World Junior Championships get under way with splash of colour and culture By Charmaine Austin, Staff Reporter
Scenes from the opening ceremony of the ninth IAAF/Coca Cola World Junior Championships in athletics at the National Stadium yesterday. LEFT: A colourfully attired boy and girl do the Maypole dance to the delight of the crowd. CENTRE: Representatives of the Jamaica team wave to spectators during the parade of teams. RIGHT: Competitors from the 157 participating countries and flag-bearing Jamaican cadets march on the newly-laid Mondo track inside the National Stadium. - Norman Grindley /Staff Photographer
THE EFFORTS of the local organising committee for Kingston 2002 shone like a beacon amidst a sea of colour and pageantry at the opening ceremony of the ninth IAAF/Coca Cola World Junior Championships at the National Stadium yesterday.
Prime Minister P.J. Patterson officially declared the championships open after an emotion-filled parade of the 157 participating nations and a well-received cultural package that whet the appetite of spectators for what was to come.
In front of a packed grandstand that saved its loudest cheers for the host country, Mr. Patterson, who was repeatedly cheered, said: "Let the games begin" and so it began.
Young boys and girls dressed in colourful outfits invaded the grassy infield and added a cultural touch to the proceedings with creative and well-choreographed moves.
Memories of "Old Jamaica" were resurrected with the Maypole dance while another set of youngsters tantalised the crowd with a combination of old and new moves while performers from ASHE sang and danced with the youngsters.
Not to be outdone was a group of volunteers that sat opposite the grand stand in the formation of the Jamaica flag in their black, green and gold shirts. They clapped and danced and occasionally did the Mexican wave.
A number of anniversaries also highlighted the opening including the 80th birthday of Olympian Herb McKenley, who was a member of Jamaica's 4x400 metres relay team that gave Jamaica its first Olympic gold medal in Helsinki 50 years ago.
Also, the National Stadium was built 40 years ago while the IAAF and the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association marked their 90th and 70th birthdays respectively.
International Amateur Athletic Association (IAAF) president Lamine Diack said the country was the right place to host such an event and encouraged every athlete to give of his/her best over the next five days.
"Jamaica, a country of young people, is the right place to host a great edition of these Junior Championships," Mr. Diack said.
"The whole country has been caught up in the excitement of this World Junior Championships. It gives an opportunity to more young Jamaican athletes to perform at the world level and I am sure we will see that the country is capable of organising a top-class event with style," he said.
Five-time world and Olympic champion sprinter Donovan Bailey of Canada, local government officials, ambassadors and other foreign diplomats and representatives of the IAAF were in attendance at yesterday's opening.
