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Jamaican Usain Bolt will be honored with statue in his city

The statue of the multi-time Olympic and world champion is scheduled to be erected by the end of the year.

According to a report from the Jamaica Observer, a town in Jamaica has plans to honor Usain Bolt by erecting a statue of him within the next couple of months. The city of Falmouth is in Bolt’s home parish (a term used to describe different regions in Jamaica) of Trelawny, although the multiple Olympic and world championship gold medalist was actually born in Sherwood Content, a small town half an hour south of the soon-to-be site of the statue. Bolt’s fellow Team Jamaica sprinter and Olympic champion Veronica Campbell–Brown — another native of Trelawny Parish — will also be celebrated, with a school set to be named after her. 

Honoring the greats 

Bolt is the world record-holder in the 100m (9.58 seconds) and 200m (19.19 seconds), a 14-time world championship medalist (11 gold, two silver, one bronze) and eight-time Olympic champion. Like Bolt, Campbell-Brown had an unforgettable career, winning eight Olympic medals (three gold, three silver, two bronze) and 11 world championship medals (three gold, seven silver, one bronze), and she competed at five Olympic Games. These two sprinters are without a doubt a couple of the greatest athletes in their country’s history, and it’s no surprise they’re being honored back home.

Olivia Grange, Jamaica’s minister of sports, youth and culture, told the Observer that Bolt’s statue will be located in Falmouth’s Water Square, near the city’s downtown core, and she explained why the government decided on this instalment. “When we say Trelawny today, we think immediately of the honorable Usain Bolt, who hails from the quiet district of Sherwood Content and who has placed Jamaica on the world stage in a way unlike any other,” Grange said. 

The Jamaican minister of sports also touched on Campbell-Brown. “Very soon, Troy Primary [School] will be renamed the Veronica Campbell-Brown Primary School.” Troy is a small town on the southern border of Trelawny. 

A rollercoaster year 

This year has had its highs and lows for Bolt. In May, he and his partner, Kasi Bennett, became parents for the first time with the birth of their daughter, Olympia Lightning Bolt. Just a couple of months later, Bolt made headlines when he tested positive for COVID-19 after hosting a mask-free birthday party at his home in Jamaica. Many international celebrities and professional athletes reportedly attended Bolt’s party, which didn’t reflect well on the three-time Olympian. Now, two months after his party, his mistake appears to have been forgiven, and he will be honored back home at some point in December.