Jamaicans shock the world again, but prove they are human.

For double Olympic champion, VCB, aka Veronica Campbell-Brown, it was not to be another gold medal. The ladies had a mix up in the 4x100 metres relay, and could not make the exchange in the restricted area: it's not easy in the pressure of a race, no matter how many times you practice. No shame. Some regrets. They were holding alive an almost impossible dream: Jamaica victorious in the short sprints and all the relays. So, rue the mistake but look at the big picture: a wonderous Olympic Games, with indvidual and collective performances unlikely to be repeated for years.

So, we will have to make do with the gold in the men's 4x100 metres relay, and another world record for Jamaica and Usain Bolt. This was THE gold though for 'the real big man', Asafa Powell. This was gained by team effort and it showed. Look at the picture and add your own words. They run for different clubs but have one cause--victory. There are already a multitude of images of the runners from this week and this too will be seen many times. I know that in Asafa's heart and mind there is both satisfaction and relief.

But, what we love--I will speak for myself--is to see Lightning celebrate, like a true Caribbean man. Staying faithful to himself and his culture. And in case you ahve any doubts about that latter aspect, PM Bruce Golding told the critics of Bolt's celebrations that they were "full of grudgefulness" and "full of red eye" and should "Tek weh you self!" (see Gleaner report).

The world knows Jamaica for many bad things, and some good--like the music and the 'no problem' attitude, and the laughter and the excitability. "Bolten" is a word that has come into the vocabulary, as in "Bolten stance"--see the Lightning. The world now knows dances that are popular in Jamaica--the 'gully creeper' and 'nah linger'--thanks to Usain. People have enjoyed themselves. Horror! Some IOC bureaucrats don't like Usain's 'attitude'. Get over it!

We have long talked the talk. Now we can really walk the walk...and dance the dance.

Treating the people better.

Nice to hear that Scotiabank Jamaica are flying Asafa's father and brother to Beijing to be there to give him support, as reports are that his spirits are low.

Nice too to hear that Digicel Jamaica are flying Usain's father to Beijing to be there for the youth's birthday on August 21.

Nice to see Jamaica National Building Society giving congratulations to Shericka Williams for getting silver in the women's 400 metres.

Why mi Asafa so bad.

A Jamaican friend of mine is suffering deep psychological trauma, diagnozed as "recurring-Asafa-has-turned-in-another-defeat" (RAHTID) syndrome. The symptoms have developed throughout the day since this morning's first human wingless flight in Beijing. Reactions have included a violent sneezing fit brought on by the mere mention of the words Bolt, Usain, stupendous, incredible, or references to sprint double. So, we had to escape and try to drown her sorrows in the sandy oasis called Hellshire Beach, just outside Kingston, where we were immersed in some seriously mystical Ital herbal medicines, which some smoked, some inhaled, and others watched being administered. We also took some rustic cures that involved lobsters, fried fish, fish soup, and roasted breadfruit. The morose expression and lassitude were reversed only by the presentation of a fried lobster, whose spines reminded her of Bolt's legs and she loved breaking every single one with her teeth. However, no sooner had the symptoms begun to dissipate, than there would be yet another excruciating replay of the 100 metres final, and new treatment was needed.Where you gonna run? Where you gonna hide?

She is still "kinda frass", as Jamaicans say, meaning pretty frustrated, that her heart-throb has once again let her down by not bringing home the gold medal in his speciality event. She is not yet consoled that another Jamaican will dance his way back with this in his hand. Yes, Bolt's performance was electrifying, but the shock of Asafa's defeat needs many days of healing.

She was tired of all the "bad mouthing" before the Games that Asafa cannot handle the pressure of the big international events. Now, she is even more weary as this continues after the latest defeat. One of Jamaica's great athletes, turned commentator, Grace Jackson, was fanning the flames last night by saying that Asafa now needs to "go back to the drawing board" and have "mental training" for how to run in the big events. I have a feeling that my friend is going nuts and would like to do to Miss Grace what Jesse Jackson said he wanted to do to Obama. Her face says "Woman, you wan' me draw board cross you mout'?"

Asafa is not helping the healing of this syndrome with his admission that this time he did not have the legs to run four rounds at the Olympics. What him a train for? Getting eliminated in the semis? Cooyah! I'm not sure how you can go to the Olympics and win in four rounds if you only have legs for three. His mother is unwittingly supporting the nay sayers by admitting that Asafa does not like pressure, but added that he seemed to have had the pressure taken off him with the pre-race hype over Usain. Plenty of Jamaicans will wonder if Asafa is playing ginnal. We may need a long time to bolt down the real problem. I believe Asafa genuinely struggles on the biggest stage--hard to explain, but the results point that way. But, my friend is not being run down by these blips. She is still going to watch him wash his cars in the drive way, be ready to give him imaginary back rubs, and love him up till the next big test.

Jamaica launches weapon of mass destruction.

Usain took off, and has landed at his target: Lightning struck for the first time as Bolt went airborne and landed at 9.69 seconds (6 and 9 are lucky numbers for the Chinese). He took off and raced for about 50 metres, got his two metre lead, then started celebrating from about 80 metres. If he had not beat his chest so hard from that point he might have been closer to 9.5. Then after the celebration, he went into the gully creeper dance. Wow! Can he be caught for the double?

