Famous People From Jamaica

Jamaica is maybe best known for its music and for their sports athletes.

From day one we knew that sport and music had a great impact on the Jamaican culture. And when we landed in Jamaica we could see how important it was for them. Especially when they have big role models and idols like Bob Marley and Usain Bolt.

As we walked through the Jamaican streets we could hear the famous Jamaican reggae music performed by street musicians from Jamaica. The best known music genre in Jamaica is the reggae music, that is world famous because of Bob Marley. Robert Nesta Bob Marley was born 6. February 1945 in Nine Mile, Jamaica. He was a Jamaican songwriter, singer and guitarist. Marley was raised up in the slum in Kingston. Already in his teens Marley showed interest formusic. After a while Bob Marley formed a vocal group with three other friends,further he began his solo career, that later made him world wide famous.
   

And of course music has a big role in the Jamaican community, but don't forget how important sport is. Because, when you think of Jamaica, one of the things that you think about is Usain Bolt. Usain St Leo Bolt or Lightning Bolt, as some call him, is a Jamaican track and field sprinter. He was born 21. August 1986, in Montego Bay, Jamaica. He is regarded as the fastest man alive, and he is the first man to hold both the 200 metres and 100 metres world records since fully automatic time became mandatory. He has won 9 gold medals in olympics. It was in olympics in Beijing 2008, Bolt gained worldwide popularity for his double sprint victory in world record times. He is widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time.  At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he cemented his role as the best sprinter in history when he captured golds in the 100-meter, 200-meter, and 4 x 100-meter relay events, where he became the first person to win gold medals in all the three races in three straight Olympics.

Yohan Blake is another famous sprinter from Jamaica. Yohan is born 26. December 1989 in St. James. As kid Yohan had a huge interest for cricket, and wanted to become an cricket player, but later exchanged to be an track and field sprinter. But Blake is still keen on cricket and has an aim on becoming a cricket player and play for the West Indies, and maybe one day he will become a cricket player after all we know. Blake is also a big fan of the cricket team Royal Challengers Banglore (RCB). It was in 2011 Blake for the first time was in the media's spotlight, when he won gold at the 100 metres world championship as the youngest 100 metres champion ever. Blake is estimated as the second fastest man ever in both 100- and 200 metres after Usain Bolt.

And of course we have to include a famous female athlete from Jamaica. Shelly- Ann Fraser-Pryce is a Jamaican track and field sprinter born 27. December 1986 in Kingston. As a child Shelly Ann Fraser lived with a single parent, her mother, in poverty. Her first sprinting success was in the famous Jamaican School Championships, there she won gold at the age of 16. In 2008 she became the first caribbean woman to win 100m gold at the Olympics. On 22. February 2010 she was named as the first Unicef national goodwill ambassador for Jamaica. Shelly-Ann Fraser is ranked as fourth fastest 100-m female of all time, with a personal record of 10.70 seconds. Shelly has won 2 gold medals and 2 silver medals at the Olympics.

By Steffany Charles

SOURCES:

• http://school.eb.co.uk/levels/intermediate/article/329203
• https://www.olympic.org/usain-bolt
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelly-Ann_Fraser-Pryce
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usain_Bolt
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yohan_Blake