Jamaica made a near clean sweep of Olympic sprinting gold medals in Beijing, overwhelming the United States, the traditional power house of sprinting. It was the first time one country had claimed so many medals since 1912. Usain Bolt won gold medals in the men’s 100 and 200 metres, Veronica Campbell-Brown successfully defended the 200 metres and Shelly-Ann Fraser became the first Jamaican woman in history to win an Olympic gold medal in the 100 metres.
She was followed home by Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart, who dead-heated for silver medals. Stewart also won a bronze medal in the 200 metres. Additionally the men’s team won the 4x100 metres relay gold medal.
