Magazine - Usain Bolt and Joan Smalls

Usain Bolt and Joan Smalls:
Cut to the Chase

http://www.vogue.com/magazine/article/usain-bolt-and-joan-smalls-cut-to-the-chase/

by Robert Sullivan | photographed by Patrick Demarchelier

Model Joan Smalls trails the World's fastest sprinter, Usain Bolt, as a documentary crew tracks his every stride.

To hear him tell it, Usain Bolt wins the race at the beginning, long before he crosses the finish line. When the starting gun fires, the fastest man in the world is, believe it or not, at a sort of disadvantage, as close as he will come in any given 100-meter race to being a mortal, albeit a mortal in a field of superhumans. Because the 25-year-old champion is so tall—six feet five—he has a slower start than the typical sprinter; the race is his to lose in the first 40 meters.

You saw it happen over and over in 2007, and then again in 2008, the year he completely revised the way the world thinks about the 100-meter dash. At the gun, Bolt seems to almost lumber from the starting blocks; quicker legs scurry around him. In the first four steps, he is perhaps his most tactically concentrated. "I have to work so hard to get everything right," he was telling me the other day, relaxing after a long winter of pre-London strength training, at home in Kingston, Jamaica. "You've got to get up to top speed. It takes time 'cause I'm taller."

But then, as those first few feet come to an end, he taps some secret rocket-fuel supply and the disadvantage is transformed: Those same too-long legs become a world record–setting asset. The distance between him and everyone else begins with a crack of daylight, around step five, and then, as the racers hit their maximum velocity, the widening gap makes it seem as if the other runners are in the next heat. Whereas a typical championship sprinter might take 45 strides to race 100 meters, Bolt uses about 40. "I have an advantage for the last 60 meters," he says.

So it was in May 2008 when he ran 9.72 seconds, a world record that eclipsed his previous record of 9.76, which critics had disparaged, calling it a onetime lucky shot. And then again in Beijing in August, when in the first seconds, it looked as if he was just making it out of the gates, but he finished at an astounding 9.69. With that, Bolt effectively shifted the goal of sprinting from sub-10 to somewhere around sub-9.5 seconds. Commentators and fans wondered: What if Bolt had not looked back to mock his competitors, as he seemed to during Beijing? What if he had not celebrated in the final few strides? Would he have done better? As if to answer, exactly one year later, he set a new record: 9.58.

Will the fastest man go faster? A mathematical-sciences professor at Cambridge estimates that if Bolt could improve his start time (relatively poor as it is) and run in an advantageous wind condition at an altitude of around 1,000 meters, then he could get his speed down to 9.45.

You might think that someone with such fire and showmanship would be intense, maybe even arrogant to speak with, but the fastest man is actually funny, easy to talk to—he takes his running seriously but conversation lightly, even when thinking about London. "Yeah," he says, "if I get the technical aspect right, then it shouldn't be a problem."

Bolt grew up in Trelawny, an area of northwest Jamaica known for runners, caves, and yams. ("It is definitely the Trelawny yam," his father explained to Reuters after Bolt won the gold in 2008.) Bolt started out playing cricket until a coach noticed his stride and persuaded him to run track. Shortly after, in 2001, at age fourteen, he won two silver medals at the CARIFTA Games, a highly competitive Caribbean event. A year later, he began breaking records: In 2002, he became the youngest-ever gold medalist at the World Junior Championships. "I was definitely surprised,'' Bolt said after he won. Injuries slowed him down, until in 2008, fully recovered, he switched (informally) from Bolt to Lightning Bolt, the guy who rewrote the men's sprint while surviving only on Chicken McNuggets, due to his unfamiliarity with Olympic village food. (He claims to eat well when in Jamaica, despite his taste for Pringles and Skittles.)

It hasn't been all gold medals since he sprinted onto the world stage in 2008. Bolt was disqualified from the 100-meter at the 2011 World Championships after a controversial false start, raising questions that his record-setting days were over. His training partner and rising running star, Yohan Blake, a 21-year-old Jamaican, won the race, despite a video that seemed to indicate the false start might not have been Bolt's fault. Bolt was visibly distraught at the time of the call, but when he issued a statement shortly after, it was to congratulate Blake, proving himself to be a classy contender as well as a flashy, exploding sprinter.

