JPA Media Release - “The Paralympic JA Spirit Burns in Tokyo”

The 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games will soon begin with more than 4000 athletes competing for coveted places in the history of the games and recognition and applause in their respective countries.

The burning spirit of the Jamaican delegation in Tokyo was evident at the team meeting last night and is kindling hope in athletes whose aspirations are not only for themselves but, more importantly, their country.

Sport Manager, Neville Sinclair, who is with the team in Tokyo, knows that feeling as he has a decorated history as a Paralympian. “I can embrace the hopes of my athletes and I can share in their dreams for I know the emotions that are welling up in them and they just want to express them”

Sport Administrator Ann-Marie Smith, who is also in Tokyo making sure that arrangements go seamlessly, has been to games with teams and understands the psyche of competition “Their eyes tell it all. Their words capture the intent and the will to do what they’ve trained for. I know their hearts are beating competitively” she said.

Alberto Campbell, who migrated at an early age and now resides in Australia where he trains and competes, is at home. He will start in the T20 400m and now gives a reminder to all athletes, Paralympians and Olympians “What it means to represent Jamaica. It means a world to me and I am honoured to represent my birth country” as he smiled quietly but confidently.

Chef de Mission, Richard Shaw, heads the delegation and is pulling all the threads together in a complex COVID - 19 pandemic environment, the protocols for which seem more detailed than those which were instituted at the Olympic Games. Shaw, along with team doctor Leroy Harrison, who heads the Urology Department at the Kingston Public hospital, however, continues with the business at hand as challenges in the Paralympic movement are not unfamiliar and so too is the spirit to overcome them and claim victory.

The Opening Ceremony takes place tomorrow when billions of people are expected to view a colourful spectacle under what the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) describes as the “Basic Policy” which will define the approach to the creative production which will showcase the Paralympic movement and give more than a taste of Japanese culture.

August 2021.

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