New York: Jamaican born sprint star Usain ‘Lighting’ Bolt, did his country proud by winning the 100 meters Olympic Gold medal in a world record 9.69 seconds. It was a proud moment for all Jamaicans in the diaspora including Louis Grant, VP of Irie Jam Radio, Caribbean Media partners for the Reebok Grand Prix athletics meet in New York, where Bolt broke the World record in the 100 meters on May 31, 2008.
“On behalf of Reebok, Global Athletics & Marketing as well as our associate sponsors Digicel, Western Union, Air Jamaica and the entire management & staff of Irie Jam Radio, Black Emperor Entertainment and Irie Jamboree, I am pleased to extend congratulations to the new Olympic and World Record 100 meters champion Usain Bolt, to coach Glen Mills and the entire team for their incredible performance, culminating in Bolt’s decisive victory in Beijing over a field of the world’s fastest men” Grant said.
With six finalists in what is arguable the most anticipated event of these Olympic Games, the Caribbean athletes made a bold statement regarding the future of track and field and the need for other nations to reckon with the region as undeniably the world’s superpower in the sprint events.
“Kudos to Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago for a most inspiring second place finish to take home the silver medal. Independence Day celebrations in T&T later this month should prove equally inspiring” Grant noted.
Congratulations were also extended to Asafa Powell and Michael Frater for holding Jamaica high above the rest of the world and for making the Caribbean proud.
It was just a few weeks ago that Grant announced that this year’s Irie Jamboree festival would be dedicated to ‘Caribbean athletes representing the region at the summer Olympics’ and that the VIP tent would be named the “Usain ‘Lighting’ Bolt VIP Tent” to honor Bolt’s historic world record run in New York.
Among the acts slated to perform at Irie Jamboree 2k8 are King Yellowman, Beenieman, Coco Tea, Sizzla, soca Queen Alison Hinds, Elephant Man and rising reggae stars Serani, Bugle, DeMarco, Konshens, Tanya Mullings, Little Hero, Elvis D, Benny Bwoy and Empire Isis. The festival takes place on Labor Day Sunday, August 31, 2008 at Roy Wilkins Park in Queens, NY.