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Jamaica's sprint factory

Nina Robinson reports from Jamiaca where the country's young atheletes are coming under pressure as they set their sights on the Olympics in two years time.

Jamaica has a reputation for producing world class athletes, the most famous being the record breaking Usain Bolt who won the 100m sprint at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Athletes in Jamaica are nurtured from a young age: boys and girls as young as six enter competitions and train intensively throughout their school years to compete in fiercely contested national athletics championships.

Most of these children come from poor socio-economic backgrounds and their knowledge of the risks of drug taking - whether for medicinal or performance enhancement - is limited.

There is a debate now in Jamaica about how early young children should be introduced to the world of anti-doping and even whether it is time to start testing children as young as 10 years old.

Nina Robinson reports.

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25 minutes

Last on

Sun 1 Aug 2010 10:05GMT

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  • Thu 29 Jul 2010 08:05GMT
  • Thu 29 Jul 2010 11:05GMT
  • Thu 29 Jul 2010 14:05GMT
  • Thu 29 Jul 2010 19:05GMT
  • Fri 30 Jul 2010 00:05GMT
  • Sun 1 Aug 2010 10:05GMT

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