Tony Becca FROM THE BOUNDARY

THE HEROES of Beijing the medallists and world-record breakers have been paraded, feted and serenaded by a grateful nation and, once again, many, many thanks to them.

For those who have forgotten, or who may have forgotten, this is not the first time that Jamaica has won medals at the Olympic Games. Thanks to men such as Arthur Wint, George Rhoden, Herb McKenley, Les Laing and Don Quarrie, a woman like Deon Hemmings, and others like Lennox Miller, Merlene Ottey, Grace Jackson and Juliet Cuthbert, Jamaica, as far back as 1948, has won gold, silver and bronze medals

And lest it is also forgotten, this is not the first time that Jamaica has won a gold medal while setting a world record. Wint, Laing, McKenley and Rhoden raced around the track in world-record time, 3:03.9, in winning the 4x400 relay in Helsinki in 1952.

No easy feat

Eleven medals, however, including an impressive and historic six gold medals and three world records, including, but for the misfortune in the womens 4x100 relay, an almost total domination of the sprint events, is no mean feat.

And, although it can be argued that the celebration was poorly organised, Jamaicans were, and still are, proud. And the representatives in Beijing deserved every handclap, every cheer and every toast.

As brilliant as they were, however, the celebration was too long for a country like this in which so much is needed in general and in sports, in particular. The Government and the private sector spent too much money on it, and the National Awards, probably, should not have been handed out during the celebration at the National Stadium but instead at the Heroes Day ceremony at Kings House.

Although it will be difficult to match this performance or even to come close to it in the future, apart from making a pledge to prepare ourselves to do so, what is important, however, is to fulfil the promises made while the athletes were covering themselves in glory in Beijing and also during the home-coming.

The promises made by people in the Government and the private sector, by those whose advertise-ments, whose words of congra-tulations, flooded the media and are still flooding the media included acknowledging the impact of sports on the psyche of the country and the importance of sports, in general, and track and field, in particular, to the country.

Especially a country like Jamaica that depends so much on tourism, the well wishers offered support, financial support, medical support for the athletes, they included more support, financially and otherwise, for sports and especially for track and field. Most importantly, as many of us have been calling for over many years, they included the development of sports in this country to the point where sports can make money for this country.

Money from sports

Because of the triumphs in Beijing and the popularity not only of Usain Bolt and the Jamaican girls but also of the black, gold and green, and, especially so, the gold, people in this country have been talking about the establishment of coaching centres, clinics, a hall of fame and a museum and also about using sport to market Jamaica as a tourist destination.

That is nothing new. The hope, my hope, is that the time to move has come and that those with the power, and the influence, to make things happen will get up, stand up and make these things happen.

In Barbados, for example, there are statues of their great sport stars and great cricketers at every roundabout from the airport into the city. On top of that, Barbados, and also Antigua, employ their great sportsmen as part of their tourism marketing team.

The great and famous sportsmen are the face of Barbados and Antigua at tourist and trade events around the world and, in that respect, Jamaica is lucky.

Such is the countrys greatness in track and field, such is the countrys performance in other sports, especially netball, that Jamaicas face at those events around the world would be not only one of men, but also one of women and beautiful women at that.