abr.05.2009

Jamaica's Grace Jackson was yesterday made an ambassador of the inaugural Caribbean Games set for July 12-19 in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T).

Jackson, who joins T&T Olympians Hasley Crawford and Ato Boldon as ambassadors, was presented with her citation at the Hilton Kingston Hotel yesterday morning.
Both Crawford, the 1976 100 metres Olympic champion and Boldon, the 100m silver medallist at the 2000 Olympics, were in attendance.

Jackson, the 1988 200m silver medallist, said she was grateful to be asked to represent the Caribbean, "because I do see myself as an international citizen of which the Caribbean plays quite an important part".

"I am glad that I am able to join both Hasely and Ato as ambassadors to spread the word to go to Trinidad and make it a real spectacle," a hoarse-sounding Jackson - who has been participating in the ISSA Girls and Boys Championship - said.

She added: "It really gives me great pleasure to get another platform for which I can represent the different cultures in the Caribbean and boast that every single person in the Olympic 100m final was from the Americas and six from the Caribbean."

Jackson, also a bronze medallist at the 1987 and 1989 IAAF World Indoor Championship, said she is proud to say that the Caribbean region is one of the best in the world in sprinting.

"Hasely started out in getting the first gold medal and we had to wait so many years and we got it last year. But I can guarantee you that there is a lot more to come and we will keep that tradition going.

"We're not going to stay there; we'll be looking at middle-distance runners one step at a time and this game will be helping to produce more of those persons," she said.

"The rivalry among us is so great it helps to build us and go out and be the best in the world. We have the best in the world and we want to bring them to the Caribbean to see what we're made of," Jackson added.

Some 26 countries are scheduled to participate in the Caribbean Games and will compete in five sporting disciplines - boxing, netball, tennis, track & field and volleyball.

The Games will be held every four years in the year immediately following the Olympic Games.

Chairperson of the Games, Dennise Demming, promised that all the top athletes from the region will be at the Games, come July.

"I am extremely pleased to be here because we're engaging in an activity that is significant to the region. I represent the Caribbean Games and I represent the dreams of the heads of our Caribbean countries," she noted.

"This whole issue of seeing our own perform on the local stage. too many of us have not seen our successful athletes perform on the local stage. We have only seen it from an American or British perspective. I, as a Caribbean person, am extremely happy to be a part of the Caribbean Games," Demming reiterated.

According to the organisers, the Caribbean has a proud history of success on the world sporting stage and it is with this legacy of sporting achievement in mind that the Caribbean Games was conceived.

It is designed to provide a platform to showcase elite regional athletes and a means of motivating young sportsmen and sportswomen to aspire to international standards and achievements.

The Games will expose Caribbean audiences to the best of Caribbean athletes.
 
By Howard Walker Observer staff reporter walkerh@jamaicaobserver.com