Jamaica's leading athletes have set their sights on winning gold at this year's Olympics and their achievements offer the country some relief from the daily media deluge of gangland violence and murder.

The contrast between sporting success and the grim reality of Kingston was captured on Sunday just a few hours before Usain Bolt, the world's fastest man, was due to run in the national championships.

The side entrance to the national stadium was closed off by police after what they said was a shooting in the area. Armed officers nervously stood on the corner of the street while on the other side of the arena fans were queuing up to see Bolt.

Since Bolt shattered compatriot Asafa Powell's 100m world record when he ran 9.72 seconds in New York last month, the island's sprinters have been making headlines internationally as August's Games draw near.

However, the front pages of local newspapers are regularly filled with the depressing litany of murders and shootings in the capital.

According to local media, there have been around 700 murders on the Caribbean island this year as the gangs that plague Kingston's streets expose on a near-daily basis the lack of public safety in inner-city areas.

'Peace-Pass it On'

The championships opened on Friday but that evening's news bulletins led on the latest murder - the slaying of the head of the country's state transportation company, shot dead outside a meeting to discuss redundancies.

The country's athletes are lending their names to a campaign to discourage young people from going into the world of guns and shootings.

Bolt and Powell and top women racers such as Olympic 200m gold medalist Veronica Campbell-Brown feature in a television commercial featuring a relay baton and the slogan "Peace - Pass it On".

"We are hoping that we can use sport and the example of the athletes to show that there is another way," Jamaican athletics chief Howard Aris told Reuters.

"Sport provides the single most important unifying force everywhere in the world, between countries and regions and also within nations."

The contrast between the two worlds - of violence and of athletic excellence - finds a reflection in music with the hardcore "dancehall" often glorifying the gang lifestyle while the lighter melodies of reggae pay tribute to athletic prowess.

There is already a tune called 9.72 in tribute to "Lightning Bolt".

Sport Minister Olivia Grange recognizes the role that the athletes are playing in presenting a positive future for young Jamaicans.

"Sport can be used as a tremendous tool to address violence in our communities and among young people," she said.

"Our athletes have been doing a good job, they relate to the communities, they bring a positive anti-violence approach to our national life."

Athletics has always had strong roots in Jamaica.

Arthur Wint won the 100m gold medal at the 1948 Games, the first the country had entered while still a British colony, and the country has won a total of 42 Olympic medals - all but one of them in track and field.

"It's a combination of factors," Aris added.

"We have the tradition from way back, from 1948. We have the talent, we have the certified coaches. From the very early stages, they are taught the right things - how to eat, how to train, how to sprint."

While a carefully constructed system from primary school through to senior teams nurtures the talent, the mystery remains as to how a nation of 2.6 million can produce so many top-class athletes.

"Its part of the natural ability of Jamaicans, I don't know, maybe it's in the water," Grange said.

(Agencies via China Daily July 3, 2008)