THE EDITOR, Sir:
INSTEAD OF 'Powell Misses Medal', your Monday headline should have read: 'Powell Wins 5th Place!'. Powell 'missed' the medal because he finished at 9.94 .09 seconds behind the winner. That feat is, if not a personal best for Mr. Powell, something of which we should be incredibly proud. After all, he represented our country in the final of a race which claims to determine the fastest man in the world. We are to celebrate him as well as our other athletes. At these Olympic Games (and others) I bet we have more semi-finalists and finalists per capita in track events, and more competitors in swimming, than any other country.
Your headline and article are a broader statement of how we as a nation treat our athletes the lack of appreciation we have for the fantastic hard work they put into their respective sports and into representing our country so wonderfully.
We walk out of the stadium early or don't not show up at all when our Boyz are perceivably not doing well (when they need our support the most); we do not let our national netballers use the netball arena for free (they are expected to pay the rental fee); we expect our swimmers to cover their own costs when they go to represent us in many international events. And then we wonder why Merlene is running for Slovenia! And worse, we get angry at her for doing so!
We must exhibit greater pride in our athletes and give them greater respect, support and love.
I am, etc.,
LILLIAN ROBINSON
eyelikestarlights_00@yahoo.com
Kingston
