LONDON, England — Jamaica House inside the O2 Arena was again packed to capacity last night with Jamaicans and friends from other countries whose rapturous celebration of the island’s victory in the men’s 4x100m finals that brought to a fitting climax the games of the 30th Olympiad here was captured by journalists from across the globe.

But Jamaica House wasn’t the only venue in this city where Jamaican supporters gathered in large numbers to watch the epic race that saw Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Yohan Blake, and Usain Bolt lower their own world record, set last year in Daegu, South Korea, to 36.84 seconds.

A few hours before the start of the race, Jamaicans, dressed in the country’s national colours as usual, could be seen at several train and bus stations rushing to get to a venue.

Inside Jamaica House, representatives of several media houses took up their positions early and videographers jostled for prime spots.

With no standing or even walking room in the venue, the security personnel were adamant that no one else would be allowed inside the hall and even those redirected to the overflow room at the Terrace could not brave the crowds.

Still, more persons kept coming as no one wanted to miss out on this historic moment.

Images of the athletes flashing on the overhead screen prior to the start of the race were enough to have the crowd erupting in cheers and blowing whistles.

And even before the first runner got out of the blocks, the crowd was going wild. When Bolt crossed the finish line ahead of American Ryan Bailey, the cheers were deafening as the house erupted in greater celebration.

Every replay of the moment on the screen evoked a similar response as Buju Banton’s Champion blared above the jubilant cheers, and the journalists rushed to do their stand-up with the cheering crowd as the backdrop.

Later, as the athletes collected their medals, some Jamaicans cried tears of joy.

Some of the children born to second-generation Jamaicans in the United Kingdom did not know the National Anthem but they, too, joined in as the adults stood to attention to sing it.

“I am going to sing the anthem,” said one woman as she pushed to the front of the crowd to get a clearer view.

Jamaican-born Ray Carless, a saxophonist who played at the O2 with the group Black Slate earlier in the evening, said this was a special moment for a lot of Jamaicans living in Britain. He included himself in that lot as next year will mark his 50th year of residence in England.

“It is a most incredible birthday gift for Jamaica,” he said beaming.

Earlier in the night, a song Carless wrote for the moment was played and the delighted audience immediately named it ‘1,2,3’ in apparent tribute to the clean sweep of the men’s 200m metres Thursday night by Bolt, Blake and Warren Weir.

“I thank the athletes, and Jamaica deserves it,” he said.

Jamaican-born Lorraine Wynter said being at the O2 to watch the race was an amazing experience.

“It’s been a joy to be here with everybody and to see the country do so well,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

Wynter said she was always optimistic that the athletes would have done well, however, breaking the world record caught her off guard.

“We knew they would do well and knew they would win, but the way they did was spectacular,” she said proudly.

British-born Shane Martin, whose parents are Jamaicans, was equally proud.

“It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the country of my heritage show the world how we excel in sports and to share Jamaica’s culture with them,” he said.

He said while he was expecting a world record, he didn’t expect it to be by such a wide margin.

Lamarie Gordon, who is of Barbadian and Jamaican parentage, said the performance of the Jamaican athletes was exactly what she was expecting.

“I think the team worked really well together and it shows how Jamaica as a country can work together to achieve its goals,” she said.