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| Usain Bolt flanked by devoted parents Jennifer and Wellesly Bolt |
by Jean Lowrie-Chin | Jamaica Observer column | 13 August 2012
The exploits of our Team Jamaica in the London 2012 Olympics
have enriched our Golden Jubilee. For us
praying people, it was providential. How could it be that on the actual
anniversary date, August 6, we saw Usain Bolt getting the gold, his team-mate
Yohan Blake the silver, and two Jamaican flags ascending to the strains of our
National Anthem in our former mother country? The day before, our ‘Pocket
Rocket’ Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and our beloved Veronica Campbell Brown received
gold and bronze. Our crowning glory was the 1-2-3 of Bolt, Blake and newcomer
Warren Weir in the 200-metre – all three flagpoles waved black, green and gold!
What is even more significant is that our team members, with
a few exceptions, were trained right here in our sunny isle. Usain Bolt’s book,
‘Usain Bolt – My Story’, describes a decent, humble Jamaican upbringing in
Sherwood Content, Trelawny, with a supportive family, teachers and
coaches.
“My happy personality and laid-back style which the public
sees is not an act,” writes Usain Bolt. “It is exactly how I am away from
athletics and comes from the way I was brought up. Mom and Dad would never go around cussing or
arguing … Dad was big on discipline and respect to him for that, because it’s
what made me the person I am today.”
Bolt describes his
Dad as ‘a rules man’: “To make sure I was never late for school he would
get me up at 5.30am, even though William Knibb – which was half-an-hour’s drive
away – started at 8am.” He speaks fondly
of his Aunt Lilly who still gives him yam from her farm, his late grandfather
who would treat him to huge helpings of fresh, warm milk each week. He is close to his maternal grandmother who
‘prays the whole time’ when he leaves her to drive to Kingston ‘and I have to ring her the minute I
get there.’
Jennifer and Wellesly Bolt are the opposite of those shady
parents who live high on scamming children.
Usain writes, “They have never lived a grand life and didn’t want to
move to some flashy place away from the community, so I’ve helped them extend
their house … My Dad is weird, he doesn’t like to ask for anything and prefers
to work for his money. Mom will ask but
that might only be for the bus fare back to Trelawny from Kingston.”
Bolt’s parents are helpful and courteous members of their
community: “Long before I was famous they were both well known in the
community, and would help anyone out.
Dad always had a ‘good morning’ and a ‘good afternoon’ for everyone,
which is how I learned to be well-mannered and polite.’
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| Usain with legendary coach Glen Mills |
The book includes a piece by coach Glen Mills, the man who
trained the three Jamaicans – Bolt, Yohan Blake and Warren Weir, who stunned
the world with their clean sweep last
Thursday. “My attitude towards coaching
is not one-dimensional; it is also geared towards acquiring life skills,” says
Coach Mills. “I’ve tried to get them to understand the skills and values of
life. So that they not only fulfill their potential as athletes but are also
balanced people.”
Coach Mills was put in charge of Bolt after the athlete’s disappointing
outing in the 2004 Olympics and his pulling up in the 2005 Helsinki World
Championships. Mills’ strategy of
running Bolt against his major competitors met with ‘fierce opposition’.
“When the rest of the world condemned us, following his
numerous defeats, I felt assured that my strategy was justified, as Usain did
not question my method,” says Mills.
After the Beijing Olympics and Berlin World Championships, Coach Mills
was still not satisfied: “We are about 75 percent along the way of what we’re
aiming to do, but a major part of what we have to do is to develop a greater
deal of explosive strength.” We are
seeing the development in Usain’s physique – those sparkling seconds take years
of hard work.
Usain Bolt’s humility is well-known.
It was reflected in his interview with Daily Mail reporter Laura
Williamson after winning the 100-metre event as he reflected on being beaten
twice in the National Trials by his team-mate Yohan Blake: “The trials gave me
a wake-up call. Yohan knocked on my door and said, ‘Usain, this is Olympic
year’. So I’m grateful for that.”
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| Maxine Simpson - Mother of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce |
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is from the inner city community of Waterhouse in Kingston where she had a
strong Christian upbringing, evidenced in her post-race testimony.
The Wolmers’ graduate has continued her
studies at UTECH for her degree programme even as she trained for the Olympics.
Veronica Campbell-Brown has been an enduring
role model – we will never forget her gold in the Athens and Beijing Olympics. Nor can we
forget Brigitte Foster-Hylton’s and Melaine Walker’s past stellar performances.
After the euphoria, we hope that JAMPRO will be given a
mandate to examine the opportunities presented by Jamaica’s athletic stardom and
transform them into job-creating projects for sustainable development.
Usain Bolt’s publicist Carole Beckford wants us to join with
our high-performing Caribbean neighbours to create ‘a Caribbean
oasis of athletics’. She wrote on her
blog, “With agencies like CEDA, CARICOM ... we can make this happen. Drop the
politics! We have tons of Caribbean people who
are great influencers … to get this train running.” Let’s roll.
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