Hemmings-McCatty, is the first Jamaican and (English-speaking) Caribbean Woman to win an Individual Olympic Gold Medal

Team Jamaica Bickle will hold its annual Awards Reception at Brooklyn Borough Hall, on Tuesday, April 16, 2013, 6pm-9pm, in preparation for the 118th annual Penn Relays Carnival, at the University of   Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA., where they will host for the 19th year over 650 athletes from across the Caribbean. The reception will be under the patronage of Borough President, Marty Markowitz, and will be hosted by Tower Isle’s Patties Inc. Over the years, Team Jamaica Bickle has hosted such athletes as Olympians, Usain Bolt, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Veronica Campbell Brown and Yohan Blake.   

WHO:    Olympian, Deon Hemmings-McCatty, OD; Brooklyn Borough President, Hon. Marty Markowitz; Council  Members: Leroy Comrie, Snr., Jumaane D. Williams, Mathieu Eugene; Caricom Consular Corp: Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, Grenada, et al.     

WHERE: Brooklyn Borough Hall, 208 Joralemon Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201           

WHEN:  Tuesday, April 16, 2013, 6pm-9pm

Hemmings-McCatty, is the first female track and field athlete in Jamaica and the English Speaking Caribbean to win individual Olympic gold, at the 1996 Olympic Games, in Atlanta, Georgia in the 400m hurdles, setting a new Olympic record (52.82), which stood to 2004. She remains active in the sports world in Jamaica, as an executive member of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) and an Athletes Commission Member, the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF).

The Penn Relays:

It is the longest uninterrupted collegiate track meet athletic event in the country and is the largest meet (outside of the Olympics), that attracts over 22,000 athletes primarily from the northeast United States and the Caribbean; namely, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Bahamas, St Vincent & The Grenadines and Grenada.

Team Jamaica Bickle

Team Jamaica Bickle, Inc. is a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization, based in New York, formed in 1994 to support Diaspora athletic clubs and Jamaican athletes who compete at the annual Penn Relays. Services have since been extended to athletes and coaches from Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada and St. Vincent & The Grenadines. The organization provides meals, ground transportation, medical and chiropractic care, media training and mentorship to the athletes. In 1999, Team Jamaica Bickle became the first Jamaican organization to be a participating sponsor at the Penn Relays and the Jamaica Flag has since flown at the relays.