Who will you be cheering for?

[Maggiethecat]

Excited for the women's 100m sprint in Tokyo today. Happy that Dina is in good shape but defo cheering for the Jamaicans.

How is it in your house when a british athlete is up against someone from the country of your family heritage?

@Starseeking

What I've noticed about the Olympics and the competitors is that the gap between the elitist sports and grassroots sports seems to be getting wider.

So sports where you need huge investment in external equipment (horses, canoes, swimming pools etc) are dominated by Western countries, and even then you hardly see a non-white face amongst them.

Track events (where all you need is a pair of feet, determination to train and a healthy dose of talent), are dominated by those from African or Caribbean countries, and more black competitors from Western countries as well.

Imagine what could do, and where we could go with similar access to resources???

Most definitely. The gap is practically a huge gaping chasm. Watching people tie themselves up on knots about why black athletes dominate track is actually laughable when a huge aspect of the why is very obvious!

Beach volleyball for the islands with a beach should be a must! Or swimming perhaps?

Some financial outlay is still more than none @TeaAddict235. So high jump requires those long poles to be bought and maintained, discuss requires those heavy things to be purchased etc etc.

There's also infrastructure to invest in. Once you've managed to buy the kit, who is going to coach you? Where does the money come from to get you to an elite level, and are there people from that country available to train you?

I remember years ago, Team GB were pretty rubbish when it came to the Olympics. It took the Lottery starting in 1994, London winning the bid for 2012 in 2005 and real funds being channeled to various sports to even give the UK a chance. Huge amounts of money are required to win at those types of sports, which unfortunately some of our countries of origin aren't able to stretch to when there are so many other societal issues to address.

Personally I celebrate when any Black majority country does well at the Olympics, though hold a special place in my heart for Jamaica because it punches so far above its weight (a country with a 3m population which produces so many champions is incredible).

You're spot on @Starseeking! it cannot be overestimated that field events still require equipment and also if there are no human resources in coaches etc readily available from a foundation of success that makes it even more inaccessible.

Plus running is something that something children do naturally from young and if you're in an environment where you can run/play freely outside then you're likely to show some talent if you have it.

Shelley-Ann's mother proudly tells the story of how she felt her daughter had inherited her running ability. Not manifested on the track but from having to pick up her wares as a street vendor in a non permitted area of Kingston and fleeing from the police. She recounts that they never could catch her 😂

And I think Elaine talks about having been sent to the local shops as a child in the countryside in Jamaica and always running to and from the errand.

I think if there was a massive investment and drive into field events Jamaica could probably do well at it too but I think the incentives for track at the moment are immensely attractive.

As the Jamaicans say 'We likkle but we tallawah'.

My little ones are Jamaican/West African. When my DC won a sports day race, the dad said 'it's the West African genes'. Right then and there I knew he was tripping! One of those where you don't even bother getting into it. One of those.

I've got to say, we Jamaicans pop up everywhere, not just in sports. Any where we deh, we bad it up. ANYWHERE.

Slightly off topic, I'm really looking forward to watching the film about Richard Williams, produced by Venus and Serena. The man is an absolute genius to have got them from where they were, to where they are now. I'm not sure if they are competing in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic tennis, but I'll definitely be supporting them if they are!

This made me laugh so hard, I LOVE the pride Jamaicans show for their country!

@Starseeking

This made me laugh so hard, I LOVE the pride Jamaicans show for their country!

Jamaican Twitter is undefeated 🤣🤣🤣

@Starseeking

This made me laugh so hard, I LOVE the pride Jamaicans show for their country!

Aww! A sore loser " we was robbed" guy from USA. His claim to fame on his bio.

1. Church of Latter Day Saints
2. Says he's married to a liberal. Poor woman.
3. Father of 5 ( that's to make him sound a MAAAN!)

Apart from that, he can't run a bath. Let alone a race.

Hope he is besieged with "wan two tree"

Great putdown, made me laugh too.

However, when it comes to big championships, I do wonder whether even the athletes feel a conflict. All those born and pretty much bred Jamaicans now running for other countries, do they secretly cheer on Jamaica, too? So many left Jamaica as teens, or thereabouts. Even UK born and bred people, we still feel incredibly Jamaican.

I know one can be thankful for the UK / America for the opportunities, the training, the confidence and faith in one's talent, but still, is there a little psychological conflict? Does that completely go because you're competing?

Americans should be wary of accusing other athletes of doping, given their pedigree in that endeavour. Even moreso in pointing a finger against Jamaicans who I believe have a very low rate of doping positivity (read my lips "it's the yam"!)

@Justthisonce1 - I believe they're professionals and if given the opportunity/training/sponsorship to succeed and in doing so represent the US etc then that's what they have to do.

