There is no doubt that Olympic fever is in the air and to celebrate the participating Cayman Islands athletes, the Cayman Islands Postal Service will be releasing five stamps depicting the islands’ elite athletes: Cydonie Mothersill, Ronald Forbes, Kemar Hyman, Shaune and Brett Fraser.

The stamps values are: 25¢; 50¢; 75¢ 80¢ and $1.60. The date of issue is Thursday, 2 August, 2012. Cydonie Mothersill, who will be competing in 200m, is represented on the 25¢ and Ronald Forbes, who competes in the 110m hurdles, is depicted on the 50¢. The 80¢ shows Kemar Hyman, the 100m competitor.

Shaune Fraser, who is competing in the 100m and 200m freestyle and the 100m butterfly is shown on the 75¢ and his brother Brett Fraser, who will be represented in the 200m, 100m and 50m freestyle events, is depicted on the $1.60 stamp.

Hon. Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, Deputy Premier and Minister responsible for Postal Services, congratulated the Cayman Islands team and Olympic Committee on their significant achievements in qualifying for the 2012 Games.

“They have already done us proud and we wish them the very best in competition. We are pleased to have played a part in their journeys to success,” she stated.

“When we issue stamps to celebrate this sort of an occasion, it reflects the entire country’s appreciation for the extraordinary efforts of our elite athletes and the organisations that support them,” she added.

Since fielding an Olympic team in 1976, this is the first time that all five Cayman Islands athletes have qualified at the A standard for the Olympics. It is also the first time that three athletes will compete in track and field events for these islands. Cydonie is competing in the Olympics for the fifth time, making her the Cayman Islands’ most enduring athlete at the Olympic level.

Mothersill, Forbes and the Fraser brothers are veterans at the Games, but this is a first for Kemar Hyman — whose event is the 100m.

The Olympic stamps were slated to be issued on 26 July to coincide with the opening of the Games, but were delayed in order to await the qualification of one of the athletes. “We could have gone with four stamps, but we wanted to recognise all of our athletes equally,” explained Tara Bush, Assistant Postmaster General for Marketing.

“Making an Olympic qualification is significant and worthy of celebration and I hope, in this instance, the public will understand.” she added.

The stamps will go on sale on Thursday, 2 August and First Day Covers will be available for sale in a couple a weeks.  For more information, please contact the Philatelic Bureau at 946-4757 or email [email protected].