I AM proud of Usain Bolt's achievements for various reasons, and I want him to achieve much more. However, I was shocked and appalled when I saw him being presented with a piece of the Berlin Wall.

That wall, which divided a city and a people for decades, was one of the most shameful symbols of oppression and segregation on the face of this bitter Earth. And for him, perhaps the greatest track athlete who ever lived, and a descendant of slaves who suffered the greatest indignity in history, to have accepted it has made my black skin crawl with anger and resentment.

How could he? Does Bolt know how many persons have died while trying to get over that wall from East Berlin to West Berlin? Does he know how many families and friends were segregated by this wall, this shame, this evil of humanity?

And where is he going with it, and to do what? Oh, how I wish I could meet him at the airport with it. I surely would have brought a sledgehammer with me and mince the evil piece of concrete into millions of pieces and throw them into the sea, where they belong.

We already have too many symbols of oppression on this rock, and we want no more. Bolt should donate that metaphor for man's inhumanity to man to a German museum and let it stay right there.

Don't be patronised

Bolt is our icon of liberation, symbol of the unbridled spirit, and when he runs he runs as if there is no tomorrow. And, as such, he should have run away from that 'gift' as if there is no tomorrow.

We must not be patronised for, were he not the greatest athlete alive, he would have been just another black man from an impoverished Third-World country. Now, the bandwagonists are jumping onboard, with the Berlin Wall. When are we going to rise up and stare reality in its face instead of allowing ourselves to be taken for a ride?

Straighten up, Mr Bolt, and fly right!

I am, etc.,

Angry Jamaican

Kingston 6