Asafa Powell takes St. Lucia by storm as Canon Laurie Anglican Primary Welcomes Olympic Gold Medalist

Asafa Powell with Anglican Primary students and Youth & Sports official

Castries, May 11, 2010: Olympic and Commonwealth Gold medalist and former100 meters World Record holder, Asafa Powell, received a rousing welcome on Wednesday May 5 2010 when he visited the Canon Laurie Anglican Primary School, courtesy of communications provider LIME.

Asafa, visiting St Lucia for the first time, also experienced his first-ever helicopter ride, overflying the world-famous Pitons and Sulphur Springs, before attending a reception at the school.
The Anglican Primary won the special visit from Asafa as part of a LIME text messaging promotion in support of the recent CARIFTA Games of which LIME was presenting sponsor. The school also won a $5,000 Sports Makeover from LIME. The cash will be used to purchase equipment to boost its physical education programme.  

The students at the school were obviously extremely delighted with their VIP guest and they put on a fantastic show in his honour, which Asafa thoroughly enjoyed. They then thronged him, trying to get his autograph or just to touch him. So did the teachers who were just as thrilled as the Children!

Asafa, who was recently awarded the Order of Distinction in his homeland Jamaica, expressed appreciation for the warm welcome and encouraged the students to work hard to achieve their dreams and never give up in spite of the many distractions around them.

He told them that regardless of their background or where they came from, with hard work, discipline, and dedication they could succeed in life.

Addressing the gathering, Permanent Secretary in St. Lucia’s Ministry of Youth & Sports, Donovan Williams encouraged the students to emulate Asafa “who is truly world-class,” and not to settle for mediocrity. He praised LIME for stepping up and supporting the general development of young people, and for continuing to be a leader in the sponsorship of sports in the Caribbean.

LIME General Manager, Sean Auguste urged the students to pay heed to the Track and Field great and to follow his advice. “Asafa is one of the world’s finest athletes and an excellent role model. Everywhere he goes he inspires people with his positive thoughts and attitude and there is a lot that he can teach young people about what it takes to reach the level that he has,” said Mr. Auguste. 

Following the welcome reception, Asafa held a training session with 30 of the school’s student athletes at the Vigie Multi-Purpose Sports Complex. The youngsters were extremely attentive and had fun doing drills, learning sprint techniques and even running against the man himself in a relay race. Being a natural born competitor, Asafa tried not to ease up too much on them, making sure his relay team won the race.