Caribbean Athletes in the 2004 Olympic Games

2004 Medal Winners
Medal	Event	Athlete
Bahamas
Gold	Women's 400m	Tonique Darling
Bronze	Women's 200m	Debbie Ferguson
Jamaica
Gold	Women's 200m	Veronica Campbell
Gold	Women's 4x100 meters
	Tayna Lawrence, Sherone Simpson, Aleen Bailey and Veronica Campbell
Silver	Men's 400m Hurdles	Danny McFarlane
Bronze	Women's 4x400 meters
	Allison Beckford, Michelle Burgher, Nadia Davy, Sandie Richards, Ronetta Smith, Novlene Williams
Bronze	Women's 100m	Veronica Campbell
Trinidad and Tobago
Bronze	Men's 200m Individual Medley (swimming)	George Bovell

Veronica Campbell 3 medals

Caribbean Athletes represented the region well in the The 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. A total of 8 medals returned to the region through the efforts and performances of athletes from The Bahamas, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.

The athlete all will remember as we look back on the 2004 games in the years to come will undoubtedly be Veronica Campbell. The 22 year old became the first Jamaican/ Caribbean woman to win a Gold Medal in an Olympic sprint event. Caribbean women placed 2nd in the event for the past four games, Grace Jackson in 1988, Juliet Cuthbert (1992), Merlene Ottey (1996) all of Jamaica and Pauline Davis-Thompson (2000) of the Bahamas.

Bahamian Debbie Ferguson hot on Campbell's heels came in third to earn a Bronze in the event. Ferguson was a part of the celebrated "Golden Girls" Women's 4x100 metres relay team that won the island nation's first Olympic Gold in Sydney's 2000 games. Finishing second behind the Golden Girls in Sydney was the Jamaican team that included Campbell and Merlene Ottey. Several of the Jamaican athletes in Sydney protested Ottey's presence on their team citing her age as a hindrance which prevented them from wining a Gold in this event. This prompted Ottey to leave Jamaica to compete for Slovenia. The Jamaican team earned the Gold in Athens.

The Bahamas also celebrated their first Individual Olympic Gold Medal with Tonique Darling winning the women's 400 M event bringing their medal count to 2 medals in the games.

Jamaica's Prime Minister P.J. Patterson:

"What a glorious day for every Jamaican. Our women have proven that we are the best in the world. The sprint relay team deserves our warmest congratulations for bringing such great pride to the entire nation.

"As we all celebrate with them, we commend our athletes who have reached the finals in their respective events and have given of their best. The entire contingent in Athens has represented us with considerable distinction. Words cannot suffice to express our pleasure and a truly warm homecoming awaits them on their return."

The games were not without their share of controversy; Merlene Ottey surprised the international audience who had seen her run in the past 7 Olympics for Jamaica by switching to Slovenia. At 44 years young she reportedly set the record for the oldest Track and Field athlete in Olympic history. Puma an official sponsor of the Jamaican Olympic team warned International reggae star Buju Banton about his homophobic lyrics as he arrived in Athens for a Puma sponsored reggae concert preceding the games.

Upon Buju Banton's arrival in Athens, a senior PUMA staff member will brief him on our zero tolerance policy towards homophobia and other forms of prejudice.

Buju Banton will be told that if he chooses to break this policy he will not be allowed to perform at the Athens show and will no longer be supported by the PUMA brand.

Additionally, if Buju Banton defies this agreement and performs a song using anti-gay lyrics - either at the Athens concert or at any future concert anywhere in the world - PUMA will not associate with him in the future. This also holds true for all performers with which PUMA works.

Controversies withstanding, the athletes from the Caribbean made their region proud. They received heroic treatments as they returned to their respective islands and justifiably so. Tonique Darling earned her place in the Bahamian history books and as Veronica Campbell (2 Gold Medals a Bronze) was inspired to compete by Donald Quarrie, she will no doubt inspire excellence in others in Jamaica and throughout the region.

As we return to our regular sleeping habits, we will do so smiling as we remember the Euphoria of seeing our athletes crossing the line to earn Caribbean Gold while eagerly anticipating 2008.

