Caribbean nationals are basking in the outstanding achievements of Caribbean athletes in the recently concluded World Championships in Daegu, South Korea . Led by Jamaica, these athletes have managed to defy all the odds in achieving the seemingly unachievable. They captured a total of 19 medals - five gold, six silver and eight bronze. Collectively, Caribbean athletes tied for second place with Russia at the games. They continue to achieve with little or no training facilities available at home, and their success can only be credited to their self belief, dedication, strong desire to achieve success and the ability to deal with adversity.

When the championship concluded, Jamaica's Usain Bolt remained the mega star and poster boy of athletics, despite his mishap in the 100 meters. In 19-year-old Grenadian Kirani James we have the youngest world champion and one of the sport's future stars, and in 21-year-old Jamaican, Yohan Blake we have the youngest ever men's 100 meters world champion.

Of the women, Jamaica's Veronica Campbell–Brown must be in contention of being the greatest female sprinter of all time as she has won more individual medals than all of her predecessors at the World Championships and Olympic Games.

Jamaica accounted for the championships' only world record with a time of 37.04 seconds in the 4 x 100 meters by Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Yohan Blake and Usain Bolt, in the final event.

The Caribbean Diaspora can learn from our athletes and apply that self belief, dedication, strong desire to achieve success and deal with adversity, into our daily lives.

These athletes taught us great lessons.

Usain Bolt refused to blame anyone for his failure, accepted his mistake, and rebounded to achieve victory.

Yohan Blake after witnessing his friend's disappointment kept his nerve, ran his race, and was successful.

Young Kirani James never gave into the pressure of competition and displayed strong belief in his own ability.

St. Kittitian Kim Collins at age 35 was written off as a has-been, but like phoenix he rose from the ashes and collected twwo bronze medals.

Veronica Campbell was second in the 100 meters but was dissatisfied and withstood strong challenges from U.S. athletes as she rebounded to achieve victory in the 200 meters.

And, her compatriot, Melaine Walker affected by injury, not given much chance to medal, fought her way into the final and did the unexpected, running out of lane eight to achieve silver in the 400 meters hurdles.

These athletes have taught our community that success can be achieved without little or no assistance as long as we believe in our own abilities, are willing to dedicate time and sacrifice to achieve this success; don't fear adversity, but meet it head on; not fear failure, but learn from it; not bow to the pressure of competition but, rather, welcome it without complaining or finding excuses and give our best, regardless. By adapting the approach displayed by our outstanding athletes many of us can also achieve success.

Medal Table:

Rank          Country        Gold       Silver       Bronze      Total

1                  USA              12             8                 5            25

2                  Russia           9             4                 6            19

3                  Kenya             7             6                 4            15

Caribbean Teams

4                  Jamaica        4             4                 1              9

11                Grenada       1              -                 -                1

18               Cuba              -              1                3                4

21               Puerto Rico   -              1                -                 1

31           St Kitts & Nevis -             -                 2                2

33              Bahamas      -               -                1                 1

33     Trinidad & Tobago -             -                1                  1

Caribbean Total             5             6                8                19