JUST under a week before the start of track and field competition, Jamaica's hopes for its best ever Olympics remain intact.

President of the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) Mr Mike Fennell was reported as saying on the eve of yesterday's grand opening in Beijing that the preparation programme was on track and the team was ready for competition.

He even downplayed talk that air pollutants in one of the world's most polluted cities could adversely affect competitors. He claimed that "despite the smog, the air quality is quite reasonable".

But it was the team vibes or lack of it that was of most concern to Jamaicans this week. And in this regard, Mr Fennell, the manager of the track and field team Mr Ludlow Watts; and Chef de Mission Mr Don Anderson have all had comforting words. They have assured that the problems that at one stage appeared to threaten smooth preparation of the relay teams have been amicably resolved.

For those who came in late, those problems evolved from a dispute between the highly respected Mr Stephen Francis of the MVP Club, who handles 10 members of the 52-strong Olympic track and field team, and the Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association (JAAA) over the latter's pre-Olympic training camp.

Mr Francis was upset that the camp run by the JAAA's coaching panel - headed by the equally respected Mr Glen Mills - effectively deprived MVP Jamaican athletes of the finishing touches they would have gained under his personal supervision.

The upshot was the alarming reports out of Beijing earlier this week that MVP athletes, apparently acting under instructions, declined to co-operate fully with the JAAA's coaching panel in relay training.

Happily, those with the authority and the capacity to lead apparently did so. And a potentially disastrous situation was speedily resolved. We are now being told that the MVP athletes, including former World Record Holder over 100 metres Mr Asafa Powell, Mr Michael Frater, Miss Shelly-Ann Fraser and Miss Sherone Simpson are all participating fully in relay training.

It would be nice to be able to say 'all's well that ends well'. But it would seem to us that regardless of what happens from here at the Beijing Olympics it will be important for all those in charge of Jamaica's track and field to take an interest in what went wrong. If only to make sure it doesn't happen again. Lessons must be learnt and preventive measures taken.

A large part of the problem may well have been basic miscommunication. But from this distance it would appear that much of it had to do with long-standing bad feeling between the JAAA and Mr Francis. Whatever the reasons, those with the means to do so should get to the bottom of it.

When they have done so, measures need to be put in place to ensure that there is no repeat. It seems to us that for one thing, the 'dos and don'ts', expectations and requirements should be understood, agreed on and signed off on by all involved before a Jamaica team is gathered at any time in the future.

As we said in this space exactly a week ago, Jamaica must come first.

Except for the views expressed in the column above, the articles published on this page do not necessarily represent the views of the Jamaica Observer

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