London, 24 April 2021 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has congratulated “exceptional” Elaine Thompson-Herah after the Jamaican sprinter won the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year award.

Minister Grange said winning the Laureus award was “another well-deserved recognition of the best athlete in the world”.

According to Minister Grange, this “latest success for the fastest woman alive is a tribute to Thompson-Herah’s hard work and sacrifice.”

Thompson-Herah is the first Jamaican woman to win the Laureus award.

Her compatriot, Usain Bolt, won the Laureus award four times.

Minister Grange sent her congratulations from London where she will launch the Jamaica 60 programme of activities in the United Kingdom on Monday evening at the White City House.

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Kingston, 10 June 2021 (JIS) - The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, says the Government continued to invest in improving the country’s sport infrastructure, even in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

“In spite of the pandemic, we were working. We used the opportunity to do things that did not involve large gatherings and to get the infrastructure up to date during the slow period,” she said, during her contribution to the 2021/22 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representative, on June 8.

Providing an update, Minister Grange informed that the Government is procuring a new pump for the pool at the National Aquatic Centre, which should arrive and be installed by the end of the month. 

“In the meantime, we hired divers to clean the pool, so that our aquatic athletes are still able to use the facility,” she said.

Minister Grange further informed that the running track inside the National Stadium was recently resurfaced at a cost of $60 million. 

“The track manufacturers also created and installed an outdoor basketball court made especially for Jamaica. We will monitor the performance of that surface… to see if it will be a suitable [material] to replace the outdoor netball courts, which are currently far from ideal,” she said. 

In the meantime, the Minister informed that the Government continues to pursue the redevelopment of the National Stadium and the Trelawny Stadium.

Our development proposal, which is currently going through the Public Investment Management system, will see both facilities being transformed over a period of five years into modern stadia with state-of-the-art facilities that will be able to sustain their operations. In fact, the Trelawny Stadium will be at the centre of sports tourism and entertainment,” she said.

Minister Grange further noted that the Government is continuing to invest in facilities at the grassroots level, pointing out that during the last financial year, $117 million was spent through the Sports Development Foundation Jamaica to put in and upgrade sports facilities in 20 schools and communities. 

On another matter, the Minister said “our major challenge and greatest success” during the difficult period was working with the various federations to achieve the safe reopening of the sport sector. 

“The well-designed protocols have served to keep our athletes, coaches and officials safe. The Ministry has also facilitated the vaccination of several of our athletes and coaches as they get ready for local and international competitions,” Minister Grange noted.

She encouraged Jamaicans to continue to observe the protocols, “whether they are vaccinated or not”, and urged athletes who are not yet vaccinated to do so now. 

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Kingston, 18 November 2020 – The Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport has paid a balance of just under US$71,000 which was outstanding on the hospital bill for long distance runner, Kemoy Campbell, who had collapsed while competing at the Millrose Games in New York City in the United Sates in February last year.

Campbell had developed a heart problem and after receiving an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, ultimately had to be fitted with a pace maker.

Initially, the Ministry’s Jamaica Athletes Insurance Plan (JAIP) paid US$31,677.00 towards settlement of his medical bill while he also paid an amount through his personal insurance plan but there was still the outstanding balance of US$71,000.

Minister Olivia Grange said, “The Ministry felt duty bound to assist Kemoy. He has performed very well for Jamaica and in fact, as we know, he fell ill on the track. And so the least we could do to show appreciation and gratitude to him was to assist in his time of great need.

“I am happy that through the JAIP and the Sports Development Foundation (SDF) we were able to give Kemoy the level of assistance that concluded settlement of his medical bills and that he is doing well.

“I continue to encourage athletes to sign up for the Jamaica Athletes Insurance Plan and maintain contact with the Sport Division of the Ministry to ensure that their health and welfare matters are in order.”

In expressing gratitude, Campbell said, “My family and I would like to sincerely thank Minister Grange for helping me with my medical bills. After my second incident in March 2020, the Minister reached out to me and told me that I shouldn’t worry about the bills, as she was willing to help me pay for my medical expenses following my surgery.
“This meant so much to me because my hospital stay and surgery were very expensive. Knowing that the Minister and Jamaica were there for me during this tough time helped me get through the months following. I really appreciate everything that the Minister and Jamaica have done for me and will always be grateful.”

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Kingston, 10 February 2020 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, says the sprinter, Asafa Powell, became “one of Jamaica’s greatest athletes” because of “a critical eye, care and support” of his coach, family and community.

Minister Grange was speaking at the unveiling of the statue in tribute to Powell on Sunday at the National Stadium.

The Prime Minister, the Most Honourable Andrew Holness, unveiled the statue during a special ceremony.

Minister Grange said Asafa Powell’s outstanding career showed “how consistent, determined and strategic support can trigger success of immeasurable proportions.”

The Minister praised Powell’s parents — William and Cislyn — as well as coach Stephen Francis who discovered Asafa after he finished seventh in his final race at Boys and Girls Champs.

