Photo Courtesy of Jamaica Gleaner
It seems Usain Bolt is in a bit of trouble at the Commonwealth Games. (Too bad this is the headline this morning, for the Jamaican team is smashing records and is atop the medal standings.) According to a journalist, Bolt apparently said he is not having as much fun at this event as opposed to the Olympics, and claimed that they were better.
Bolt is denying this. We weren’t there, we don’t know what happened, but I would tend to believe Bolt. For one thing, even without knowing his character, he has received so much media training that his Jamaican patois has almost been scrubbed away (although I’m sure it returns when he is back on Jamaican soil). In addition, with that kind of success and fame, there are always people trying to gain from it, such as this journalist, who Bolt accuses of trying to generate headlines.
It has always struck me just how much Bolt has apparently practiced to take on a more “American” accent. I can understand from a marketing perspective, but somehow it strikes me as sad that he has worked this hard to change something so unassailably part of who is is as a Jamaican. It was never even that difficult to discern what he was saying, actually. (For another take on the issue of patois and subtitling, check out this Guardian article.)
In any case, this is probably a misunderstanding. Bolt is a professional with multi-million dollar contracts. Hopefully this incident will cease overshadowing the stellar performance of the Jamaican athletes.
Jamaican Journal 
I think the Guardian article misses a lot of points about comprehension, and how much time one has to do that. It can have nothing to do with proper speech but generally understood speech, which often reverts to written words. (We read in our own accents, you know.) Recall seeing The Harder They Come in England, and it had subtitles and the speed of delivery challenged even native Patois speakers. Vernacular usages also have to be taken into account. What does “Rahtid!” mean, or just when people kiss their teeth, which is non verbal, but speaks volumes?
On Bolt and accents and words and contracts, he’s tended to be uber diplomatic, even to the point of self-deprecation, unlike Mr Gayle, who uses his platforms often to be anything but civil.