An emotional Usain Bolt served as a pallbearer at the funeral of former Team GB athlete, Germaine Mason, who was farewelled in Jamaica on Sunday.
Mason, who won a silver for Great Britain at the Beijing Olympics in August 2008, died after crashing his motorcycle in Jamaica on April 20, while returning home from a party along with Bolt and fellow sprinter Michael Frater.
The 34-year-old high-jumper was said to have been weeks away from becoming a father for the second time when he crashed on the Palisadoes main road in Kingston. He was also said to be working on a “secret project” with Bolt, the Mirror reported.
Jamaica’s The Gleaner reported that Mason’s cousin, Eric Cyrus Junior, delivered the eulogy and remembered the athlete as a man who thought nothing was too good for his son Jelani.
He remembered Mason as enjoying having alone time with his son, with the last six months being the best for them both.
Former Bolton footballer Ricardo Gardner and Tranmere player Ian Goodison were among those helping Bolt carry Mason’s coffin at the Hagley Park Seventh Day Adventist Church in St Andrew.
Bolt was also said to have helped dig Mason’s grave at the service which was attended by a string of Jamaican sprinters including Nesta Carter, Frater and Asafa Powell.
According to the Mirror, close friends said Bolt was “inconsolable” after Mason’s death
Mason switched allegiances to Team GB in 2006 after emigrating to the UK.