debut: 11/30/17
10,430 runs
In reply to Prako
Jereem didn’t come last in his race. St Lucia, Dominica and co never medaled before but Grenada has surpassed us in Athletics. Not that I am disappointed in Grenada’s rise as an athletics powerhouse in the region, but Trinidad’s decline has been coming a long time now. As I said in an earlier post, 2012 and Keshorn’s gold were the result of 6 years of work prior to that Olympics and also a very fortuitous change in the direction of the wind that hampered the other athletes in that javelin competition. But in2004, George Bovell saved our blushes. I remember being in a hotel in Montego Bay and waking up 3 in the morning to watch George swim in the 200IM. 2008 Richard Thompson was the reigning NCAA champ and the medals came from him. Bovell was unfortunate to get in that accident that caused him not to be able to swim in the 200IM, which was his best event and having to adjust to the 50m free which he was never comfortable in, even though he medaled in it in the world champs. And he was also unfortunate to go up against dopers like Cesar Cielo in that event. But generally, we’ve had poor games with one or two very good performances that masked mediocrity.
As I said, 2012 was our best games. Richard Thompson reached the final of the fastest 100m ever, nothing to be ashamed of there. Just to reach that final was an exceptional accomplishment because of the quality of the field. Gordon got bronze in the 400m and the 4x4 men got bronze, an event we had not medaled in since 1968 and of course Walcott got the gold. The 4x1 men came fourth initially, then got third because Canada had a lane infringement and then got silver because Tyson Gay had been using an anabolic steroid prior to the games. As I also said, our best Olympic showing and the culmination of 6 years of investment by the state.
2016 was a disaster,we had to wait until the second to last event of that Olympics, the javelin to get a medal. Again I remember watching it in Zanzibar by the sea. And 2020 was even worse. Only Jereem, Paul and the 4x400 men acquitted themselves well in that meet.
It’s the public servant mentality of showing up, doing as little as possible ad getting a salary because the state retains the elite athlete program. If I was GORTT, you’d only get funding if you reached the finals of your event or had a good track record before the games. So Nicholas Paul, Jeremiah and Keshorn right now would have been the only people to get funding.
Trinidad and Tobago 3:06.73 did not advance