Prelude

10,500 athletes representing 202 countries have converged on Athens for what is expected to be an exciting Olympics, even in the shadow of global terrorism. Many have hopes of leaving Athens with a gold medal, but many will be satisfied with any Olympic medal.

The Caribbean has sent an exciting group of athletes to represent our diverse region. Barbados has sent 9 athletes, the US Virgin Islands sent 6 athletes, Yipsi Moreno and Osleidys Menendez will be representing Cuba in the Hammer and Javelin competitions respectively. St. Lucia sends distance runner Zepherinus Joseph, swimmer Natasha Georgeos, and high jumper Levern Spencer to Athens. Antigua & Barbuda is represented in swimming with Maligne Williams and Crystal Clashings, Puerto Rico's lone representative will be Enrique Figueroa, while Felix Sanchez represents the Dominican Republic's best medal prospect in the Men's 400-metres hurdles.

Maritza Correia a swimmer for the U.S. Olympic team made history before the games commenced by becoming the first African-American woman to qualify for the U.S. Olympic swim team. Correia, who is of Guyana parentage could have qualified for the Olympic team in her native Puerto Rico, but she preferred the challenge of the more difficult U.S. trials. Co-incidentally Anthony Nesty who was born in Trinidad but who swam for his adopted country Suriname in the 1988 games in Seoul was the first black to win an Olympic Gold in swimming.

History

Throughout the years the Caribbean has always made an impact during the track and field competitions of the Olympics. Arthur Wint won Jamaica’s first Olympic medal in the 1948 games in London, also setting the then-world record for the 400 m (46.2) seconds. Hasely Crawford won Trinidad and Tobago’s first gold in the 100 meters during the Montreal Olympics in 1976. Ato Boldon who won a total of 4 medals (3 bronze and 1 silver) for Trinidad and Tobago in past games will be competing in the 100 & 200 metre races. This is perhaps his last chance at wining a goal in the twilight of his injury plagued career.

Jamaican-born Merlene Ottey will run in her 7th Olympic game however she will be competing for her adopted homeland of Slovenia. Ottey won her first medal, a Bronze in the 200 M on her Olympic debut in Moscow 24 years ago and has since accumulated a total of 8 medals (3 Silver & 5 Bronzes) including a silver medal in the 4x100 relay in Sydney that made her the oldest medallist in Olympic track and field history.

Arthur Wint

The Bahamas, another sprinting powerhouse best medal prospect appears to be Tonique Williams-Darling in the Women's 400-metres. The celebrated “golden girls” (Pauline Davis-Thompson , Eldece Clarke-Lewis, Debbie Ferguson, Sevatheda Fynes, and Chandra Sturrup) earned this Island nation their first Olympic gold medal in the last (2000) Olympic Games in Sydney.

Also representing the Bahamas will be Mark Knowles a professional tennis player currently ranked #7 in the world in the doubles competition. Knowles has played in the finals of four Grand Slam tournaments including a win at the Australian Open (2002) and runner up at Wimbled (2002).

It's the sprint races that attract the most attention. There's a good chance that this years 100 & 200-metre sprint champions could realistically come from the Caribbean: Ato Boldon and Darrel Brown (Trinidad), Kim Collins (St. Kitts), Dion Crabbe (British Virgin Islands), Veronica Campbell, Brigitte Foster, Asafa Powell and Usain Bolt (Jamaica), Brendan Christian and Daniel Bailey (Antigua) all have dreams of Olympic gold. There's no doubt that both the men's and women's sprint relay competitions will have our hearts beating and keep us on the edge of our seats.

In the other sports Andre Berto will boxing for Haiti. Berto who was born in Miami, to Haitian parents was disqualified from the U.S. team during the 2004 trials after pushing his opponent Juan McPherson to the canvas. At 152 lbs he will boxing as a welterweight. Of the 6 athletes Haiti is sending to this years games 4 are competing in “fighting” sports (boxing, judo and Taekwondo).

Our athletes are proud to represent their respective countries in the Olympics, and we're just as proud of them all for representing our part of the world with pride, which we call paradise; the Caribbean. Good luck to them all