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THE FASTEST NATION ON EARTH? CBC NEWS EXPLORES JAMAICA'S PROWESS IN TRACK & FIELD

To tweet this release: http://tinyurl.com/c6orl3h

As Jamaica prepares to celebrate 50 years of   independence, special report
by Adrienne Arsenault airs   Wednesday, June 20

The Olympic motto is Citius,  Altius, Fortius—“swifter, higher, stronger”—and when the world’s best athletes   gather in London, odds are that none may be swifter than those from   Jamaica. 

Since the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Jamaicans   have won 15 gold medals in track races of 400 metres and under. Five of the   seven all-time records for the men’s 100 metres are held by Jamaicans, including   Usain Bolt’s 9.58 second dash—the fastest time in history. 

What makes Jamaicans so fast? CBC News   correspondent Adrienne Arsenault (@adriearsenault)  travelled to the island nation to find the answers. In a special report on THE NATIONAL, CBC News Network, CBC Radio One and CBCNews.ca, Wednesday, June 20,  Arsenault speaks with a variety of Jamaicans, including Usain Bolt’s parents and   one of his former teachers, Olympic gold medalist Melaine Walker and   current 100 metre world champion Yohan Blake, plus Jamaican national   coach Stephen Francis. Arsenault finds that many believe it’s   part cultural and part genetic, and entirely a national passion—even the Prime   Minister attends the annual high school track and field   championships. 

THE NATIONAL airs on CBC-TV at 10 p.m. (10:30 NT), and also on CBC News Network at 9 and 11   p.m. (ET/PT). Plus, visit CBCNews.ca for   exclusive web-only content related to this story, including interviews not   featured in the broadcast piece.


  About   CBC News
CBC News is the source Canadians turn to, to keep   them informed about their communities, their country and their world. Through   regional and national programming on multiple platforms, including CBC   Television, CBC News Network, CBC Radio, CBCNews.ca, mobile and on-demand, CBC   News and its internationally recognized team of award-winning journalists   deliver the breaking stories, the issues, the analyses and the personalities   that matter to Canadians.

For further information, contact:

 

Melissa Prince, Veritas   Communications
  P) 416-482-2669
  C) 416-704-8733
  prince@veritascanada.com

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