08 Olympics, Reason for Hope-Eleuthera and the Caribbean

With a population of 35 to 40 million, the many islands of the Caribbean constitute a miniscule proportion of the globe. However, disproportionately we have an awesome opportunity as a region to bring home quality medals and finishes from the Beijing 2008 Olympics, on August 8th to 24th. Overall we should provide a modest yet powerful contribution. The Bahamas along with Cuba, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago have been the top four in recent years with the contributions of the likes of "The Golden Girls" (Bahamas), Donald Quarie (Jamaica), Marlene Ottey (Jamaica), Ato Bolton (Trinidad) and any number of boxers from Cuba. In 2008 the names to look out for include, Bahamian Donald Thomas-world high-jump champ in Osaka, 100m record holder Usain Bolt (Jamaica), 100m ex titlist Asafa Powell (Jamaica), 200m Olympic gold medalist Veronica Campbell-Brown (Jamaica), Cuban 110m hurdles world titlist Dayron Robles as well as many other performers in several categories, including baseball, boxing, wrestling and volleyball. Eleutherans will have our hearts and eyes on 400m runner, Chris Brown of Weymss Bight, a key component of World Championship 4x400 national teams. In June, Brown defeated recently crowned NCAA 400m champion Andretti Bain in a hotly contested 400m in the Scotiabank Olympic Trials in Nassau with a time of 45.43 sec vs. Bain's 45.53. "I am confident now that the trials are over with and done so I could now focus on Beijing. I have a few more meets in Europe so I am confident that I can get on the medal podium in Beijing", said Brown in conversation with a Nassau paper after the event.

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