IT WAS a proud Winston Watt who carried the Jamaican flag into a packed Rice-Eccles Olympic Stadium for the opening of the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games on Friday night.The three-time Olympian, accompanied by teammates Lascelles Brown and Clive McDonald and Jamaica Olympic Association president Mike Fennell, entered the Stadium to thunderous applause.
"I really felt honoured. I have been to three previous Winter Olympics as a team member but this time it was very different," Watt said.
"Here I was with the Jamaican flag in front of the whole world and walking in to cheers second only to the host country, the United States. It was a really proud moment for me."
The ceremony which saw 84 countries marching with their national flags lacked the colour and drama seen at the opening of the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney but provided several inspirational moments.
An eerie silence greeted the arrival of the tattered 'Ground Zero' American flag recovered from the World Trade Center following the events of September 11 last year.
There was a theatrical tribute to the American west that paid homage to its Indian roots. The Olympic flag was escorted into the Stadium by inspirational figures from each continent. Astronaut and Senator John Glenn from the Americas, former Poland president Lech Walesa from Europe, human rights leader Desmond Tutu from Africa, Japan's gold medallist ski jumper Kazuyoshi Funaki from Asia and gold medal track star Cathy Freeman of Australia who lighted the cauldron at the Sydney Games.
America's 1980 men's hockey team lit the cauldron here while President George Bush declared the Games open.
Jamaica, represented here by a two-man bobsleigh team does not get into real action until February 16 and Watt is predicting a surprise.
"This is the hardest we have prepared for any Winter Games. Lack of sponsorship prevented us from having the desired competition and to compete in more races but we are here to perform," Watt said yesterday.
"Everybody here knows we are the fastest starters on ice and we are going out there as underdogs hoping to shock the world."
The Jamaicans will do practice runs at Park City, Salt Lake on Wednesday and Thursday before Saturday.
The two-man bobsleigh competition is held over two days with two runs contested each day. Final standings are determined by the total time over four runs. The first two runs are on Saturday with the last two the following day.
Assistant Sport Editor Elton Tucker is a guest of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the XIX Winter Games in Salt Lake City. His trip was made possible through the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) under the IOC's International Co-operation project.
