Jamaica Sports News, Kingston: A Columbian delegation of 19 athletes and 4 trainers, on Thursday completed a 10-day training camp in Jamaica.
The cultural and sports exchange programme which began in 2011, is designed to expose the Columbians to the training and expertise here in Jamaica.
While housed at the University of the West Indies campus, the group was able to use the facilities at the national stadium and the Usain Bolt Track under the guidance of sprint coach Okeil Stewart. “What I can say about them is that they are very enthused about what they want to do. However, their development is not where we would like it to be, compared to our Jamaican athletes.”
Stewart says based on what he has seen, he believes that if their stay in Jamaica can be extended, a better programme could be developed for them. “We believe we can help them to develop their sprint technique and as such have better fundamentals which would enable them to deliver improved performances on the international stage.”
Over the years, The Jamaica Olympic association has played a major role in making the visit of the Columbians to Jamaica possible and according to the association’s corporate communications specialist Heather Bernard, it’s something they hope will continue. “We are very happy that we had the opportunity to interact with them and to share some of our expertise with them and we hope that we can continue to do many other things with them in the future.”