Though I am one who is not overly impressed by titles, I believe that in the case of Usain Bolt, the award of Order of Jamaica (OJ), carrying the right to be addressed as 'Honourable', is a good and clever use of the system.

The lightning flash 'Hon Usain Bolt' is bound to pique the interest of sports journalists worldwide especially in the still class-conscious British/European societies, leading up to and during the 2012 Olympics. The American sports press and commentators will be intrigued by what this Honourable business is all about, and all this will draw even more attention to Jamaica and the 2.7 million than is customary. This is good for trade, tourism and almost anything positive.

positive publicity

'The Hon Usain Bolt does It again' headlines will scream. As roving ambassador, I hope that Bolt will not be used as just another broadly smiling face selling hotel rooms, important as tourism revenue is to the country in such desperate times. In presenting himself as a positive sample of the current crop of Jamaican athletes, and Jamaican youth, the association is likely to be made in people's minds of positive things about Jamaica in general, and this may tend to counterbalance great negatives, such as the horrendous crime rate.

I, for one, would like to see the Trelawny stadium named The Usain Bolt Stadium, even if it is sold or leased to University of Technology (UTech). Dr Errol Morrison is an experimental scientist of note in his field, and has also shown himself to be a great visionary and educational leader in Jamaica, preparing students with well-needed professional skills to serve the Jamaican economy, and positioning UTech to be fast closing in on the acknowledged leading institution in Jamaican education, the University of the West Indies. Already, athletes affiliated to the MVP track club, based at UTech, have done better at the last Olympic Games in Beijing, and also in Berlin, than many countries. If given the chance, I think Morrison could be depended on to continue to encourage the sustainability of Jamaican athletics.

There is not much time to play around. Bolt, barring injury, has realistically, only one more Olympics (London, 2012) when he will be at an age to still be at the top of his game. The same goes for the other athletes, now ruling the world of athletic sport. We must have a largely new crew for 2016 Chicago, if President Obama has his way, or begin a slide into obscurity.

congratulations

Finally, I congratulate all our athletes who went to Berlin and competed so fiercely, even those who did not win medals this time. They also provided the pool that the planners may have needed to call on. I must also congratulate the company, Digicel, which made that generous award to 'Pocket Rocket', Shelly Ann Fraser.

I am, etc.,

PATRICK BLAKE

mysterymonpatrick@hotmail.com