“Incredibly, with his coming seventh, Stephen Francis… saw his talent and began to work with him. This inauspicious intervention has led to the creation of one of Jamaica’s greatest athletes,” said Minister Grange.

Asafa Powell is the first Jamaican to break the world record in the 100 metres and has completed the 100 metres in under ten seconds more times than anyone. His world record currently stands at 97 sub-10 seconds finishes. Minister Grange prays that he will be able to make it to a hundred in the near future.

The Minister said the unveiling of the statue of Asafa Powell represented the “fulfilment of a promise we made a few years ago on the back of our unparalleled successes in the field of athletics – that we would create statues in recognition of four of our greatest athletes.”

The statue of Asafa Powell is the final of the four to be mounted in Statue Park at the National Stadium following sculptures of Usain Bolt, Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce and Veronica Campbell Brown.

The renowned Jamaican sculptor, Basil Watson, was commissioned to produce all four sculptures under the Jamaica 55 Legacy Programme.

Minister Grange praised Watson, whom she described as a “national treasure” for his “great work on all four statues, which has assisted us in achieving our objectives.”

According to Minister Grange, “the statues not only highlight Jamaican athletic success but will serve as inspiration for all of us about what is possible when we try.”

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Kingston, 23 October 2019 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, says that the statue in honour of Veronica Campbell Brown at the National Stadium is a fitting tribute to an outstanding athlete.

The Prime Minister, the Most Honourable Andrew Holness, unveiled the statue of the Olympic and World Champion sprinter on Sunday.

The statue was commissioned by the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport as a Jamaica 55 Legacy Project to celebrate the country’s glorious heritage in track and field.

In her tribute to Veronica Campbell Brown at the unveiling of the statue, Minister Grange said that “VCB will always be remembered as a young woman of no mean order, one who was always able to draw on her inner strength and come through with literally flying colours when her country and fellow athletes demanded it.”

Since 1997, VCB has won 49 medals, including 27 gold, representing Jamaica in international competitions. During her glittering career, she became the first Jamaican to win a global 100 metres title, the first woman to win the sprint double at the IAAF World Junior Championships, the youngest Jamaican woman to win an Olympic medal, the first Caribbean woman to win an Olympic sprint title, among other achievements.

Minister Grange said:

“Not many of our athletes can speak to the longevity and consistency of VCB. From her earliest days as a teenager blazing on the tracks of the regional championships and then at the National Stadium, representing her school, Vere Technical, in Girls’ Champs, to even this point in her life, she has had a long and distinguished career for which she must be justly proud. Some of us have been able to watch her grow through junior, youth and professional athletics.
In every sphere of competition, VCB stood out. She stamped her class in every arena of local, national and global sport.”

The statue in tribute to Campbell Brown — to the scale of one and quarter life size — has been mounted at Statue Park in the National Stadium beside the statue of her role model, Merlene Ottey.

The VCB statue is the third of four designed by Basil Watson for the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport.

The first two statues of Usain Bolt and Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce were unveiled in 2017 and 2018 respectively. The statue of Asafa Powell, the last in the series, will be unveiled in 2020.

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Kingston 10 May 2019 – Lane two in the Class Three 100 metres for girls was supposed to be Chantea Skyers’ lane. The young Red Hills Primary School athlete had been preparing for months to compete in the Insports Championships when she went missing and was later found dead.

Today — the second of the three-day Championships — was to have been Chantea’s moment; the day she had been working towards.

Her coach, Phillip Anderson, said she was a “very promising” athlete. “She had the ability to reach just as far as Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. She was there and somehow we lost her… I don’t know why they had to take her,” Mr Anderson continued.

At the request of the Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, Chantea’s lane was not taken by another athlete. Instead, as the competitors faced the starter in the Class Three 100 metres for girls, a picture of the slain athlete and roses placed by her mother, Christal Service, and Minister Grange, occupied lane two.

Miss Service, overwhelmed, was unable to give a statement.

Minister Grange said it was “sad to recall that on her way from school, Chantea was taken, abused and tragically killed. We all feel the loss deeply, so you can imagine how her mother feels today… She’s here in spirit. She ran her race today.”

The decision to “keep her lane free” was intended to honour the young runner and to appeal to the nation for greater effort to protect children.

“As a government we will continue to do what we can to safeguard our children. This is Child Month and it is also the launch of Workers’ Week and Labour Day and our theme for Labour Day is safety of our children and it’s our responsibility, it’s your responsibility, it’s the responsibility of all of us and so we will continue to play our part and to do even more to secure our children.”

The Eastern Zone of the Insports Primary Schools’ Track and Field Championships concludes on Saturday.

The Central Zone Championships will take place at GC Foster College of Physical Education and Sport from May 13-15; and the Western Championships will be held at St Elizabeth Technical High School from May 16-18.

The Honourable Olivia Grange, Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, has said that it was fulfilling that in the same breath as the nation on Saturday night saw Usain Bolt run his last professional race in Jamaica, there will be the opportunity to this week to see “some of what is in the cradle and will be coming through to succeed the likes of Usain.”