Elton Tucker, Assistant Sport Editor

PRESIDENT OF the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Count Jacques Rogge, has lauded Jamaica for the country's outstanding performances at the Olympic Games since 1948.

Speaking at a reception chaired by Jamaica Olympic Association president Mike Fennell and attended by top members of the local business community, the diplomatic corps, past and present Olympians and members of local sporting organisations at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on Friday night, Count Rogge said Jamaica's success at the Games had not come by accident.

great respect

"We have at the IOC, great respect for Jamaican sport. What you have achieved for a population under three million people is really outstanding," Count Rogge said. "Jamaica has won not less than 42 medals since 1948 - seven gold, 24 silver and 19 bronze. The medals came Games after Games and medals do not come by accident.

"Medals come when all the conditions for success are in place and it first starts with a love of sports by the population, and I have found this love of sports in your population," he said.

"Secondly, there must be a good system to prepare the athletes - to nurture them, to train them, to provide them with good coaches, good equipment, and that is what you have been able to achieve. Congratulations for that."

political support

Count Rogge, who paid courtesy calls on Governor-General Professor Kenneth Hall, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and Leader of the Opposition Bruce Golding on Friday, added that here he had found political leaders who loved sports and were prepared to give their support.

"There is no real development for sports unless government and sports bodies work very closely together," he said.

The IOC president, who arrived here on Thursday night accompanied by his wife, Countess Anne Rogge, concluded his two-day visit to Jamaica late yesterday evening.