Anyone else getting excited with anticipation?!?!



Here is a helpful website to keep track of our athletes.

http://www.london2012.com/country/jamaica/

Can't wait to see the Gold medals!

What time are the events Jamaicans are in?

Think Bolt will set a new record?

I think our Lightening Bolt has taken to the fast life of cars, and will probably set a record soon for the number of luxury cars that he has crashed...hope that all those late nights clubbing, and the hunger that he has inspired in Yohan Blake to take him on, doesn't show on the track in London.
Then again, Gold & Silver in the 100 meters wouldn't be too shabby...Asafa for bronze would be some kind of domination that wouldn't be soon forgotten...but more than likely, there should be a North American in the final three of the 100m, probably Justin Gatlin or Tyson Gay.

CNN LINK: Lightning Bolts: Why Do All the Top Sprinters Come from Jamaica?
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/21/sport/olympics-jamaica-sprinting-heroes-bolt/i ndex.html

Time, Bolt won't even be the fastest Jamaican. "oh, the pedistal is a fleeting place to stand"

Nice to have Queen Liz & James Bond parachuting onto the opening ceremonies of the Olympics...did her blooming skirt slow her descent?...What a gentleman 007 was to wait on her drop!

Youtube Link:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=frsz303emkw

Our Alia Atkinson have advance to finals in the womens 100m breast stroke finals is tomorrow! Tune in people.

For those of you who like statistics, the top five most buzzed-about athletes in the world (before the games) includes two Jamaican sprinters, two American swimmers, and one American sprinter.

In order, they are:

1 - Usain Bolt
2 - Michael Phelps
3 - Ryan Lochte
4 - Lolo Jones
5 - Yohan Blake

Bolt got more than 200,000 social media comments--far more than any other Olympic athlete. Track & Field generated more buzz than any other sport.

Competing today:

Samantha Albert
Mixed Cross Country Equestrian - 12:30

Alia Atkinson
Women's Final Swimming - 20:15

All the best Team Jamaica!

Alia Atkinson came in 4th today. Congratulations to her for such an amazing feat!

I can't find out any information about Samantha Albert. Does anyone know how she did today?

Usain Bolt: 'Legends have come before me, but this is my time'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jul/24/usain-bolt-jamaica-olympic-100m

There's a superwoman, with Jamaican parentage, rising to Olympic heights in the Heptathlon--a grueling seven-discipline track and field event...over two days:
100 metres Hurdles; High Jump; Shot; 200 metres; Long Jump; Javelin; 800 metres.

Her name is Jessica Ennis and she has become the poster girl for the London Olympics.

The Heptathlon is the women's shortened version of the men's 10-event decathlon.
It is a "competition against oneself and the scoring tables with the aim to score more points than the other competitors. It is a test of mind and body; challenging the person's character, attitude and determination and their physical abilities".

But for 78-year-old Muriel Ennis, who left the small Jamaican town of Linstead for a better life in Sheffield in 1962, her grand-daughter’s Olympic debut marks the climax of a more personal success story.

Muriel set off for Britain in 1962 with her late builder husband Winston, as part of a wave of Caribbean workers, later moving on to the US to care for a sick relative. Now the only thing that tarnishes her joy at her granddaughter’s progress is that asthma means she is not well enough to travel to London to see her compete.

Jessica is the daughter of Muriel and Winston’s son Vinnie – a 60-year-old painter and decorator – and social worker Alison Powell.
But Muriel is convinced it is from her Jamaican family that Jessica inherited her steely determination. Linstead has already produced half a dozen Olympic gold medallists despite a population of just 14,000.

From her Derbyshire-born mother’s side of the family, Ennis inherited a strong work ethic. Her late great-grandfather, Raymond Ollerenshaw, was a sheep farmer awarded an OBE for services to farming. He was also a presenter on the television show One Man and His Dog.

And so Jessica Ennis emerged from these diverse roots on both sides of the world.

Besides all that...those are some killer abs, gal...Didn't come from eating creme puffs, we gather...Go proudly for the gold!


Hayemaker Bookazine Link:
www.hayemaker.com/bookazine/Interviews/Interview/tabid/71/Article/53/jessica-enn is.aspx

Daily Mail Link:
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2183062/Jessica-Ennis-running-heptathlon-gold-t hrilling-200m-race.html

Busy day today! And didn't the ladies do us proud yesterday.

http://www.london2012.com/country/jamaica/athletescomptoday/index.html

Sweet, oh so sweet. Gold and silver!

http://www.nbcolympics.com/news-blogs/track-and-field/bolt-blake-follow-gatlin-i nto-olympic-100-final.html

Malcolm Gladwell on:
WHY ROOT FOR THE JAMAICAN SPRINTERS?

New Yorker Link:
www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/sportingscene/2012/08/why-root-for-the-jamaican-s printers.html

Malcolm Gladwell is a cousin of mine. His great-great grandfather, John Ford was my great grandfather. He has written a number of Best Sellers including the "Outliers". I would surely like to get in touch with him as I am sure that he could give me some information on my family's ancestry. I am currently compiling information about the Clarke, Johnson, Forrest and Ford families of ST Elizabeth.