The Editor, Sir:

Our Olympians have done it again!! The 29th staging of the Olympics in Beijing, China, dubbed the 'greatest show on earth', has been a tremendous success as far as the games are concerned.

In my opinion, it has been one of the best organised and successful games we have witnessed so far. The opening ceremony was spectacular and quite magical as the massive 'bird's nest' provided entertainment for billions of viewers worldwide who witnessed the 'grand' opening ceremony. One can't help imagine what the organisers have in store for the closing ceremony.

Remarkable achievement

The Jamaican athletes must be commended for their brilliant efforts. Once again, they have done our nation proud. This is a remarkable achievement given our size and population, and being able to outperform countries such as the United States.

This remarkable achievement by Jamaica on the track has brought to light the fact that our athletes have been denied many medals in the past. The recent doping scandals including the one involving Marion Jones have served to underscore this fact.

We have always produced top-quality athletes, and, therefore, it should serve as no surprise to the Americans that we are now getting what we rightfully deserve.

Maybe, it was a blessing in disguise that the doping officials decided to test all athletes from high-performing countries, and it seems to have worked in our favour, due to the fact that the playing field is now level.

The Jamaican athletes should have nothing to fear regarding performance enhancing drugs. They use 'natural-performing drugs', such as the yams, dumplings and bananas. Once again, we congratulate our athletes in their historic achievements.

I am, etc.,

DANIEL A. MORGAN

daniel.morgan@uwimona.edu.jm