Behold Jamaican athlete Merlene Ottey, one of the greatest female sprinters ever. She is 52 right now but guess what, she still sprints; although not for her native Jamaica anymore. She now wears the colours of Slovenia and is on the verge of competing in the upcoming Olympics (London 2012) as a member of Slovenia's 4 by 100 relay team.
This greatly inspiring woman was born on the 10th of May 1960- the year of Nigeria's independence from Britain's harsh colonial rule- and up till 2002 she represented Jamaica on the tracks. 2002 saw her begin to represent Slovenia. Although she has never won an Olympic gold medal- she doesn't bloody need one anyway as it seems to be reserved for only the drug-cheats- she bears the distinction of having won more medals than any other female track and field athlete.
I remember watching her at Sydney 2000 and wondering how a 40 year old lady managed to still look so beautiful and perform at the highest level of the sport. Hr desire to compete at the age of 52 should be seen as a direct challenge to the lazy and uninspired ones among us. It is a call to the lazy to get off their fat butts and chase their dreams and stop blaming their inabilities on age or other circumstances. Below is another picture of the beautiful sprinter, an earlier picture though.
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