Sports in Jamaica - Ambition, Discipline and Talent!

">1980s; Caribbean's first Olympic medal since the
From Athletics and Boxing to Swimming!competition was established in 1896. At the 1984 Los
AquaticsAngeles Olympics, Weller came in sixth place. He
Did you know- In recent decades, Jamaica has hadbegan to make a name for himself in cycling in the
two important swimmers.Janelle Atkinson, for example,mid-1970s when he was runner-up at the Pan
was Latin America's second best female swimmer,American Games in Mexico City, behind Joselyn Lovell
after Claudia Poll (Costa Rica), in the late 1990s andof Canada (gold medal). Toward the end of the 1970s,
early 2000s. Miss Atkinson, a graduated from thehe also won a silver medal in the VIII Pan American
Bolles School (Jacksonville, Florida), took fourth place inGames in San Juan de Puerto Rico. For that
the women's 400m freestyle at the 2000 Olympicperformance, Weller qualified for the Summer
Games in Sydney, Australia. At the 1999 PanOlympics in the Soviet Union in 1980. During the years
American Games in North America, she won threefrom 1975 to 1984, this amazing athlete became one
silver medals. Fifteen years ago, by 1984, the Island'sof the most respected cyclists in the Western
swimmer Andrew Phillips finished sixth in the men'sHemisphere.
200 meter individual medley -which is made up of theDeon Hemmings
butterfly, the breaststroke, the backstroke, andDid you know- Deon Hemmings became the first
freestyle- in the Games of the 23rd Olympiad infemale hurdler from Latin America to capture an
America, ahead of Nikolai Klapkarek and Ralf DiegelOlympic title when she won the women's 400m
(both from Germany).hurdles in the Summer Olympic Games in the United
BoxingStates in the mid-1990s. Today Miss Hemmings, like
Did you know- Jamaican boxer Barry Foster capturedAsafa Powell and Usain Bolt, is a popular figure in the
the bronze medal in the lightweight division in the IVIsland, one of the most successful Olympic nations in
Pan American Games in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 1963. Athe world. Athlete Hemmings was born on September
year ago, the national boxing team, led by Roland10, 1968 in Saint Ann, Jamaica.
Holmes, won two gold medals in the Central AmericanSoccer
and Caribbean Games in Kingston, Jamaica.Did you know- Soccer is one of the most favorite
Cyclingpastimes of the nation's inhabitants. Toward the end of
Did you know- Cyclist David Weller earned a bronzethe 20th century, the Island won the right to compete in
medal in the Games of the XXII Olympiad in the earlythe FIFA World Cup in Paris, France.