Usain Bolt Statue
As our athletes continued their remarkable performances ath the 15th IAAF World Championships, locals were trying to find ways to honor our two most successful athletes. Falmouth Mayor Garth Wilkinson was the first to suggest erecting a statue of Usain Bolt in Trelawny, and more specifically, Falmouth, where he was born.
Rename the Trelawny Multi-purpose (Greenfield) Stadium
On the other hand, Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange, Opposition spokesman on sports, is urging the government to rename the Trelawny Multi-purpose (Greenfield) Stadium in honor of Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce. Here are my short, personal opinions.
Trelawny’s Expensive White Elephant
The Trelawny Multi-purpose (Greenfield) Stadium was recently featured in the Daily Gleaner under the title: “Trelawny’s Expensive White Elephant – Multi-Purpose Stadium Going To Waste.” President of the Trelawny Football Association, Linnel McLean summed up the Greenfield stadium in the article:
“As it is, it’s seems to be a white elephant as nothing is taking place there,” said McLean, the long-serving president of the Trelawny Football Association. “Two seasons ago, we used it to host major league games, but because of its location, the games did not attract much spectator support.”
No Running Track
Now why would it be an honor to rename this stadium after the athletes? The stadium is rarely ever used. Bear in mind also, that the stadium does not have a running track. Why think of honoring two track and field athletes with a white elephant that cannot even host a track and field meet?
UTech 2010 Proposal
Babsy Grange would do better to encourage the government to re-visit UTechs 2010 proposal to invest 250 million on a property adjacent to the stadium, and also to utilize the stadium as part of the plan. Under the 2010 UTech plan, the college would develop the stadium for football and track and field, while still making the stadium available to host international sporting events. This, I think, would be the best way to utilize the facility; then, it would be an honor to Usain Bolt to have the stadium named after him, as a son of the Trelawny soil.
Why Name the Stadium After 2 Persons?
That leads me to the next point. Why propose to name the stadium after 2 athletes? The honor will be diminished if it is named after 2 athletes. It should be named either after Bolt or Fraser-Pryce. Trelawny is Usain’s native parish, so he has the edge if it comes down to a choice of one. The question either way: would Usain or Shelly-Ann want the ‘white elephant’ bearing their names?
The Gleaner
Opposition spokesman on sports, Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange is urging the current government to find suitable ways to encourage and honour Jamaica’s athletes.
She says after seven years of global ascendancy, Jamaica’s athletes deserve a proper monument which will help to enshrine this moment in the country’s history and remind future generations of the glory which has resulted.
Among other things, she is calling for the Trelawny stadium to be named in honour of sprinters Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.
Today the Jamaican male and female relay teams added two more gold medals to Jamaica’s tally at the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China.
Jamaica now has 11 medals comprising six gold, two silver and three bronze.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce anchored Jamaica to a massive victory over the rest of the world to win gold in the women’s 4X100 metre relay final.
Veronica Campbell-Brown, Natasha Morrison, Elaine Thompson and Fraser-Pryce ran a Championship record time of 40.07 seconds to secure the top position on the medal podium.
Jamaica beat their own Championship Record of 41.29 seconds set in the 2013 Moscow IAAF World Championship.
Meanwhile, Jamaica’s male sprint relay team anchored by track and field superstar, Usain Bolt, sped to a gold-medal win in the 4X100 to continue their dominance of the relays.
Nesta Carter, Asafa Powell, Nickel Ashmeade and Bolt ran a world leading time of 37 point 3-6 seconds to complete a sweep of the sprint relays.
CORRECTION: Previously, this story had said Grange had called for the National Stadium to be renamed in honour of the athletes, That was in correct. It was actually the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium.
Curated from: The Gleaner
I am 100% on board with Brian on this. I believe the government should get on its knees and beg UTech for forgiveness and plead with them to consider. The people of Trelawny should also find a forum to let their views be heard on this. Merely renaming it to honor the athletes as it is falls short of ideal. Who would want to be honored by a monument that stands for neglect? It needs to stand out as much as the ones who are being honored.
I hope the leaders and residents of the parish will push this issue really hard in the near future. I am not from Trelawny but I support development in every parish and would hate to see this stadium go to waste when it could be such an asset for the people of the parish… especially when an excellent plan has already been proposed.