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dic.31.2008
By STEPHON NICHOLAS Wednesday, December 31 2008
PRESIDENT of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, George Maxwell Richards has called on athletes to reject mediocrity as excellence. President Richards made the exhortation at the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee’s 2008 Annual Awards Ceremony on Monday held at President’s House, St Ann’s.
Richards reminded the audience which included sprinters Richard Thompson and Marc Burns that “Olympic gold still beckons. Hasely Crawford (Olympic 100m gold medalist) still stands alone”.
Thompson, 2008 NCAA Men’s 100m champion and double silver medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics received the “Sportsman of the Year” title while Kelly Ann Baptiste, 2008 NCAA Women’s100m gold medalist took the “Sportswoman of the Year” accolade.
Multi-sport athlete Gavyn Nero was named “Junior Sportsman of the Year” while Janeil Bellille, silver medalist in the 400m hurdles at the 2008 World Junior Championships took the female equivalent.
Daren Ganga took the “Sports Personality of the Year” prize while marathon runner Dwight Yearwood received the Alexander B Chapman Award.
Natalie Fonrose, a Lower Six student of St Augustine Girls’ High School won the Olympic Art competition.
Speaking to Newsday on Monday after receiving the award, Thompson was in a visibly jubilant mood and brimming with joy.
There were no doubts as to who would walk away with the prestigious award after he ran a personal best 9.89 seconds in the 2008 Olympic 100m finals to place second and sending the country in Carnival mode. He then anchored the 4x100m relay team to earn the silver medal in a national record 38.06 seconds.
“It’s always a pleasure to be rewarded after the hard work you have put in,” he said, “I intend to continue with my success but I know the expectation is higher,” Thompson added.
The TT 4x100m relay anchor revealed that he has readily accepted the challenge made by Richards and will be going all out to dethrone Jamaican sprint king Usain Bolt.
Double Carifta gold medalist Nero revealed that he did not expect the award and is aiming to mount the rostrum at the inaugural Caribbean Games next year.
Nero, a student at Fatima College has excelled at long distance running, cycling, triathlon and rugby despite calls for him to focus on just one sport.
The Carifta 800m and 1500m champion explained that his ability to be successful in many disciplines was due to his love of sport.
In his address, Richards also lauded the efforts of all the athletes to have represented TT at the Olympics from Rodney Wilkes silver medal in the feather weight weightlifting division in 1948 and onwards.
He argued that almost always spectators focus on results and do not appreciate the difficult preparatory work that goes unnoticed.
He hailed the performances of athletes such as Wendell Mottley and others who despite not bringing home an Olympic medal represented the country with honour.
Richards called on the private sector to play their part because “sport is an agent of change” and “the nation must take sport more seriously”.
“We can not be overwhelmed by destructive waves,” he said, while noting that sport is the perfect antidote to correct the social ills that are pervading society.
Source:www.newsday.co.tt
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