A big turning point in Jamaica's success in track came when training clubs/sponsorship etc was stepped up for athletes to remain in Jamaica rather than going to (mainly) the US. (similar to Starseeking's reference upthread to the investment into team GB)

Imagine not having to go to a cold, foreign country; being surrounded by friends, family and being happy "a yard", not battling various isms and schisms, enjoying your own food (including yams), training and competing with your fellow talented athletes while having top class coaches and facilities that were once only accessible abroad.

This is what we have been reaping now. So let the doubters continue to doubt.
"Wan, two, tree!"
And watch out for them in the 200m on Tuesday!! 😏

I imagine that fewer elite athletes will be lured now from Jamaica to places like the US. There are probably still those who want track scholarships abroad that will allow them to attain academic qualifications and do track but I doubt these are the elite athletes.

The reputation of the Jamaican training has attracted overseas athletes including Christine Ohuruogu who I think went over to train with them.

Maybe it's the ackee? I think we are the only ones who eat that?!

🤣🤣🤣

As a foreigner in the British isles - now with the local passport but I always insist that I am (my original nationality rather than the British isles one):
A question:
How can you think like the above and yet ever be offended by a question like “but where are you really from?” (For those who would be offended by that)

Think about it - what is the basic presumption of that question posed by someone who knows nothing about me?

I just noticed watching the highlights that the British weightlifter Emily Campbell has a Jamaican flag heart motif on the back of her belt. Blink and you'd have missed it. It does suggest heritage vs home country runs through the mind of athletes of colour same as we have pondered here. She won a silver medal today though!

Interesting that her sister Kelsie is an elite athlete as well, however she swims for Jamaica, rather than Team GB.

www.countytimes.co.uk/news/national/19485838.emily-campbells-father-over-moon-daughters-weightlifting-silver-medal/

I'm so pleased for Emily Campbell and her family. No sponsorship at all, just funded by her family. Her Dad says she's going to win gold in 2024. I hope she does!

@Starseeking - well spotted! I've just read the article and her dad has one of those names that is instantly recognisable as Jamaican 😂

I'm sure she's proud to represent GB but will be grateful to her family and heritage in supporting and shaping who she has become.

@EchoNan - no "wan, two, tree" in the women's 200m I'm afraid. Sherika Jackson slowed down in her heat and didn't even make the semis 😳

Suspect she was trying to conserve energy and may even have been instructed by coach to do so as they have a rough schedule - all 3 are in the relays after the 200m. But I don't think he imagined she would have drawn brakes at the finish line!

I've *just read the article and her dad has one of those names that is instantly recognisable as Jamaican.
*
Trevor Campbell, really? I never knew that, though to be fair, I don't know a huge amount about Jamaica.

When I read the article it struck me as an incredibly English name, and thought her dad must be the white parent...then I watched the interview with her sister and mum. Her mum is white English cockney right down to her gin drinking, so it was only then I realised her dad is Jamaican.

I've just read the article and her dad has one of those names that is instantly recognisable as Jamaican.

@Starseeking

I've just read the article and her dad has one of those names that is instantly recognisable as Jamaican.

Trevor and Campbell - definitely!

My ears would also prick up for names like Denton or Lynval so a Denton Brown or Lynval Campbell would be screaming Jamaican to me!😀

Not that examples such as these are exclusively Jamaican but are very common.

Just read this about Rai Benjamin who just got silver in the amazing 400m hurdles race, breaking the world record along with the winner.

Antiguan, born in NY, raised between both places but runs for the US. Says he never got the needed support from Antigua’s athletics federation but never forgets his roots and culture.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/m.timesofindia.com/sports/more-sports/athletics/curious-case-of-rai-benjamin/amp_articleshow/83909519.cms

@Justthisonce1

However, when it comes to big championships, I do wonder whether even the athletes feel a conflict. All those born and pretty much bred Jamaicans now running for other countries, do they secretly cheer on Jamaica, too? So many left Jamaica as teens, or thereabouts. Even UK born and bred people, we still feel incredibly Jamaican.

I know one can be thankful for the UK / America for the opportunities, the training, the confidence and faith in one's talent, but still, is there a little psychological conflict? Does that completely go because you're competing?

I remember in the 2018 World Cup, or maybe 2014, when Germany played Ghana and the Boating brothers were opposite one another. Quite quickly the brother playing for Germany was taken off. I always wonder whether facing up to his brother and Ghana in a knock-out game was just playing with his mind. I'm sure part of him really wanted it for his brother and for Ghana and maybe sometimes even in elite sport we out others first?

I loved watching the Williams sisters play each other for this very reason. It was just out of this world. They knew one another so well, and Serena was often the victor. Could Venus stop being her big sister even in those situations?

@Starseeking

You must not know any Jamaicans then?! They are always talking about Jamaica this and Jamaica that, always have a flag somewhere in their house, or one of those little wooden cut outs of the island showing the counties and Kingston!

You should go and visit!