Wendel Abel - I AM WHAT I THINK

The Olympics are over. It has been the two most glorious weeks that I have experienced in a long time. It was intriguing to wake up every morning expecting our team to medal again. What a remarkable experience! I extend my congratulations to all team members.

The question now being asked is: 'How do we account for Jamaica's sterling performance at the Beijing Games?' There are many factors which relate to aspects of nature or nurture:

Genetic factors

There may be genetic factors which account for black people being superior sprinters and environmental factors which enhance our ability. Studies have shown that black people have a greater proportion of fast-twitch muscle fibres and a lower proportion of slow-twitch muscle fibres. The greater number of fast-twitch muscle fibres allow for greater conversion of glucose into energy.

In addition, studies by the University of the West Indies compared Australian and Jamaican athletes and, in the latter group, it was found that 70 per cent of them have Actinen-A in their fast-twitch muscle fibres. This chemical may hold the secret to our sprinting success.

Our diet

All our athletes speak of a diet rich in yam, banana, dasheen and other carbohydrates. This is certainly an area that begs for further research. (See related article above).

Historical tradition

Jamaica has had a long tradition of producing top athletes. Our first Olympics was the London Games of 1948 and, in that year, we won three medals. Arthur Wint won a gold and Herb McKenley, a silver.

In 1952, Jamaica won the 1,600m relay and George Rhoden won gold in the 400m. In the Mexico Games of 1968, Lennox Miller won a silver in the 100m.

In 1976, Donald Quarrie won gold in the 200m and silver in the 100m. Merlene Ottey won seven Olympic medals over her entire career, including a silver in the 1996 Atlanta Games.

At the same time, there are many other outstanding athletes of Jamaican origin, such as Donovan Bailey, Linford Christie, Donovan Bailey and Sanya Richards.

National value

Track and field is one of Jamaica's national treasures. It is to Jamaicans what football is to the Brazilians. We know that we can excel in it and we have competitive advantage. Many Jamaicans use it as an opportunity to rise from poverty, to gain a good education and to catapult into stardom.

Infrastructure

We have a well-developed athletic infrastructure in our elementary schools and excellent infrastructure in the secondary school system. Every year, our secondary schools turn out hundreds of great talents waiting to be nurtured and honed. Jamaica hosts an annual national high school championship in track and field.

Excellent coaches

We have a long tradition of producing excellent coaches. Coaches like the late Herb McKenley gave a lifetime of service to coaching. There are also Glen Mills, Stephen Francis and many others working in the trenches.

The level playing field

For many years, we suspected that many athletes from other countries were using performance-enhancing drugs and cheating some of our great athletes out of medals. The doping scandals that rocked the United States in recent years have no doubt helped to clean up the sports and levelled the playing field.

The MVP Magic

Maximising Velocity and Power (MVP) track and field club, founded by Stephen Francis in 1999, has produced about seven medals in the Beijing Games. It has clearly redefined the track-and-field landscape as it strives to develop world-class athletes through coaching, the development of technical skills and physical conditioning.

Utech

The University of Technology (UTech) has taken the development of our athletes to another level. The programme at this institution houses the MVP centre and the High Performance centre and has more than 200 student athletes. This programme has given hundreds of our young talents the opportunity to be nurtured here instead of being lost in the American system.

A sense of superiorityin sprinting

Our people have a strong belief in self. This sense of superiority in sprinting has been transmitted transgenerationally. Our athletes have been emotionally conditioned to accept and believe that they are among the greatest and, indeed, they are. They took this confidence to Beijing. Marcus Garvey, the great Jamaican, challenged us, "Up you mighty race", and our time has finally come. We are, indeed, a great people.

Dr Wendel Abel is a consultant psychiatrist and head, Section of Psychiatry, Dept of Community Health and Psychiatry, Univer-sity of the West Indies; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.