All of my colleagues and friends here, we are looking forward to watching the Olympic Games next year in Beijing. This will be a historic opportunity. There is no question that our attention will be focused very, very, very strongly on track and field. Well, I hope to see our men and women from Jamaica acting as leading performers in the sprint competitions.

Asafa Powell is the world's fastest man and Veronica Campbell is a golden girl for her impressive performances in the Athens Olympics and other subsequent competitions. We think that they will lead our other very, very talented athletes to strong performances in Beijing next year.

I'm very, very impressed by the work that is taking place here in Beijing in the preparation for next year's Olympics. The stadiums are being built. The facilities and transportation arrangements and so on are all very impressive and should make next year's competition and the overall event here in Beijing one of the most exciting and impressive event we have ever seen.

For the Olympics itself, Jamaica will have a fairly strong team. I look forward to working with them and the local organizers to make sure that this is the most successful Olympic Competition as possible.

(China.org.cn November 28, 2007)