File
A section of the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium.

Daraine Luton, Staff Reporter

USAIN BOLT may never compete on the best sporting field in the parish of his birth.

If he does, he would be running on grass, as the Trelawny multi-purpose complex, which some Jamaicans would like to see renamed in his honour, cannot accommodate a mundo track.

Robert Bryan, who served as managing director for Jamaica's local organising committee for Cricket World Cup, told The Sunday Gleaner that "there would have to be modifications in order to get in a track".

The facility was built to host the opening ceremony of the ICC Cricket Word Cup in 2006 at a cost of US$30 million, but has remained under-utilised since its first major use.

Dr Wayne Reid, who had responsibility for building the stadium, says that athletics was never a consideration when the stadium was built.

One or the other

"It could take the track running eight lanes. The problem is that once you put in a track you can not have a cricket field inside. You can only have a football field," Reid explained.

He said it would cost about US$2 million (J$144 million) to put up an all-weather track at the Trelawny venue.

"No consideration was given to fitting a track inside the stadium when it was being constructed," he said.

The Government utilised 20 acres of land to build the stadium. But Reid said if there was a dire need to have an all-weather track in the parish, one could easily be placed in the remaining 100 acres around the ground.

But why was the Trelawny complex not built to accommodate a track from the outset? Reid said it would not have been spectator-friendly.

"If you make it that big, you would have to go there with binoculars or telephone your friend at the other side and ask what is taking place," he said.

Athletics became twinned to the Trelawny stadium following Jamaica's tremendous showing at the 29th Olympiad in Beijing, China.

The country had its best medal haul - 11, made up of six gold, three silver and two bronze.

Bolt, a Trelawny native, was responsible for three of the gold medals - two individual and one in the sprint relay.

Government senator Dennis Meadows, who is the caretaker for North Trelawny, has promised to move a motion in Parliament for the stadium to be renamed in honour of Bolt.

There have also been calls from various sections of the population for the Government to play a lead role in developing facilities for Jamaica's athletes to train.

Bolt, for example, does a lot of his training on grass at the University of the West Indies, Mona Bowl, while Asafa Powell and Shelly-Ann Fraser mainly utilise the grass surface at the University of Technology.

Not a blunder

Despite the country being a track-and-field powerhouse, Jamaica has only four all-weather tracks. There is one each at Stadium East, the National Stadium, G.C. Foster College and the Catherine Hall complex.

Reid said the non-consideration of an all-weather track at the Trelawny stadium was not a blunder.

"It was never a blunder. A decision was made of what was going to go there and athletics was never a consideration," he said.

The western parish of Trelawny has produced many quality athletes in recent times, chief among them being Bolt, Michael Green, Michael Frater, Veronica Campbell-Brown and Marvin Anderson.