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Published: Sunday | April 2, 2006

MOST PEOPLE remember two things about the 1966 Commonwealth Games. It remains the biggest international event this country has hosted, and we failed to win a gold medal.

So Jamaica's sweep of the sprints last week in Melbourne brought to mind the phrase "You've come a long way, baby!".

The atmosphere of camaraderie at 'The Friendly Games' was wonderful to behold. Who watching this unparalleled display of multicultural sportsmanship and goodwill could call the Commonwealth an anachronism? If only all the nations of the earth could get on as well as the former British Empire! No wonder even non ex-British colonies like Mozambique and Cameroon have joined.

BRITISH EMPIRE

But, for all its sins, the British Empire was the most humane empire ever known. It was the single most decisive factor in the spread of modern democracy and, from a long-term global perspective, may have been the most benevolent political institution in history. Truly the bee - at least sometimes - fertilises the flower it robs.

The Commonwealth itself is proof that British colonial rule generally did more good than harm. No sensible country would choose to be part of an association whose founding member had a mostly negative effect on its development.

To be sure 'The Friendly Games' are not the Olympics or World Championships. But who even two years ago could have imagined us winning every single event below 400 metres at any major international championship? Brand Jamaica is soaring indeed. In fact, we've become so blasé about international success, that Sean Paul's Temperature hitting number one on the American Billboard charts was mostly shrugged off as 'no big thing'.

NO ACCIDENT

The Commonwealth sprint sweep was no accident, of course, but the result of vision and hard work by men like Stephen Francis. Most people scoffed when six years or so ago Coach Francis quit his well paid job to pursue his dream of developing world-class athletes locally. Didn't he know that to reach anywhere you had to train in America? I guess it's the same response that greeted Coxsone Dodd and Duke Reid when they started making local records.

Well, Mr. Francis paid his dues. Backers bailed out; he had to sell his car; they cut off his light. But he's laughing now. The MVP sprint factory has produced the fastest man in history and a host of other stars. And Mr. Francis is now deservedly one of the world's top-earning coaches.

It's now clear that America and Jamaica are the two world powers in track and field sprinting - and there is no third. This is naturally a stunning achievement for a relatively poor country of 2.5 million people.

GENETICS

It may have something to do with genetics, as you can't run fast without innate ability. But it also has a lot to do with the expertise of our local coaches. You only have to compare the combined results of our West Indian sister islands like Trinidad, Barbados and the Bahamas who won only 7 medals and no gold, in comparison to Jamaica's 22 ­ 10 gold, four silver and eight bronze medals.

The great majority of our Commonwealth champions train locally. So it's Jamaican coaching which turned previous flashes of brilliance into sustained dominance. Like music before it, track is proving how good Jamaicans can be at something when we put our minds to it.

The big question naturally is where do we go from here. Well, common sense says we should put more resources into the technical areas where we still lag behind. A good plan would be to supply the elite schools - say, the top three boys and top three girls - with a proper supply of hurdles and up to standard jump pits.

An even better one would be to also develop professional level track centres in central and western Jamaica. When you see the substandard fields on which some of our world-class junior athletes train, their accomplishments seem even more amazing.

It would be good if the Government stepped up in these areas. But there's no reason the private sector can't help too. Jamaica's rise to musical super power status was almost completely market-driven. And if we are to move our athletics into the same realm, business sponsors will have to play a key role too.

On a higher level, perhaps sports could kick-start the long-talked-about 'Adopt A School' programme. A lot of businessmen are interested in such a concept. But the Ministry of Education needs to go past mere words and come up with concrete plans.

All the fundamentals are there to take Jamaican athletics to the next level. We have superb athletes, excellent coaches and, equally important, a very strong track culture.

BIGGEST TRACK MEET

The Boys and Girls' Championships, for instance, is easily the planet's biggest annual track meet outside Europe. It's the greatest concentration of young athletic talent on earth and for sheer spontaneous enthusiasm there is nothing like it anywhere else.

We already see figures like America's Olympic Champion Justin Gatlin and Britain's World Champion silver medallist Dwayne Chambers coming here to train. With proper development and marketing there is no reason we can't start drawing people from places like continental Europe.

CRITICAL MASS

It's all a matter of critical mass. Britain has over 70 per cent of the world motorsport industry simply because of the concentration of expertise and technology in the north of London.

With enlightened public and private sector support there is no reason Jamaica cannot become an equivalent global centre of athletic excellence.

It may be far-fetched, but a friend even has visions of Jamaica one day exporting, say, gridiron football and basketball players to America, something we already do in a sense with boxers. Indeed, training and nurturing young baseball players for the U.S. Major Leagues is already a mini industry in the Dominican Republic. True, only one out of maybe 100 make it but, apparently, the returns make it a viable proposition.

Speaking of which, I've always felt that cricketer Ricardo Powell - he of the yam licking prowess and speed in the field and powerful throwing arm - could have been a superstar if he had taken up baseball. And considering the pathetic state and maybe irrevocable decline of the West Indies, maybe our other cricketers should start looking in that direction.

CRICKET HUMILIATION

It's pitiful really, but for sad addicts like me, even all that Commonwealth Gold has not lifted the gloom of yet more humiliation on the cricket pitch.

The problem is that an Asafa win only lasts 10 seconds and a Reggae Boyz victory or defeat 90 minutes. But a West Indies thrashing is five days - actually more like three and a half now that Lara's getting old - of unrelenting suffering. I desperately want to stop caring, but I can't.

It's got so bad I've almost started to hope that maybe the International Cricket Council will revoke our Test status soon and put poor souls like myself out of our misery.

But geez, enough of that depressing stuff and back to more cheerful thoughts. Maybe if our businessmen and politicians give our athletes the proper support, we could one day do at the Olympics what we just did in Melbourne?