Jamaica’s Usain Bolt has posted a world leading 19.67 (a Jamaican record) on Sunday in Athens to add to his World Record 9.72 in the 100m. This makes him the fastest 100/200m runner in the history of the world. Bolt is in fine form coming up to the Olympics but these times don’t mean anything if you cannot win at the big event. Jamaican athletes are historically mentally weak coming up to the big meets (Olympics and World Championships) and this is my concern. Bolt I think has the required confidence to beat the Americans who are always our main threat. They always peak (both mentally and physically) at the right time but right now Bolt is way ahead of the pack. if he loses either the 100m or 200m, it will be an upset. We’ll see in Beijing.

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The idea of Hi5, a social networking site where friends can network and meet new friends has taken Jamaica by storm. Everyone wants to be on it, which tempts me to just stop using it. Jamaicans like to be seen and to compete. We have a fierce competitive spirit which makes us do very well in whatever we do (as long as someone is trying to outdo us), whether for good or bad. When we are bad, we are very bad (crime) and when we are good we are very good (sports and academics).

So, being able to “out-profile” the other, we take it seriously. We want to be seen, but no one must look better than us. This is what has sustained our dancehall culture…competition. Even if we don’t have anywhere to live, when that dance comes on weekend, they are going to look “hot” in the latest fashions. It always surprises me how the “poor” people don’t look poor anymore at the dance or stage shows. The point is even if we are poor, no one must say we didn’t look good.

Now Hi5 has become one big dancehall for us. Everyone wants to be on it and to be told: “I saw you on Hi5″. We can compete by showing our best pictures looking our sexiest and most affluent and tell everyone what we want them to hear. On top of that, we can find sexual partners by becoming friends online and trading phone numbers. No Facebook, MySpace or any other social networking site can compete with the dancehall that Hi5 is. After all, dancehall is Jamaican!