A real emotional hug for Asafa for not making a medal place. The family had been interviewed on TV while watching the race, and I know they are heart broken and disappointed. That was really too hard. As the family says, though, "We love you the same way. We gonna hug him and give him a big kiss."

For Michael Frater, he broke the 10 second barrier, with 9.97. Jamaica looks to be a lock for the 4x100 metres relays, if the team can pass the baton.

Triniman Richard Thompson stuck in there for silver (does he have Jamaican roots?), and pushed the lone American, Walter Dix, into bronze medal place.

Jamaican women looked likely to get three into the final and have a runner who looks and acts a little like Usain. Bolt yourself down for more excitement.

Will Lightning strike in the same place twice?

Bloggers are always told that they need to post material regularly so that their audience does not have to deal with too much emptiness in its life. I don't want to build up dependency, in myself if I do not write, or in my readers if they do not have rivetting material from me to read. But, when I go to Jamaica, several things seem to happen. First, I think a lot--usually in the clear, still, cool hills of Mandeville as I walk in the mornings. Second, I eat a lot: Jamaican food that I crave comes at me from all sides, and I have a hard time saying "No", even to simple dishes such as patty and coco bread, or breakfast classics such as mackerel rundown (cooked in coconut, with yam, breadfruit, banana, and "Johnny cakes" [fried dumplings]). Third, I try to notice differences between the ways that things are dealt with in Jamaica compared to other Caribbean islands. Fourth, I enjoy just chilling out.

This break in Jamaica has been a bit different because I have become absorbed in the fever of the Beijing Olympics. My thinking has been mostly about the things that make for a great athlete and wondering about the wide differences in the way that societies and countries view and treat athletes, sports and games. In addition, I have eaten and chilled out a lot, including in the rarified air of Strawberry Hill, in the Blue Mountains outside Kingston. Cooling out in one of the hideaways of Bob Marley and other reggae greats is good therapy: "No woman, no cry".

While much of the world has been bemused by the Michael Phelps phenomenon in his "Razor" suit in the swimming pool--is he man, is he fish?--and whether he can do seven times seven of gold medals and world records, we in Jamaica are interested but not rivetted. Jamaica is on the verge of a seeing an amazing dream realized. It has the two fastest men in the world running in Beijing to try for gold. For me, the real problem is that there are no certainties, so I have to endure seeing one man who is clearly capable of running faster than anyone else and with amazing ease, have to go through the hoops of heats and later rounds. You can't help but think "Something bad is going to happen. I can't watch." You get especially nervous when the man from Palau, with a personal record of about 11.4 (a time I ran as a boy) makes a false start and raises the risk of our man (over 2 seconds faster) getting the boot if he then has a false start--a rule that is so stupid and open to manipulation.

Usain Bolt (aka "Lightning") looks like he has all the goods. He is a 6 feet 5 inch man child, who hit the world when he won the 2002 World Junior Championship, as a 15 year old, right on home soil in Kingston, Jamaica. He smashed the national schoolboy record for 400 metres, by nearly one second in 45.4 seconds, months later. He now walks the 100 metres, while others huff and puff, and records times under 10 seconds like it's in slow motion. Like America's Michael Johnson, he could easily have become an Olympian 200-400 doubler. Instead, he headed down in distance. Maybe, he may move to try the 100-200-400 treble, when he grows up. People in Jamaica wonder if "Lightning" should be running against horses instead of humans. The adrenalin level was under control until the track and field started last night. Since then, the island has been rocking to the cadence of fast feet running in China.

Jamaica has a good compliment of athletes due to perform on the track, mainly in the explosive events such as the sprints. Coming into this Olympian year, we already had our Hercules. We had the world record holder in the short sprint, Asafa Powell. He looked a good bet for the final if not the gold, but he had a record of "underperformance" in the big finals ("Asafa too sof'...", or "Asafa, we a suffer" comments were often heard), so would have only one way to get that fragility monkey off his back--win the gold. Then buddum. Up strides "Lightning", whose coach wanted him to get in some speed work to help his 200 metres running. Whoops. New world record of 9.72 seconds. Since then, almost every time "Lightning" bolts he is a man apart--barely a man at 21. So, the bolt is naturally quick, and the 200 should be a lock (unless he gets a muscle pull or cramp, or one of those sneak thieves catch him with a false start), or his urine sample has the structure of a stallion.

So far, everything is going to plan; the main men are through to the semis. Jamaica may have to deal with an influx of scientists and nutritionalists if we sweep the 100 metres (yes, we have a third athlete who is a contender). Everyone will want to know what we do to produce these kinds of runners. Culture? Running as slaves to get away from Massa's whip? The food? We all love those great starches like yam, dumplings, cassava, boiled green bananas. We fill up on natural vitamins from all our fruits and their juices (mangoes, pineapples, bananas). We move easily to our rhythms that everyone wants to try to emulate. We have our easy, and easy to mock style of hurry up: "Soon come...never reach", "No problem...", "Cool runnings..." We are quick to get excited.

The sports commentators on TV are struggling even after a week with the 12 hour time difference. They have come up with little that is brilliant in terms of insights. They have had good practice in pronouncing the names of athletes from places like the Ukraine and Uzbekistan, and know that the Maldives are not something that happens in the swimming pool. But I think all of this gloss with shatter if tomorrow, in the final, Lightning strikes gold for the first time. If he and Asafa make 1-2, then "Lawd!". If we sweep, clear the streets because we are going to party.