CARIBBEAN WORLD

Caribbean Olympians do their countries proud (Caribbean) Of the 204 countries that marched into London’s new Olympic Park for the opening ceremony on July 27, 22 hailed from the Caribbean region. Delegation size ranged from two (Dominica) to 110 (Cuba). Kudos to these Caribbean athletes at the Olympics. They are champions who embody the Olympic spirit, whether they medaled or not. And the folks back home, from the Bahamas to Trinidad, are celebrating their native sons and daughters in true Caribbean style. They all just know how to party so well. Kirani James from Grenada captured the island’s first-ever Olympic medal, and it wasn’t just any medal. It was gold in the 400-meter dash. “This win is not just for me, this is for my whole country,” said James, the first non-American to break 44 seconds. “Everyone in Grenada will be proud. They will be having a street party, everyone getting merry.” And indeed they were. From the capital of St. George’s to the west coast fish...

Need for a single Caribbean sports academy Sir Ronald Sanders Sunday, August 12, 2012 ON the basis of the size of populations and medals won, the tiny Caribbean island of Grenada would be ranked in first place in the 2012 Olympic Games in London with another Caribbean island, Jamaica, in second place — though with a larger number of medals. Officially, Jamaica is ranked at 18 and Grenada at 42. At the time of writing at the end of Day 13 of the 16-day Olympic Games, the United States is officially ranked number one with China in second place. But the medal haul of the US and China is drawn from populations of 312 million and 1.3 billion respectively, while Grenada’s medal — a gold for Kirani James in the 400 metres — comes from a population of a mere 110,000 and Jamaica’s outstanding nine medals (three gold, three silvers and three bronze) from a population of 2.8 million. ...

Olympic glories and the Caribbean image ANALYSIS Rickey Singh Sunday, August 12, 2012 THE remarkable feats of Jamaican athletes at the 2012 Olympic Games and, to a lesser extent, those of Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago, must make all citizens of our Caribbean Community quite proud to be part of the chain of islands and mainland territories that comprise this microcosm of peoples of diverse ethnicities, cultures, economic and political systems of the world. It’s a good time to be a citizen of the Caribbean. As a journalist of this region I join in saluting the superhero Usain Bolt, the Jamaican who is the fastest runner on this planet, and his admirable colleagues Yohan Blake and Waren Weir, for their record-breaking stunning clean sweep of the men’s 200-metre sprint on Thursday. Usain Bolt (centre) and his Jamaican teammates Yohan Blake (left) and Warren Weir swept the m...