At a chic beach club under a steamy nighttime sky, with reggae music in their ears and sand in their shoes, the members of the Jamaican Olympic team took a little time out from training to dance and party together Saturday night.
By Christy LemireSeveral athletes were called up to the stage to show off their moves, including Asafa Powell, a favorite to win the 100-meter sprint, and Usain Bolt, the world junior record holder in the 200 meters who will turn 18 during the Athens Games.
The party, at the minimalist Balux Beach Club in the trendy coastal neighborhood of Glyfada, was organized by Puma, which sponsors the Jamaican team.
Guests feasted on a buffet that included Greek salad, grilled octopus and bacon-wrapped beef as young women wearing Jamaican flag T-shirts circled the room carrying giant silver bowls full of iced-down Red Stripe lager. They lounged indoors on sleek white couches and ottomans, or enjoyed seeing and being seen outside on the poolside deck.
"To have somebody going out like that for us really shows us that they appreciate us," said decathlete Claston Bernard, dressed in a gray golf shirt he'd had autographed by the evening's musicians.
But all that attention and pressure isn't getting to the 25-year-old, he said, "because I'm going to go out there and do what everybody didn't think I could do, and that is shock the world."
Other athletes also seemed to be having the time of their lives, one last time, before getting down to the business of competition. Patrick Jarrett danced suggestively behind fellow sprinter Aleen Bailey as their teammates jokingly tried to cool them off by fanning them with T-shirts.
Meanwhile, others threw their arms in the air or bobbed their heads to the music as tiki torches flickered in the breeze blowing in from the water. No matter what they were doing, though, they were all working up a sweat.
"It's about the same" as Jamaica, said sprinter Dwight Thomas, who's competing in the 100 meters. "It's really hot, which is good for competition for us."
