Despite the hullabaloo about the exploits of Jamaican super sprinter Usain Bolt at the ongoing Beijing Olympics my favourite star at the Games is Argentinian ball juggler Lionel Messi. I admire him for the spirit of Olympism and nationalism he displayed when his employers Barcelona FC wanted to stop him from going to Beijing. He ignored the hard cash being dangled in his face and opted for an Olympic medal

Fredy Baron de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympics would be happy to learn in his grave that the torch he lit in 1896 is still burning and we have young super stars like Messi who have imbibed the spirit of olympism and will definitely be a fine example for the sporting youth to emulate.

Messi gave of his best in the crucial semi-final of the football competition against perennial rivals Brazil and he contributed a lot in the 3-0 demolition of their South American counterparts to set the stage for a titanic final "replay" against African giants Nigeria, gold medalists in Atlanta 1996,where it was another Nigeria- Argentina affair.

Messi’s love for the Olympics is similar to the passion with which the Williams sisters from the USA were pictured adoring their gold medals in the women’s tennis doubles but sorry to state that it is in sharp contrast with the attitude of Ghana’s over confident sprinter Vida Anim who has devalued Olympism and is holding the whole nation to ransom.

After being eliminated from the 100 metres heats Vida suddenly decided to find an excuse why she should not compete in the 200m. She blamed team officials for unpaid allowances and no amount of persuasion could let her change her stand.

Curiously the young lady appeared to have the backing of the chairman of the Ghana Athletics Association Sandy Osei Agyeman himself former athlete in Ghana’s 1972 Munich Games and 1976 Montreal Games squad. Hear him " Lack of financial support for Ghanaian athletes based outside has always been a source of frustration to them .I call for a positive review of the situation to enable the athletes to have the needed peace of mind to train and give of their best at all times"

It is not too clear who the GAA boss had in mind to implement the so called positive review and it would be interesting to know his work schedule as athletics boss. It is learnt that many Ghanaian athletes living abroad complain they incur a great deal of expenses training on their own before flying down to tournament venues. May be the chairman is not privy to this information. Or maybe the athletes are making up stories and they want to be pampered. This blame game must stop somewhere otherwise Ghana will find it difficult to produce a mega star like Usain Bolt whose sensational record shattering 9.69 secs in the 100m will definitely continue to be the topic for discussion long after the Beijing Games

I am normally a very optimistic person but for once I am not too enthused about Bolt’s achievement. There have been far too many controversies surrounding the men’s 100 metres race at the Olympics and this makes me rather apathetic I was right in the thick of the crowd. at the Seoul Olympic Stadium in 1988 when Jamaica born Canadian Ben Johnson ran that astonishing race to set a record in the 100m only to be disgraced later as a drug cheat."From grace to grass in 9.83 secs" was what a section of the media tagged Ben Johnson. Some people went to the ridiculous length of even disputing Ben Johnson’s nationality. Suddenly he was Jamaican and not Canadian, some people with no scruples suggested.

So Congrats, Mr. Bolt, for the wonderful race. You took it so easy that with 10 metres to go you started celebrating. That’s great. Ben Johnson did something quite similar by raising his hands five metres to the finishing line leaving the great Carl Lewis gasping for breath. I only hope history does not repeat itself Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.