Bolt was on the losing side of another false start last summer, when Prince Harry traveled to Jamaica. Before the two knelt down at the blocks, the prince took off. Once again, Bolt was cool, wrapping his arm around the young royal. These days, Bolt is like royalty, and Jamaica's prime minister gave the prince a statue of the "King of Track and Field." When Bolt challenged the prince to a rematch in London this summer, he wisely replied, "I'm busy." Presumably, Bolt will be too.

When I spoke with him, Bolt was gearing up for speed work, the training phase set to take him into the Olympic Games. The rumor in Kingston was that Bolt's father had been talking about how ready his son was, and while that was just a rumor, there is a certain amount of understandable palpable island pride. One of Jamaica's more renowned citizens, Cedella Marley, the designer/singer and daughter of Bob Marley, has an inside track on the Jamaican team, as she is designing the uniforms in collaboration with Puma. "Well, I mean, my house is splashed with pictures of Usain and the Olympic team," she says. "But I did think, how can I ever make Usain look more gorgeous than he already is?"

Marley, like many Jamaicans, notes that Bolt is already a local legend, young enough to still be seen around Kingston enjoying himself. He will jog with kids through the streets or mug with fans on a dance floor ("I love to dance," he says). At the moment his favorite place is Fiction, a Kingston club, where he is known to strike his famous lightning-bolt pose (which is actually an old dance-hall move). And such is the celebrity culture in Kingston that he eats quietly if he likes, undisturbed.

In his autobiography Usain Bolt: 9.58, Bolt offered himself to Manchester United at the end of his running career, for real. (It sometimes seems as if he is smashing world records just for a chance to play professional soccer.) "Hopefully they make an offer for me to play," he says. Then again, he might just rather be a DJ. On the European track circuit after meets, he would—sorry, but it's true—bolt for the VIP tent, to scratch out some tunes. And he is good. Still, he would not dare to DJ at Fiction, or anywhere in Jamaica, for that matter. Yes, he is serious about his hobby, but he says, Jamaica is serious, too. "It's not like overseas, where you can just enjoy the music and play," he tells me. "In Jamaica, you've got to be on key. You gotta know exactly what to do, to get the crowd hyped, or else you will probably get booed." This from a man who, lapping post-world-record-breaking sprints, has proved himself a master of crowd control.

Which would be easier, I ask him: playing professional soccer or spinning tunes in Kingston? He laughs but answers without missing a beat: "I think football is much easier."

May 22, 2012 8:00a.m.

Island Grill keeps cooking

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller cuts the ribbon for the new Island Grill catering unit in the presence of Founder Thalia Lyn and Industry & Commerce Minister Anthony Hylton


In addition to being an elegant presence on the social pages, Thalia Lyn is a brilliant businesswoman, growing the tiny 1991 'Chicken Supreme' into the ubiquitous Island Grill chain, which now has 15 stores with 500 employees.

The chain is now entering an exciting new phase of expansion, with a state-of-the-art commissary which will send out those perfectly prepared meats and home-grown accompaniments to the islandwide branches. The commissary will be able to support 15 additional branches to be opened, three per year over the next five years.

Island Grill's popular 'Yabba' meal

On a tour of the huge commissary, I noted it was so designed that meat and vegetables are prepared in separate, hermetically sealed sections. The company has also launched a mobile catering unit that can serve events of up to 1,200 persons.

Thalia Lyn emphasises training and mentorship of leaders within the company. In addition to their Barbados store, they plan to open others in the Caribbean and North America.

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/Fast-fall-in-a-slow-system_11512572#ixzz1vVzCgXTw

Would you build your house here?

 

How on Earth ???
Take a deep breath and look below...
- from my friend Munair Zacca

# 1

DON'T WANT VISITORS?
JUST UNHOOK THE CABLE.


# 2

MOST PEOPLE USE
TREES FOR A WINDBREAK

# 3

CONSIDER THE PANIC
IF YOU HEAR A BRANCH CRACK...

# 4

HOW DID THEY GET
THAT CAR IN THERE?

# 5

LONG CLIMB
AFTER A DAY'S WORK ....!


# 6

TREE BELOW...
FLOWERS ABOVE....
SOME PEOPLE ARE JUST WEIRD!

# 7

NOT DURING HURRICANE SEASON,

THANK YOU



# 8

GOT A LITTLE PROBLEM WITH DAMPNESS
@ YOUR HOUSE?





# 9
I'VE HEARD OF PEOPLE'S BRIDGEWORK
BUT THIS IS

RIDICULOUS!





# 10

BETTER TALK TO
AL GORE
ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING

 

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