By Matt Majendie, CNN
Updated 1053 GMT (1753 HKT) August 21, 2015
(CNN)The United States' population might be 100 times the size of Jamaica's, but when it comes to the development of sprint talent the Caribbean island is in a league of its own.
Of the 12 sprint gold medals on offer at the last two Olympic Games -- in the 100 meters, 200m and 4x100m -- Jamaica's men and women won nine, plus five silvers, while they performed a clean sweep of titles at the last World Athletics Championships in Moscow two years ago.
It's an astonishing haul and, on the eve of the 2015 worlds in Beijing, which start Saturday, the question is: Who can stop Jamaica?
For Usain Bolt, a triple gold medalist at the past two Olympic Games and the 2013 world championships, the explanation for his nation's hegemony is simple.
"The level of the sport in this country is so high in track and field as we're pushing to be great," the world's fastest man told CNN Sport.
"To just make the trials in Jamaica you have to run 9.9 seconds at least. You push yourself so hard to be the best as the competition level is just so high."
However given Jamaica's population is three million compared to the 300 million of the U.S., Bolt's explanation doesn't quite tell the whole story.
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Asit Ghosh
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