CEMENTING its legacy and platform for future sportsmen and sportswomen, the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA), under the theme ‘Next Generation’, broke ground on Thursday to build out its Olympic Manor at Cunningham Avenue in Kingston.

When Joel Ricketts places his foot on his board in Cali, Colombia at the Junior Pan American Games later this year, he will have created history as the first Jamaican to compete in skateboarding in international competition but it will be only his first steps to representing the black, green and gold at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

The Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) and the Guatemalan Olympic Committee (GOC) created history recently when both sport apex bodies executed a sports co-operation agreement in Greece where national governing sport committees of countries worldwide congregated for the XXV General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committee (ANOC).

In describing this historic feat, president of the Jamaica Olympic Association, Christopher Samuda, said, “The signing of the agreement signifies the abiding commitment of JOA and GOC to deepen our already strong bi-lateral relationship under which athletes, coaches, administrators, and member federations will be the beneficiaries of initiatives of capacity-building and institutional strengthening, in research, training and education, sport-specific skills, and the sciences and technology of sport.”

President of the Guatemalan Olympic Committee, Gerardo Aguirre, also embraced the historic moment in regional sporting history by stating, “For us, Guatemala’s NOC, we identified this as an opportunity to generate a connection with sport and athletes between Jamaica and Guatemala. Jamaica has specific strengths in sport, and Guatemala has developed others, making these useful for us all to share. Therefore, this makes the signing of this agreement a marvellous opportunity and from it can come various avenues of activities so that Jamaican and Guatemalan athletes can come together.”

Under the agreement the national sporting bodies will pursue initiatives of cooperation in the areas of applied sport sciences, sport medicine, technology, Olympic values, anti-doping, community and recreational sport, as well as sport administration. It will facilitate the exchange of athletes and coaches who will benefit from educational and technical programmes.

Secretary general and CEO of the Jamaica Olympic Association Ryan Foster, in making the announcement stated that, “Both Olympic bodies understand that efforts and relationships in sport must first be athlete-centric and dedicated, and then for stakeholders’ engagement and empowerment, and this agreement which we have signed is written testimony of that fact and the reality that friendships and unity in sport defy language barriers and the breadth of seas and oceans.”

Director of International Affairs of the Guatemalan Olympic Committee Neville Steins emphasised “the importance and high value of this agreement in the context of bringing not only our countries together through sport, but more still, bringing together the Caribbean and Central America in eliminating the absence of communication, owing to language differences, through the use of sport and thus bring our countries’ athletes together for the common good”.

The JOA’s foreign policy supports strong and strategic partnerships in providing enabling opportunities for athletes, coaches, and administrators.

“The JOA will continue to build strong partnerships across borders and continents. We started in December 2017 when we inked in Japan with the Tottori Prefecture Government an agreement which is facilitating collaboration beyond the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games as for us sport development and diplomacy go beyond events and are life-changing experiences spanning generations. We will continue in earnest as sport is an enabler, equaliser, and unifier,” President Samuda remarked.

The first Junior Panamerican Games will take place in Cali, Colombia, between November 25 and December 5 and preparations are in the final stages for what many predict will be a spectacular multi-sport event.

The current administration of the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) continues to place emphasis on the importance of contributing and influencing the dialogue of sport development regionally and internationally and creating platforms for meaningful advocacy on critical issues that will advance, qualitatively, multilateral relationships.

In June 2017, when the Christopher Samuda-led governing body for Olympic and non-Olympic sports assumed office, the mantra was and continues to be “it will be business unusual” which has become the way of life at its corporate office at Olympic Manor at 9 Cunningham Avenue, Kingston.

Mr Christopher Samuda, the JOA president, is reported as saying that the headquarters, which will retain its name, Olympic Manor, “will be foremost a family home for members, but, importantly, it will be a centre… where the collective vision will drive a unified mission for sport and sport development”.

For the Jamaica Bodybuilding and Fitness Association (JABBFA), they now have that champion feeling because they were able to have the country represented at the 2021 International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness’ 48th Central American and Caribbean Championships, which went down at mid-August in El Salvador’s capital with a similar name, San Salvador.

Jamaica’s Alb erto Campbell will start his quest for a medal this morning (Jamaica time) when he lines up in the first heat of the men’s T20 400m at the Paralympic Games at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium.

Campbell, who is one of two track and field athletes in the delegation, switched his allegiance from Australia where he also holds citizenship after he migrated there as a child.

The other track and field athlete, Sylvia Grant, finished 10th in the F57 women’s discus throw on Friday with a season’s best throw of 23.12m.

Campbell, who has a personal best 49.44 seconds time, ran a best of 51.32 seconds so far this year and will hope to finish in the top three to secure automatic qualification to the final round.

France’s Charles-Antoine comes into the race with the best time this year after running is personal best 48.64 seconds, just ahead of Spain’s Deliber Rodriquez Ramirez, who ran 48.98 seconds.

On Saturday night, Jamaica time, Theodor Subba lost both of his fights in his debut in the men’s +100kg judo, both to more experienced opponents at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo.

In the first round he lost to Iran’s Kheirollahzadeh Mohammadreza, a former Para World Champion in Portugal in 2018 and who was also second at the Asian Para Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, the same year.

Mohammadreza, who went on to win the gold medal, won by a 10-0 scoreline and Subba, who advanced to the repêchage also lost to Azerbaijan’s four-time Paralympian and former World and European Champion Iiham Zakiyev by the same score.

There was an awful lot of fear surrounding the hosting of the Games of 32nd Olympiad, even after a one-year delay, but at the close of the 17-day event, Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) President Christopher Samuda has hailed the organisers for delivering a safe and secured Olympics.