As the 30th Olympiad draws to a close, many Jamaicans would be disappointed with our medal haul to date. At the time of writing, Jamaica was on the verge of winning eight medals at these Games far fewer than many Jamaicans were expecting.

Coming off the nation's record medal haul of 11 medals in Beijing, most of us thought Jamaica's athletes were going to be even better in London. Personally, I am happy with the number of medals we have won to date. I had said publicly that I expected nine medals, including a possible four gold medals. However, many of us are as detached from reality as a naked man is from his clothes. We have somehow come to believe that certain things are beholden unto us, but as we have now learned, that is not always the case.

In sport, everything looks easy on paper, but in reality, things can be much different. There were certain things that we could take for granted. Bolt for example, once fit, would win gold in the 100 metres. As for the rest of the team, the world had drawn a lot closer. In 2008, Jamaica took the world by surprise. The island's elite athletes now had targets painted at their backs and the world's best worked harder. Jamaica had raised the bar, and now everyone needed to dig deeper.

falling like flies

In the meantime, our athletes were falling like flies. Injuries, drug suspensions, and improved performances from athletes from the rest of the world saw them shake our resolve a bit in Daegu. Melaine Walker was toppled by her fiercest rival, Lashinda Demus; Bolt false-started in the 100 metres; Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was topped by Carmelita Jeter. We didn't win a medal in the women's 400 metres. The signs were there, but as is the usual in this country, we ignored the obvious.

So as London drew closer, we blindly went in thinking that somehow Jamaica was going to top the Beijing performance. When I stepped back and looked at what faced us, I knew things were not going to be as bright. Our athletes were four years older, and some of them were not as physically sound as they were four years ago. Shericka Williams had not broken 50 seconds in more than two years and didn't seem likely to do so as she raced against the clock, to get her injured spine ready for the rigours of training.

build on what we have

Asafa Powell never seemed capable of overcoming his groin issues, for which many of us have cursed him (unfairly so). Still, with all that, all of a sudden, we were expecting him to complete a trifecta in the men's 100 metres. Also, in the 28 years since the women's 400 metre hurdles were introduced to the Olympics, there has never been a repeat champion, but somehow we - in my mind - unreasonably expected Melaine Walker to defy history in what is the toughest event on the track.

As it is right now, with all the injuries, the subpar performances, I am thrilled that Jamaica will come away from these games with the number of medals that it has. For us to progress, we have to build on what we have. In the past four years, I haven't seen many delibe-rate attempts to build.

Yes, Hansle Parchment was an unexpected medal, but his gold-medal performance at the World University Games in Shenzen, China, demonstrated that if the powers that be take a structured approach to building on this country's sporting prowess, Jamaica can do wonders at future games.

But we have to temper our expectations and start planning for the future instead of unreasonably hoping it will happen the way we want it to.

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