Darrel Brown was among seven athletes who received elite funding yesterday from new Minister of Sport Brent Sancho.
Brown captured men’s 100 metres silver at the 2003 IAAF World Championships in Paris, France, but has been struggling to find his best form in recent years. According to a Ministry of Sport press release, Brown “expressed his appreciation to the Ministry for his funding”.
“He indicated that this fund is necessary,” the release continued, “since the maintenance for athletes to perform at their peak and without injuries is very expensive. Brown further stated that he is looking forward to the Pan-American Championships (Pan Am Games) in Toronto in 2015. More specifically, his main focus is the World Championships where he foresees attaining his most successful accomplishments for 2015 whilst having an opportunity to improve his rankings.”
Brown, his fellow track and field athletes, Kai Selvon, Shawna Fermin, Geronne Black, Romona Modeste and Rondel Sorrillo, as well as cyclist Varun Maharajh, received a combined total of $397,500 from Minister Sancho.
Olympic medallists, Lalonde Gordon and Richard “Torpedo” Thompson, quartermiler Zwede Hewitt and boxer Michael Alexander received elite funding at an earlier date.
“The total sum of the Elite Athlete Funding released by the Ministry of Sport,” the press release stated, “for Fiscal Year 2014-2015 thus far is $1,015,000.
“Financial assistance is geared towards the provision of sport science and technology, and meets required nutritional needs.”
According to the release, Minister Sancho acknowledged the challenges of the elite funding programme.
“But one of the mantles that he intends to progress vigorously is consulting with athletes to find out how the Ministry of Sport can better serve them by maintaining a high performance level and in so doing, proudly fly the red, white and black at meets such as the upcoming 2015 Pan American Senior Games, NACAC Senior Championships, World Relay Games in Bahamas and the World Championships in China.
“In closing, Minister Sancho said he is very proud of the nation’s athletes and looks forward to a very successful 2015 and more so, Rio Brazil where he would like to see this country receive at least 10 gold medals.”