From field of dreams to Olympic glory Jamaica s sprinting conveyor belt

KINGSTON – On a dusty, sun-bleached grass sports field in Kingston, Jamaican schoolchildren are being put through their paces with dreams of following in the footsteps of Usain Bolt or Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.

Lines of chalk mark out the lanes of a rudimentary running track, where a few dozen young hopefuls are racing in the kind of athletics meet that is popular across Jamaica, the spiritual home of sprinting.

“Most of these kids want to become professionals; they all dream of becoming the next Usain Bolt or the next Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce,” track coach Shanti Blake tells AFP.

“Pretty much everybody here that does sports wants to try to become a professional, because everybody wants to become the next Usain Bolt.”

Blake looks on approvingly as this young crop of runners, some only six years old, strive to replicate the running style of the famed Jamaican track icons who have been regular visitors to Olympic and World Championship medal podiums over the past two decades.

“I’m dedicated to making some of these kids professionals,” added Blake, 40, whose own dreams of a sprinting career were cut short by injury.

For Joseph Heron, whose daughters Nayeli (10) and Jaya (nine) are both competing in the meet, the lure of a professional career is only part of the appeal.

Athletics also represents a pathway to academia via the possibility of scholarships.

“(Running) keeps them healthy and strong,” he says.

“The track is a very powerful part of our history, not just for those who go on to become professionals, but the impact on general life. Many go on to get scholarships and influence their careers.”

For the most talented youngsters, the next step of the journey is Jamaica’s Boys and Girls Championships, a springboard to elite sprinting which takes place every year in a