“When the tour bus drop off

And all light lock off and I’m a mere mortal again

Promoter belly full and all the fans gone home

I’m glad that you’re more than a friend…”

—
Affairs of the Heart, Damian “Jr Gong” Marley

I am not going to give an analysis of our Olympic performances because I am not qualified to do so. Like most Jamaicans, yes, I am disappointed not to see us “beating dem bad”. But human beings are not mechanical robots that we plug in with the expectation of endless high performance. Injury is a spontaneous reality and it shattered the Olympic dreams of some of our most decorated athletes over the past few days.

I will also not give an opinion of the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) or the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA). That’s above my pay grade.

My focus is on the what’s next? Where do we go from here?

A recent publication by The Economist analysing the Summer Olympics from 2000 stated that Jamaica is ranked #1 globally when Olympic medals were compared to a country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Jamaica has 69 medals per US$100 billion of GDP. By comparison, the United States ranks 50th.

In other words, given the ability of a country to invest in its coaches, sports infrastructure, and sports programmes, Jamaica is the most effective worldwide.

Moreover, when the reference was made to Jamaica’s performance relative to population size, we achieved 3.5 medals per million. No other country comes close, with the US ranking 35th. This reality does not count our share of medals by the athletes with Jamaican heritage competing under the US or UK banner.

None of us would like to see what happened to West Indies Cricket — the team that was once the envy of the world — happen to Jamaica’s track and field.

It is proven that an athlete cannot rely solely on his/her natural talent. If that were the case, then Jamaican athletes would be unbeatable. Athletes who have raw talent need many other variables to become successful on the international stage.

We cannot put a price on the pride our athletes have brought to Jamaicans home and abroad. If we wish it to continue feeling proud of their accomplishments, then we must be prepared to make the necessary investments.

The Ministry of Sports allocated US$12.5 million for this financial year. As a country, we need to decide on whether we see sport only as feel-good activities for entertaining our people, rather than the investment to not only train our athletes seriously for future generations with the best facilities and coaches, but also develop the business of sport so we can earn money to reinvest in our sports development.

There is no way this budget can genuinely develop the capacity of our athletes across track and field, football, cricket, swimming, boxing, and several other areas in which Jamaicans have a natural ability.

The top global athlete financially, Cristiano Ronaldo, has an annual income of US$275 million. Additionally, the top 100 highest-paid athletes include players from eight sports and 25 countries. They earned an estimated US$5.4 billion in total income for 2023, including US$4.2 billion in prize money and salary as well as US$1.2 billion off the field (
sportico.com).

One of the highlights of these Olympics was seeing Roje Stona win a gold medal and set an Olympic record in the discus throw. We were all excited for the win and stunned that we did that well in field events. As a matter of fact, we medalled in other field events that most Jamaicans had not anticipated.

Why? Because our focus and love at these Games has always been the sprinting, and we look forward to winning and medalling in that category.

On the flip side, one of the most heart-rending moments I witnessed was watching the passionate recount of Danniel Thomas-Dodd, the shot put athlete, who spoke about the fact that she was not pleased with her results and that the qualifications for the finals, which she narrowly missed out on, were within her reach. She spoke about the fact that she did not have her coach with her for two-and-a-half weeks to help her with her training as he was denied accreditation. Furthermore, she was going to take some time to reassess her future, given how impactful the circumstances have been on her mental health.

She was not the only athlete who spoke about moments of deep reflection on whether or not to give up.

Jamaican sports development needs money. Our athletes and their coaches need attention, motivation, and care.

We cannot expect them to run in our name without ensuring we give them the best chances to succeed, not only for themselves but for the pride of our nation. It is also not a one-way street financially; their success is our success and has multiplier effects in our economy.

Where do our athletes who live out of town stay when they have to come to Kingston to train? How are they transported?

If they don’t have a sponsor with deep pockets, how do they make money if they must train full-time?

Who pays for their recovery or physiotherapy if they get injured?

After devoting all their time to mastering their craft, where do they get employed when their active days are over?

These are some of the fundamental everyday realities that face many of our talented athletes, which invariably put them in an invidious position to choose another career if they can effectively meet their personal financial and training needs. Having them run on ‘E’ is not a viable option.

“Some see the laughter and don’t see the tears

Some see the courage and don’t see the fear

Some for themselves and they don’t intend to share

Some say a love and only pretend to care”

—
Affairs of the Heart, Damian “Jr Gong” Marley

Jamaica is not revered as a sporting capital globally due to the necessary government annual investments in our national athletes. Many of the gains they accrue leading up to getting to national trials for international competitions come from private-sector sponsorship and contributions in cash and kind by school alumni.

Coming out of these Olympic Games, it is clear that, as a country, we are not doing enough to sustain the needs of many of our athletes. It is time that we decide to honestly give the budgets to sports that help with nutrition, movement, and regeneration for our athletes as we build the next generation of champions.