The Honourable Usain St. Leo Bolt, O.J - Too Soon?

At 23 years old, Usain Bolt will be conferred with Jamaica's fourth highest national honour, the Commander of the Order of Jamaica aka The Honourable Usain Bolt, O.J. (backslash, backslash, comma, comma, dot, dot). He will also be given full diplomatic status as an ambassador-at-large; and there's more! Highway 2000, yes the same highway he smashed his brand new BMW on last year, is to be renamed the Usain Bolt Highway!

This comes after his recent exploits in Berlin at the World Athletics Championships where he broke his own records and made it look easy, slicing and dicing his 19.30 to 19.19 in the 200m and stomping heavily on his 9.69 with 9.58 in the 100m. He's also attributed with inspiring the Jamaican team to dominate the sprint events, making for what is our most successful medal haul in the history of Jamaican Athletics, two years in a row!

Now with all this record breaking going on all over the place, it seems like our Jamaican government wants to get in on the act. They are in a mad rush to top last year's Olympics after-party spendings and proclamations with a new bag of tricks and gimmicks -bestowing on a this young son of Jamaica, accolades which he does not yet deserve. Yes, I said it and I'm sure I'm not the only Jamaican that thinks so. It's just too much too soon. What on earth are they thinking?

It was only three weeks ago I witnessed this same impressive athlete on TV stating "a gaza mi seh", unwittingly proclaiming his allegiance to Vybz Kartel and his Portmore Empire as opposed to Mavado and the rest of the Gully Gods. I laugh with a serious face everytime I say gaza vs gully. Is this the character we wish to bestow the nation's fourth highest and honourable award to? I'm sorry, but as a 22 year old Jamaican I am not impressed. Scratch that, I'm not sorry -I'm plainly and simply not impressed! Give him a piece-a lan', give him a birthday party, name the new mondo tracks after him (shouldn't even get that much yet), but please don't bestow so much responsibility on the young man. Why can't we just let the man do what he does best, RUN! Just let him run. Give him good tracks to run on. Create more opportunities for other athletes to be like him. Lawd man is frighten we frighten suh? Labour party frighten sah.

Bolt's career is still in it's infancy, as successful as it has been. He's accomplished alot but he has a whole lot more to come and we should let him do that first before we crown him with the highest and the best and the most of everything.

Asafa Powell dominated the sprints for so many years, breaking his record over and over again, and we never ever saw this kind of reception. Is it because Bolt can gully creep? Or that he's the most arrogant and pompous show man ever to run out of lane 3? What exactly is the irrational obsession with the man that just wants to run. I don't think this is what he meant when he said he wanted to become a legend. In fact, it was him who recently said he doesn't think he's a legend yet, so why are we rushing the thing?

----THIS POST Is uNFINISHED----- too busy to finish it right now... hope y'all leave comments if u wanna cuss or agree :)