Caribbean Sports Network

Jamaica’s Asafa Powell (left) and Usain Bolt (right) are two of the big name star athletes missing from the Commonwealth Games in India.

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Usain Bolt decided against trying to add Commonwealth Games titles to his world and Olympic championships, and fellow Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell opted against defending the 100-metre title he won in Melbourne four years ago.

Bolt, Powell, and Shelly-Ann Fraser of Jamaica, Olympic medallist swimmer George Bovell from Trinidad and Tobago, and two-time Olympic swimmer Bradley Ally of Barbados are among the top names to have bowed out of the October 3-14 competition.

Bolt had decided not to compete in India even before his recent back injury. Other Caribbean athletes have pulled out in recent weeks, citing scheduling issues or other commitments.

That puts Mike Fennell, president of the Commonwealth Games Federation which oversees the games and also head of Jamaica's Olympic Association, in a bind.

"It is always a disappointment when you don't have your top athletes taking part, but it's been a packed calendar and these games are quite late in the season," he said.

The games bring together the 71 countries and territories of the Commonwealth every four years. The 2010 edition has caused some concern because some of the venues and the athletes' village in New Delhi have been in disarray due to long delays in completing construction.

The security and logistics disorder has prompted some athletes to withdraw.

Fennell conceded that Caribbean officials had last week voiced concern over the readiness of the facilities, particularly the athletes' village, but he said he was confident that the games would be successful.

"I know that they're working very hard to get things ready," Fennell said.

The Jamaican association's secretary general, Neville McCook, said yesterday that most participating athletes have already departed for India. He said he was disappointed at the problem-plagued preparations that have included concerns over the quality of construction.

"When we went to New Delhi last year to see the village, we were in awe. It seemed to be progressing beautifully. I don't know what could have gone so wrong," McCook said from Kingston.

At the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, Jamaican athletes dominated track events to win the men's and women's races in the 100, 200, 110-metre hurdle races and 4x100 relays, becoming the first country to sweep all those events at the games.

This year, Jamaica will send a young team to compete in track and field, badminton, boxing, cycling, netball, table tennis, shooting, swimming, and squash.

In recent days, Maurice Smith, a decathlon silver medallist at the 2007 World Championships who was one of Jamaica's medal favourites for the games, withdrew from the squad after telling authorities he suffered a strain. Also pulling out was Jamaica's national discus record-holder Jason Morgan, who cited reasons from a scarcity of funding to fears of terrorism.

The president of the Barbados Olympic Association, Steve Stoute, said local sport officials also had an unsuccessful time encouraging the Caribbean island's leading athletes to travel to New Delhi.

Ryan Braithwaite gave Barbados its first-ever medal at the World Championships last year when he won the men's 110 hurdles title, but he will not be competing. Olympic swimmer Ally told officials he is moving his training camp from the US to France, so will be unable to take part in the games.

"Our major medal prospects are not attending at this juncture. So we are somewhat concerned that it will be a lean time for us," said Stoute, who is banking on boxer Anderson Emmanuel and cyclist Barry Forde to be the island's medal hopes.

The Bahamas Olympic Committee selected a 25-member team for this year's Commonwealth Games, and president Wellington Miller said no swimmers will compete.

"Some of the elite athletes are not travelling, as in our top swimmers. That is due to scheduling difficulties with their schools, and that is understandable," Miller told reporters in the Bahamas capital, Nassau.

In Trinidad and Tobago, medal hopes were high for Christian Homer, who clinched the gold medal in the men's 50 backstroke event at Singapore's Youth Olympics earlier this year.

For smaller Caribbean island nations with less-talented squads, the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi are expected to be an opportunity to give their young athletes exposure at a big international event.

"We just don't have the luxury, like a Jamaica, to have athletes like a Usain or an Asafa. We've never really had a number one-ranked athlete, never won an Olympic medal," said Richard Peterkin, president of the St Lucia Olympic Committee.

High jumper Leverne Spencer, a 2008 Olympian for St Lucia who turned professional last year, is the Caribbean island's medal hope.

"If all goes well, Spencer would have a good chance of getting a medal, if not a gold," Peterkin said. "With the rest of the team, we don't have high expectations to be honest. But we want to continue giving our athletes exposure. You need to invest in the athletes."

But Stoute said the Commonwealth Games should not be about giving young, inexperienced athletes from the region a taste of international competition.

"The Commonwealth Games should be beyond the developmental stage," he said. "You should be able to make your presence felt. It is just too big and important to be used as a developmental tool."

Jamaica's Asafa Powell (left) and Usain Bolt (right) are two of the big name star athletes missing from the Commonwealth Games in India.