I took a poll of a few Jamaican fans who will be making the long journey and got some interesting feedback. Evon Berry, sounding very optimistic, is predicting a medal haul of 14, including three gold. Ian Moore has a tally of 11 medals (four gold) while Glen Strachan is the most confident with a prediction of 15 medals.

His tally includes six gold and, among those are the two sprint relays. His expectation is that Maurice Smith will stand at the top of the podium after the decathalon. These gentlemen are regular supporters of Jamaican teams at numerous Olympic Games and, as such, there could be some merit to their predictions. We will see.

From a regional standpoint, Brian Lewis, general secretary of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee, expressed the hope that the Jamaican contingent will perform up to expectation as he is very strong on Caribbean unity and revels in the current profile of the Jamaican, Trinidad and Tobago and Bahamian athletes. Remco Tevreden, a director of The Netherland Antilles' Olympic Association, is also predicting great results for the Caribbean but no doubt, ultimately, bragging rights will be mine.