Adrian Frater, News Editor
WESTERN BUREAU:

The much-anticipated 2011 IAAF World Athletics Championships, which was staged in Daegu, South Korea, is now history and once again, our super talented track athletes have proven to the world that, in local parlance, 'we likkle but we tallawah'.

In my opinion, Jamaica's nine-medal haul at the championship, which landed us in fourth position, is a phenomenal accomplishment of which every patriotic Jamaican should be proud, especially since it places us above major world powers such as Germany and Great Britain.

For many persons, the gold medals won by Veronica Campbell-Brown, Yohan Blake, the male 4x100m team and superstar Usain Bolt represent the highlight of the championships.

However, for me, nothing supersedes the gutsy courage and trademark Jamaican resilience displayed by Melaine Walker in taking silver in the 400m hurdles.

In fact, if packaged together, Walker's gutsy run, coupled with her sober post-race interview, was perhaps the most poignant moment of the championships, as it not only showcased her as a class athletes, but as a true patriot, who was willing to put everything on the line in pursuit of glory for her country.

I believe much commendation is also in order for quarter-miler Jermaine Gonzales for his fantastic run in the men's 4x400m relay. While he clearly did not enjoy the Daegu experience, especially in regards to the food situation and the added fact that he is coming off a serious injury (which forced him to take an operation), he ran as though his life was dependent on getting a medal for Jamaica.

unfortunate conduct

Except for the unfortunate conduct of the athletes, who showed lack of civic pride in fooling around during the playing of the national anthem in the 4x100m medal ceremony and sitting on the national flag while posing for photos at the finish line clock after that same event, I believe they basically kept their end of the bargain to the nation.

However, on the management side, I believe we fell flat in some crucial areas through the absence of proper preparation. I still cannot believe we took our athletes into a country where the culture and lifestyle is different from ours without making provision to facilitate proper adjustments.

Heading into South Korea, we should have known, through due diligence, that their lifestyle and customs would be unfamiliar to our athletes. We should not have had to wait until the athletes started complaining about the food to realise that Jamaican dishes would not be readily available in Daegu.

If resources were available to facilitate the travel of Government officials and other persons whose role remain questionable, I just don't see why we could not have found a good local dietician and two good chefs to make the trip. At least we could justify their presence.

As a nation that seems to take such great pride in riding on the accomplishments of our athletes, it is rather sad that the best our national leaders seem to be able to do for our athletes is to release congratulatory messages when they do well; while ignoring the fact that the home parish of both Bolt and Campbell-Brown, Trelawny, is still without a proper running track.

While I note that the athletes have apologised for the lack of respect shown to our national symbols after the 4x100m race and during the subsequent medal ceremony, I believe the athletes need to recognise that while we see them as national treasure, we will not settle for any inappropriate behaviour.