LONDON, (Reuters) – Carnival came early in Notting Hill after Jamaica sprinted to a clean sweep in the London Olympic 200 metre final on Thursday.
During hours of practice in a former church in west London ahead of Europe’s biggest street festival, a steel band was allowed a 10-minute break to watch Usain Bolt lead the way to a Jamaican 1-2-3.
Like the awed hush in the stadium before sprinters dropped to their starting blocks and the gun went off, there was a call for quiet from the Mangrove Steelband, and from the back of the crowd a plea for people’s heads to stay still.
But as Bolt scorched down the home straight, they roared as one, drumsticks in hand.
“Wicked, that’s a winner,” said Junior Inniss, 21, a band promoter. “That’s the best.”
Crossing the line with his finger on his lips to silence the doubters, Bolt had added to his 100-metre gold, repeating his double in Beijing in 2008. He was followed home by his training partner and main rival Yohan Blake. Bronze went to Warren Weir.
The three dozen musicians had gathered around a single flat screen, talking admiringly about Weir’s technique and Blake’s strength.
But one man seemed to sum up everybody’s feeling in the room.
“Yohan is not my man, I just know Bolt can,” said 28-year-old Anthony Campbell.
Like in past years, the steelband will be performing on a float during the Notting Hill Carnival later this month. One of the most prominent steel bands in Europe, it has performed in front of the queen as well as on the streets of west London.
The annual carnival, which stretches back to 1964, is a celebration of Caribbean culture, food and music, combining traditional Trinidad music with the sounds brought to Britain by Jamaicans in the 1960s and 70s.
About 800,000 Jamaicans and people of Jamaican descent live in Britain, making up about 7 percent of London’s population, with the first major wave of Caribbean immigration coming after World War Two.
Not all the band members were from Jamaica, but they revelled in their shared Caribbean links, and were Jamaicans for the night, joining in the celebration of the Bolt magic some 5,000 miles away in Kingston, Jamaica.
READY TO RUN
“Yeah man, he’s someone special, not ordinary,” said a man with a goatee beard, dressed in white robes, beads and a leather patchwork hat, who declined to give his name. “That’s a bit of history made.”
While Britain has been celebrating its biggest gold medal haul since 1908, Jamaicans have marked their 50 years of independence from the country by cementing their place in sprinting history.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won gold in the women’s 100 metre title earlier this week.
“It’s testament to the history and resilience of Jamaicans, surviving the slave trade,” said one musician in his 40s with a beard dangling down to his chest, who only gave his name as Asheber.
“We are a small island compared to the rest of the teams. This is independence, using your creativity.”
The heavily indebted island nation of 2.8 million people is considering cutting its final ties with its former colonial master which would see the removal of Queen Elizabeth as its monarch and symbolic head of state to become a republic.
But there was no time for politics when the Jamaican trio were proving their dominance.
The musicians mimicked Bolt’s antics as he was introduced to the stadium crowd and one woman asked nobody in particular: “Are you ready to run, are you ready?”
Near the end of the race a small group of boys ran in front of the television, arms aloft, leaving many unclear as to whether Jamaica had won all three medals.
Eventually, the result came through. Not that there was any doubt about Bolt’s imperious performance.
“Absolutely fantastic. He does it every time,” said Joe, 43, who did not want to give his second name. “There is no competition.”
Back at their steel drums, Rose Alfred, a woman in her 30s who works with youth offenders, said: “The adrenaline was high.
“He (Bolt) is popular for athletics and sprinting, but he has done so well, and performs so well.”
