THE NEWS THAT most of Jamaica's top athletes will be taking the long trip to Australia for the March 15-26 Commonwealth Games will warm a lot of hearts at the Jamaica Olympic Association.
Jamaica should be represented by as many as eight sports disciplines at the Melbourne Games, but as in past Games, the bulk of the medals is expected to come from track and field.
At the Manchester Games four years ago, Jamaica won 17 medals overall; 14 of those came in track and field, the tally being four gold, six silver and four bronze medals. The other medals were won in swimming (two bronze) and a bronze for placing third in netball.
The 17 medals placed Jamaica at 17th spot overall, but in track and field they were way up there with the elite at number four in number of medals won. They were topped only by hosts England with 29; Australia 28 and Kenya with 16.
RICH HAUL
All indications point to a rich haul of track and field medals in Melbourne. At their best, world record-holder Asafa Powell, world 200m finalist Usain Bolt, defending decathlon champion Claston Bernard or his fellow decathlete Maurice Smith and defending 400m champion Michael Black-wood should all mine gold in their events. Jamaica's men's 4x100m and 4x400m teams will also be hard to beat.
Among the women, Veronica Campbell in the women's 100m and 200m, the women's 4x100m, any one of three women in the 100m hurdles, world triple jump champion Trecia Smith and defending long jump gold medallist Elva Goulbourne should all be at the top of the winners' rostrum.
The meet is important for a number of the senior Jamaica athletes. Powell has been dogged by a groin injury since last year's national championships and the meet will give him a grand chance to not only win his first gold medal at a top meet, but also to test his readiness to clash with the world's best later in the year on the grand prix circuit.
ALMOST GOLD
Powell went very close to a gold medal at the 2002 Games when he was just edged out by England's Darren Campbell on the anchor leg of the 4x100m. In fact, many people at the Manchester Stadium felt Jamaica had just edged home ahead of the English team. Both countries were awarded the same time, 38.62 seconds.
With three members of that relay team, Powell, Michael Frater and Dwight Thomas still available and running much faster than they did four years ago, the Jamaica record of 38.20 seconds should be broken easily in the same country in which it was set. The fourth member of the 2002 team, Chris Williams, is unlikely to make the quartet but there are more than adequate replacements which should ensure a Jamaican sprint relay team goes below 38 seconds for the first time.
Bolt was, by his own standards, a disappointment in the final of the 200 metres in Helsinki but with a much weaker field expected in Melbourne, he should walk all over his opponents and earn his first Commonwealth Games gold medal.
Barring injury and the expected late withdrawals, Jamaica should carry home a record haul of medals from Melbourne. There is no reason at present why the gold medal count should not reach as high as 10.
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