Team Jamaica arrives during the opening ceremonies for the XIV Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic yesterday. THE XIV PAN AMERICAN Games in the Dominican Republic got off to a colourful start with last night's opening ceremony in the capital, Santo Domingo.
As the nations paraded through the stadium, Jamaican veteran quarter-miler Davian Clarke was the country's flag bearer.
This Pan Am Games is the most expensive ever while being held, ironically, in the poorest country to have taken on the job of hosting the event. A record 5,300 athletes from 42 countries representing North, South and Central America and the Caribbean will compete in 40 sports.
Jamaica's main medal hopes are in track and field but until that section of the multi-sports championships gets going on Tuesday, Jamaica's shooting and hockey teams will hold the spotlight.
The country's areas of participation today will be in the 10m pistol shooting (men) and 10m air rifle competition. Both begin in San Souci at 7:00 a.m.
The Jamaican rifle and pistol bearers are Warren Blake, Ronald Brown, Keith Hammond, David Rickman and Dawn Kobayashi. Kobayashi is the lone female shooter.
Meanwhile, the women's hockey team bows into action tomorrow. The hockey ladies, who qualified for the Pan Am Games by placing second at the 2002 Central American and Caribbean Games, will face stiff competition from Argentina (winners of the 1999 Pan American Games), Chile, (second at the 2003 South American Championships), Trinidad and Tobago (winners of the 2002 Central American and Caribbean Games), the US (second at the 2001 Pan American Cup), Canada, (third at the 2001 Pan American Cup) and 2001 fourth-place finisher at the Pan American Cup, Uruguay.
Jamaica will compete in eight disciplines at the Games: badminton, cycling, shooting, tennis, hockey, squash, swimming and athletics.
In 1999, at Winnipeg, Canada, Jamaica pocketed 13 medals (three gold, four silver and six bronze) for eighth place behind champions the United States.
Unfortunately, before any of the action had begun, doping allegations surfaced yesterday -- almost as inevitable as the organisational problems for which Dominican officials felt obliged to apologise for a week in advance.
World No. 1-ranked long jumper Maurren Higa Maggi of Brazil was handed a provisional suspension by her country's athletics federation while she is investigated for possible use of anabolic steroids. She could face a two-year ban if found guilty.
Fighting back tears during a press conference, Maggi said she would never intentionally use banned steroids and will fight to protect her reputation so she can compete in the Athens Olympics.
On the eve of the opening ceremony, electrical cables were still being threaded, signs erected, installations painted. Reports swirled that the track at the Olympic Stadium might not make the cut, throwing the whole event into turmoil.
But Dominican officials now insist they have won the race against the clock, and President Hipolito Mejia says the country can hold its head high.
"These games will be a party for all Dominicans," he predicted.
The cost of staging the bonanza -- at least US$175 million, maybe even double that -- has fuelled controversy, with many critics saying the money should have been better spent on the country's poor.
The government this week announced a ban on public demonstrations not already agreed upon with authorities for the duration of the Games.
But that didn't deter hundreds of protesters marching through a northern section of the city yesterday to highlight the plight of the country's poor. Police used tear gas to break them up. No serious injuries were reported.
