The University of the West Indies (UWI) recently reaped some of the benefits from having Olympian Usain Bolt training on the Campus. Six Danish track athletes and their coach travelled to Jamaica from December to January to stay and train on the Mona Campus in preparation for the 2009 indoor track season.

The chance to seize the opportunity to train in Jamaica came out of discussions between IAAF council member and NACAC president Neville “Teddy” McCook and UWI Mona sports team, led by Principal Professor Gordon Shirley. Mr McCook, who has been deluged with requests from teams throughout the world wishing to train in Jamaica and the university representatives thought a marriage between both entities would be ideal.

So with the Danish athletes and their trainers wanting to “run from the cold” and soak up some of the atmosphere of the Beijing success, the UWI Mona training facilities provided the perfect synergy.
   
Athletes would be exposed to the coach of triple Olympic Gold Medalist Usain Bolt, Glen Mills and Coach Fitz Coleman, while utilizing the training amenities at the now famous Mona Bowl training facilities.  Combined with the distinct possibility of rubbing shoulders and sharing training space with Usain Bolt and maybe seeing members of MVP team such as, Asafa Powell, Melaine Walker and Shelly-Ann Frazer among many other famous track speedsters – plus with the almost guaranteed sunshine of Jamaica - created an ideal, hard to ignore condition for the Danes.
 
Accompanied by their national coach Mikkel Larson, female athletes Sara Petersen, who currently holds the national record in the 100m hurdles; Anne Effersoe, an up and coming junior sprinter; male sprinters Martin Krabbe, Andreas Bube, hurdlers Jon Yde Bentsen and Andreas Martinsen landed in sunny Jamaica in December.
   
Coach Larsen said Jamaica was chosen, not only because of the climate it offered but because of the opportunity to expose his young athletes to an environment where world-class athletes were developed and where they train which would help to prepare his athletes for the indoor track season.
     
The University provided the team with accommodation for their two-week stay which allowed them exposure not only to their specialised events but also to the other offerings of the Campus. An added component of these arrangements was that High Performance Training Centre coach Fitz Coleman guided both athletes and coach in some of the techniques of sprint hurdling.
 
This visit by the Danish athletes helps to underscore the vision of the UWI – “shift in the horizon” – through the development of sports. The university’s upcoming major project – building of the Mona Bowl for Sporting Excellence – is a vision aimed at engaging top level athletes through a support system of psychology, nutrition, sports medicine, testing, research and community development.
 
These goals will definitely be achieved through partnerships with regional representatives such as Teddy McCook and other NACAC members, which will strengthen and enhance the process of development that is guaranteed to bring the world to our region.