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OTTEY'S STATUE UNVEILED
"Merlene Ottey is the best female Jamaican known around the world,” PM. Merlene Joyce Ottey, who represented Jamaica with distinction for over 20 years, has been honoured with a statue which was unveiled on Wednesday, December 28, at the National Stadium. The eight-foot, almost 700-pound statue, sculpted by Barry Watson and cast in bronze, depicted Ottey with her right hand outstretched as if reaching for the finish line. It was placed in the newly-established Statue Park to the right of the primary statue called “the athlete”. Donald Quarrie's statue was also rededicated and relocated to the left of “the athlete.” Both sprinters were present for the occasion. The 45-year-old Ottey, who won a record 14 World Outdoor Championships medals and eight Olympic medals said, “When Quarrie won his gold medal in the 200 metres at the Montreal Olympics in 1976, I told myself, I want to run in the next Olympics!”
She described her feeling on winning the 4x100m relay gold at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan. "I really wanted to run that relay and represent my country," said Ottey, who won bronze in both the 100 and 200 metres at the meet. That relay gold remains Jamaica's first and only in the 4x100 at the World Championships. "When the 4x100m relay girls at the 2004 Athens Olympics were nervous, I told them that they can win," said Ottey. Sport Minister Portia Simpson-Miller described Ottey, a past student of Mannings, Rusea's and Vere Technical, "as one of the greatest athletes of all time". The minister said Ottey - who ran sub-11 seconds 67 times in the 100m and 15 times under 22 seconds in the 200, had proven "that age is just a number". "She is consistent," Simpson Miller said, adding that her "dedication, commitment, and discipline" had made her the "greatest Jamaica female athlete of all time". Prime Minister PJ Patterson, referring to the veteran sprinter's choosing to run for Slovenia after 20 years of representing Jamaica. "No matter where you roam this will always be your home," Patterson said. According the Patterson, while Bob Marley was the "best male Jamaican known around the world", "Merlene Ottey is the best female Jamaican known around the world."
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"I live in
Slovenia, but I am still Jamaican," she stressed. "I want to help
Jamaica, assist the team, offer any assistance possible," said the
superstar who still holds the World Indoor 200m record of 21.87 secs,
set in Liévin, France, in February 1993.
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