Aris

South Korea, the host country for the 2011 International Association of Athletics Federations' World Championships, have called on Jamaica for support.

Since Jamaica's dominance on the track in the sprints at the Beijing Olympic Games, where they won six gold medals, three silver and two bronze, a number of countries have been expressing an interest in receiving assistance from these shores, particularly in the area of coaching.

President of the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA), Howard Aris, in a recent interview with The Gleaner, confirmed officials from the South Korea Embassy had met with them to arrange a meeting for a delegation from that country on January 27.

It was agreed that a six-man delegation will be coming to get firsthand view of the Jamaican set-up.

"The chargé d'affaires was clear in saying what (they) are coming to do really is to see how we function here in Jamaica in track and field, and also to seek our support in having their event being successful," Aris said.

Although this summer's Berlin World Championships is months away, Aris hopes to benefit in the long term from this visit.

He said the fact that "a member of the delegation will be from their (South Korean) track and field federation", they will seek to take advantage in this area.

"What we intend to do in that meeting, is, since a member of the federation will be here, who I hope will be part of their organising committee, to try to identify from early suitable training facilities because we have to go there quite early to get acclimatised, as we did in Beijing," explained Aris.

Keriann Williams, chargé d'affaires secretary at the South Korean Embassy, confirmed the meeting while expanding on Aris' comment.

"They are coming mainly to see the sporting facilities here in Jamaica, such as the National Stadium, where triple Olympic gold-medallist Usain Bolt and MVP track Club train," Williams said.

Bolt won gold medals in the 100m (9.69 sec), 200m (19.30) and 4x100m (37.10), all record times.