SHOULD BOLT BE TIME MAGAZINE'S PERSON OF THE YEAR? I DONT THINK SO.

Usain Bolt makes the news almost daily nowadays. When he is not flying off somewhere on duties related to his sponsorship obligations he is being nominated for one award or the other, or winning some other piece for his rapidly growing trophy collection.

The triple Olympic and triple  World champion was this week named the BBC’s Overseas Sports Personality of the Year. The British Broadcasting Corporation, I believe, has an entire bureau dedicated to the man many already believe is the greatest sprinter of all time and if they could have found a way to make him the British Sports Personality of the Year, they would.

Bolt was also this week nominated for Time Magazine’s Person of the Year. He is currently fourth in the voting but should he even have a shot at being the Person of the Year?

Let’s look at what Bolt has done. He ran fast, very fast. He is re-defining sprinting as the world has come to know it. He has also brought the sport of track and field virtually from the dead. His accomplishments have proven to be great public relations for a country that once used to be known for his sun, sand and sea but has come now to be considered the country with the highest murder rate in the world. Bolt has also positioned Jamaica to capitalise by developing a sports industry that could have significant benefits to Jamaica’s economy in the long term.

These are significant accomplishments but in a world hit hard by economic recession, is the feel-good story that is Usain Bolt worthy of him being named the Person of the Year?

Millions have no jobs, famine rages in some continents, while nations are rattling sabres over the use of nuclear technology. Rising seas caused by the melting of the polar ice caps threatens the existence of some islands while rising oil prices pose a more immediate threat the economies of some smaller nations. When you put all that in context, Usain Bolt has not accomplished much.

Sport is an important thread in the construct of modern civilization but given the tenuous state of the world today, making Bolt the Time Magazine Personality of the Year would be to trivialise just how much a dangerous place the world is today.