BERLIN, Germany — Special Olympics Jamaica (SOJ) athletics Head Coach Akeem Clarke heads into the World Summer Games as a relaxed figure, casually brushing aside any suggestion of pressure due to the country’s illustrious history in the sport.

“Because as a country we are rich in athletic talent, a lot of people are indeed looking for us to perform and continue to carry the name for Jamaica in athletics,” he said on the eve of Saturday’s start to the Games in Berlin.

“But these athletes are not under any pressure, they’re just here to compete and to enjoy themselves, and I know they will live up to the Special Olympics oath: ‘Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt’.”

Of the 47 athletes to represent Jamaica at the Games, 10 are carrying the athletics banner.

They are to compete in the 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, and the men’s and women’s 4x100m relay races.

The rangy sprinter Richard Smikle, who not only bears a bit of physical resemblance to his famous compatriot Usain Bolt but likes to emulate some of the legendary retired track superstar’s trademark post-race revelry.

Clarke pointed out that the Jamaican athletes — not least Smikle — have the chance to leave their mark in the very city that the incomparable Bolt smashed both the 100m and 200m records at the 2009 World Championships.

“Our athletes are ready to perform, ready to showcase their talent on the world stage. And for Richard, he is looking forward to compete and to do a similar performance to what Usain Bolt did in Berlin some years ago.

“There are similarities between them and Smikle also tries to celebrate like Bolt used to. He looks up to Usain Bolt,” Clarke told the Jamaica Observer.

Despite not having the ideal build-up to the World Summer Games, the SOJ track coach said they have made the best of the opportunities they have had to shake off jet lag since arriving in Germany on Monday.

“Back in Jamaica we were hoping to have more training sessions, but with the logistics and where athletes would have been coming from, it would have been impossible for us to train more consistently each week. Still, we were able to train on weekends when possible.

“Since getting here we’ve tried to walk and we did a training session on Wednesday when we went through warm-ups and a chance to run through individual events and to work on the baton exchange for the relay teams. I have confidence in these athletes and I know they will be able to perform at their best,” he explained.

At the Berlin 2023 Games, the Jamaicans are also down to compete in men’s and women’s seven-a-side football, volleyball, badminton, and aquatics.

Jamaica won a record 33 medals at the 2019 World Summer Games in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Then, track and field athletes accounted for 15 medals — seven gold, five silver, and three bronze.

Through sport activities and competition, the Special Olympics movement aims to break down barriers that exclude people with intellectual disabilities, such as autism and Down’s syndrome, from mainstream society.