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Andre
E Baptiste
From Beijing, China
A brilliant silver medal run in the Men’s 100 metres
final by T&T’s Richard Thompson has brought home
a lot of home truths.
Ephraim Serrette, a former Trinidad and Tobago Sprinter
and now president of the National Amateur Athletic Association
(NAAA) said Thompson was very good, he prepared for the
competition and was very focused.
Thompson never let himself be distracted by anything around
him and it shows what determination and self belief baked
by good discipline can do for anyone.
Serrette said: “However , if we want to have more Richard
Thompsons and Mac Burns, we need to put the necessary infrastructure
in place to do that together with the proper support systems.
This involves finance and planning which are not easy. We
need to continue to help Richard and the other athletes
as much as possible so they will get even better.”
He added that “We need the government to give more
support in areas , where we can encourage other youngsters
to come forward and learn the right things and also support
the programmes we have otherwise we will continue to have
just one or two medals and not be consistent on the world
stage,” stated Serrette.
The president of the NAAA revealed: “ That while we
have close the gap which was 1976 ( Hasely Crawford gold
in the 100 metres) to 1996 ( Ato Boldon, who won four medals
in sprints), 20-years to now with Richard Thompson) is eight
years, we want to mount the medal podium every four years”.
He said: “Marc’s performance in reaching an Olympic
final is no easy matter, many people go through their career
looking for that, so he has done us proud, and we have to
thank him for that too. He has done T&T proud again.”
Serrette who is part of the track and field contingent in
Beijing China noted that from an athletics point of view,
“The sport now has nine of the 13 medals won by Trinidad
and Tobago in its 60-year Olympic history, and we need to
have people understand and respect the sport and the athletes
and the sacrifice all our athletes make and the challenges
the sport is faced with yea after year”.
He said: “When we look at how the Caribbean region
had six of the eight athletes in the 100 metres finals it
shows how much talent is there and that we have the ability
to dominate the sport of athletics if we get more support
as well from Corporate Trinidad and Tobago”.
Serrette said: “I am certain everyone in T&T was
watching or listening to the race and the are very happy
with Richard’s performance and some of them may want
to claim a piece of him, but where were they when he wanted
sponsorship.
“We
have to face facts, we all want to be like Jamaica, but
they have a lot of funding and support.
“In
fact, they are now on the road to completely transforming
their Athletics executive into a more full time professional
outfit from that of amateur run office status. It is something
we too in T&T must consider seriously because this is
full time work, not part time”
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