Jamaicans upset over Elaine Thompson not getting top Athletics prize

Many Jamaicans are furious over the apparent snub given to newly-crowned Sprint Queen Elaine Thompson who was overlooked by the IAAF for the prestigious Athlete of the Year honour. In an editorial published in one of Jamaica's leading newspapers The Daily Gleaner today, the newspaper said:

"So a Jamaican woman - Elaine Thompson completes an historic golden double at the Olympic Games and that is not worthy enough of recognition by the IAAF. Instead they choose to give the honour to a lesser-known athlete from Ethiopia. One is left to wonder if the Great White Hope - Dafne Schippers had done what Elaine did, if she would have been overlooked in the same manner. We doubt that very much."

One more open-minded commentator going by the name Irie Man, writing in the comments section of the paper's online edition had this response:

"So the Legendary Usain Bolt wins the prestigious IAAF World Athlete of the Year prize for a record 6th time and the Gleaner, instead of congratulating him, has the audacity to whine about Elaine being "snubbed"? And what is it with their absurd obsession with Dafne Schippers when she wasn't even nominated? And why is she the 'Great White Hope'? If Spaniards or Croatians had reacted in a similar manner toward the Ethiopian winner Almaz Ayana getting the top prize because they believed Ruth Beitia or Sandra Perkovic was more deserving, would that have been considered racist?"

Another commentator going by the name Stinga1980 replied:

"Well in that case it would be White Europeans making such comments, so without a doubt it would be racist."