On Tuesday technical leader to Jamaica’s Olympic Games Don Quarrie paid homage to former Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) president, Howard Aris, for his vision in identifying the University of Birmingham as the team's pre-Olympic training base, in what he considers one of the most important Olympic Games for the country.
Aris passed away late 2011 but played a central role in sealing a deal between the JAAA and the Birmingham City Council, which led to the availability of the university's impressive facilities.
"This was initiated by Mr Aris," said Quarrie yesterday. "We speak about how great this is and all of that, but without his vision to look around, we don't know what would have happened, and so I want to pay tribute to him for his vision.
"We knew that London was going to be a special Olympics for us as a nation, and that we needed to make a decision on a place that was going to be suitable and capable of housing our athletes in a nice, relaxed manner. We chose Birmingham and we are not in any way disappointed," Quarrie added.
Quarrie noted that the Birmingham experience has raised the standard and confirmed that the JAAA will, in the future, be looking to secure similar arrangements for major championships.
"They have spoiled us and now we are going to London and we are like, well, we won't get this special treatment anymore," Quarrie laughed. "This is something that we will be looking into as far as the future of training camps goes, because the standard has been raised."
When pressed on his expectations for the team as it relates to medal, Quarrie, who won gold and bronze medals in the 1976 and 1980 Olympic Games and a 100m silver in 1976, said that the management is simply focusing on preparing the best environment for the team to excel.
All feeds
