Elton Tucker, Assistant Editor - Sport

Head of corporate affairs at Digicel Jamaica, Yvonne Wilks, (centre) handing over an $8 million sponsorship cheque to Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) president Mike Fennell (right) and treasurer Compton Rodney at the association's head office on Cummingham Avenue yesterday. Also in photograph are Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sport, Olivia Grange (second right) and the JOA's first vice president Don Anderson. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

LOCAL telecommunications company Digicel made a major contribution to Jamaica's push for gold at this year's Beijing Olympics when it handed over a cheque worth $8 million to the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA), at the association's head office on Cunningham Avenue yesterday.

The money which will help to offset the cost of financing the JOA's programmes for this year and the next four years, was handed over by the company's head of corporate affairs, Yvonne Wilks.

The Digicel executive said the new sponsorship represented a 100 per cent increase.

"We have been associated with the JOA for the past four years, and that sponsorship came up for renewal this year," Wilks said. "We have decided not just to renew it, but to also increase the sponsorship from $4 million to $8 million over a period of four years. Clearly we are in an Olympic year so a lot of those funds will be used to prepare Jamaica's team for Beijing. But some of the funds will be invested in beefing up the JOA's sports resource centre," Wilks added.

Extremely pleased

President of the JOA, Mike Fennell, said he was 'extremely pleased' that Digicel had agreed to continue as a major partner for the next four years.

Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sport, Olivia Grange also hailed Digicel for 'putting their money there their mouth is'.

"This $8 million sponsorship over the next four years ... will go a long way to assist the JOA in its preparation of our athletes. It will also assist after the Olympics, preparation for the Pan Am Games, Central American and Caribbean Games and the Commonwealth Games," Grange said.

With the Games just over three months away the sports minister came out strongly against doping in sports.

"Doping in sports is becoming too prevalent and we must take every step to ensure that it does not take root in Jamaica," the sports minister said.

She added: "... Athletes and their handlers have a responsibility to ensure that there are no questions about performance-enhancing drug use by our athletes that would blotch the good record and name of our country."

Grange said the bill to establish the Jamaica Anti-Doping Com-mission (JADCO) will be fast-tracked. She said that with the anticipation of the creation of JADCO, the anti-doping budget has been increased to $53 million from $8.6 million last year.

In giving an overview of Jamaica's participation in the upcoming Games Fennell said the island has already qualified athletes for four sports - athletics, swimming, cycling and equestrian.

The track and field team will be selected by the Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association (JAAA) after the national trials set for June 27-29. Two boxers, Nicholas Walters and Rikardo Smith, will leave the island this week for an Olympic qualifying tournament in Guatemala.

Anticipation

Natasha Moodie has already booked a place in swimming and according to Fennell, it is anticipated that three or four more swimmers will achieve qualifying times in the next three weeks.

Cyclist Ricardo Lynch and Samantha Albert (equestrian) are the other Jamaicans who have already qualified for the Beijing Games.

Don Anderson, the JOA's first vice president, will be Jamaica's chef de mission at the Beijing Games.