Jamaican sprint star Asafa Powell is said to be “extremely sad” over the death of fellow Olympian Germaine Mason in a motorcycle crash Thursday morning.
“This morning, I had the opportunity to speak to Asafa [Powell] who was extremely sad about what had happened,” Sport Minister Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange said in a release Thursday.
“In reaching out to him, I felt that at least I was able to express directly to an outstanding athlete how I felt about Germaine’s passing and it made a difference to me,” the minister said.
Powell hasn’t commented on the death publicly.
Mason was reportedly killed after losing control the CBR motorcycle he was driving along the Palisadoes main road in Kingston, around 4:20, and fell.
He was pronounced dead at hospital. Police suspect he was speeding.
Mason set a Jamaican record of 2.34 metres to win the Pan American Games gold in 2003.
He won silver and bronze medals at the World Junior Championships in 2000 and 2002 respectively, the latter event held in his hometown of Kingston.
Mason, in 2006, switched allegiance to Great Britain based on his father’s nationality and went on to win silver in the high jump at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
