Why Do Jamaicans Run So Fast?, a documentary about Jamaica's success at the Beijing Olympics, has won the Garland of Honour award at the 2009 Movies, Sports & TV Film Festival in Milan, Italy.

The prize is the second international honour for the film, which won Best Documentary at the American Black Film Festival in Miami in September.

The film - by Spanish producer Fernando Garcia-Guereta - explores the motivation behind Jamaica's success on the athletics track field and features interviews with doctors, entertainers and sprinters such as Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser.

Garcia-Guereta believes the primary reason is an exceptional national schools sports programme.

He said: 'Everybody is asking why Jamaica, as such a little country, has reached so far, unlike America where they have their big stadiums and fancy doctors.

'I think the main answer is from school competitions. We looked at how the athletes started running, how difficult it was for them and how some had to walk to training each day to try to make it into a big track star.'